Cleaning Up After Corrosive Ammo

Corrosive ammo (generally limited to corrosive primers) is the bane of anyone that shoots military surplus ammo, whether it be old G.I. surplus, or some of the ammo from the former communist bloc. (The reason that the Russians stuck with corrosive primers for so long is that they are more reliable in cold conditions).

In a recent comment to my posting about an extraction issue with my AK 74, a reader noted:

The most important thing to use on your AK74 for cleaning is sudsy ammonia. Ammonia will instantly counter-act the salts from the corrosive Berdan primers. 

I use "Fantastic" which I pick up in bulk at Costco, but the cheaper stuff that you get at Walmart is just as good.

Spray the ammonia cleaner down the barrel, the gas tube, and the muzzle device. Scrub what you can with a plastic bristled, tooth brush, and use the rifle bore brush to scrub the barrel. Then rinse with lots of hot water.

Pay special attention to the bolt, bolt carrier and chamber. The ammonia cleaner will also take off any built up lacquer from the casings.

In a grid down situation, where ammonia is not to be found, you could use urine to counter-act the corrosive primer salts.