Long term firearms cleaning preparations

[Doctorr Fabulous]

Any of the War on Terror vets wanna touch on how the locals maintain their AKM and heavier weapons?

They don't.

[teotwaki]

So far I've seen good discussion about substitutes for cleaning materials and lubricants. How about bronze brushes? Build up of lead, carbon or copper can become an issue based simply on the number of shots fired.

[woodsghost]

You pay attention to Soviet cleaning equipment. There are no bronze brushes. You see plastic brushes, but the manuals say those are for applying oil, not scraping carbon, lead, and brass. The 30 cal stuff (AK & Mosin, probably SKS) was designed to wrap hemp twine around and shove that up and down the barrel. Works like a charm. Seriously. I love it. 5.45 kits don't have that option, though it seems to me I have seen kits from some country that might allow that.

The main Soviet method though was to mix two chemicals, which I don't remember, but if you google it and dig around, you can find the recipe. As I remember, the chemicals are pretty awful. Like, "give you cancer just by looking at it funny" kinda awful. My guess is it works well enough that they did not need the hemp option for scrubbing the bore and stopped including it for the 5.45. If that is not the case.....oh well. But my reading said the chemical mixture was amazing for getting bores clean, and I'm not sure the chemicals would be available in a PAW.

I was thinking of processing nettle fibers to act as a substitute for hemp fibers, but honestly, in a PAW, hemp fibers will probably be widely available and nettle fibers might not work that well.

Seriously, just using hemp rope fibers on the appropriate AK cleaning jag, I was able to get my bore shiny clean and kept it that way till I eventually sold the -47 Still works for my Mosin though.


EDIT:

New style Russian cleaning kits for 30 cal AKs do not include the jag for hemp rope. Which I suspect is because the chemicals they use really do the trick.

[LJ126]

So far I've seen good discussion about substitutes for cleaning materials and lubricants. How about bronze brushes? Build up of lead, carbon or copper can become an issue based simply on the number of shots fired.

While it's easy to use household items to substitute the solvents and lubricants, the tools are worth buying the good stuff. A few coated steel one-piece rods will last multiple lifetimes of use, and are irreplaceable home/BOL shop items. Bronze brushes are cheap enough that one should buy them by the handful for the calibers they use frequently.

Even the multiple-section cleaning rods serve a purpose; a portable cleaning kit is super handy. I prefer the steel kits, as they last a lot longer than the less-expensive aluminum kits.

And while my earlier post might sound as if I'm denigrating commercial cleaning products, I'm actually quite fond of them. I just wouldn't stockpile these products when less expensive, more versatile alternatives exist.

[wtr100]

a gallon of Ed's red will set you back very little and last many years

buy a 1 gallon plastic gasoline can

at the hardware store buy

1 qt acetone
1 qt mineral spirits
1 qt auto transmission fluid

dump the three quarts into the gas can

go to a gas station with a K-1 kerosene pump - diesel will work too but stink - top of with K1 kerosesne.

this cleans and lubes and protects about a good as the 'gun' stuff out there and better than most

use it outside or the wife WILL BE annoyed

I made a gallon over 18 years ago and still have maybe a pint left

It doesn't remove copper
It does clean black powder and corrosive primer rounds

https://home.comcast.net/~dsmjd/tux/dsm ... ds_red.htm

[tedbeau]

a gallon of Ed's red will set you back very little and last many years

buy a 1 gallon plastic gasoline can

at the hardware store buy

1 qt acetone
1 qt mineral spirits
1 qt auto transmission fluid

dump the three quarts into the gas can

go to a gas station with a K-1 kerosene pump - diesel will work too but stink - top of with K1 kerosesne.

this cleans and lubes and protects about a good as the 'gun' stuff out there and better than most

use it outside or the wife WILL BE annoyed

I made a gallon over 18 years ago and still have maybe a pint left

It doesn't remove copper
It does clean black powder and corrosive primer rounds

https://home.comcast.net/~dsmjd/tux/dsm ... ds_red.htm

I'm sure this would work quite well but I do see a few problems, one, it's bad enough that I am going to be humping a nine pound AK, 12 mags full of ammo and an additional 180 rounds of 7.62, now I have to hump a gallon of Ed's Red cleaner. Secondly the zombies are going to smell that stuff a mile away. Lastly, if someone shoots my BOB and hits the Red's I am going up in flames like an old dryed out Christmas tree.
Just kidding, the idea of making your own seems reasonable in a PAW. I personally like Gunzilla, I just try to keep and extra quart of it stocked in my preps, and I keep a small bottle in my Bob and each gun case.

[ineffableone]

........................Or a flexible cleaning rod. .............................

like that Otis kit in the first post

I am still interested in hearing about field expedient cleaning methods.

Field expedient for an AK is simple. Toss in water, swish around, pull out of water, if you have time dry off. If not insert a fresh mag in and start shooting. BTW all you need to neutralize corrosive ammo residue is water. You don't need any fancy chemicals. Just flush the gun with plenty of water and your good.

[teotwaki]

In a really dry desert environment a weapon should dry out quickly and minimize corrosion. Otherwise without the right metals or coatings you can still get a rust buildup. But AK's don't care.... after minute 1:50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4v9ElJg ... page#t=119

[woodsghost]

In a really dry desert environment a weapon should dry out quickly and minimize corrosion. Otherwise without the right metals or coatings you can still get a rust buildup. But AK's don't care.... after minute 1:50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4v9ElJg ... page#t=119

Good point on desert environments. A friend who does a lot of black powder taught me to use boiling water and dish soap to do the initial cleaning on an AK, followed by more regular methods. It works real nice and the boiling/steaming water evaporates real fast.