That is some ugly stuff right there! Might have been water left over? I have a collection of articles on this subject that I found while researching it , maybe this will help you or someone else. Its a long one! I am sure this belongs in Ammo Bunker, but the thread is here. Sorry!
The "corrosive" part of corrosive ammo isn't! The primer compound (a miniscule quantity BTW....less than 0.25 g/primer) leaves table salt's (NaCl) lighter cousin, potassium chloride (KCl) in the bore. In and of itself....it isn't "corrosive", but it IS highly hydrophilic, meaning that it'll draw water from ANYWHERE...the air, your body, and form an electrolytic solution that IS corrosive. That hydrophilic nature is also how you clean it.....it LOVES water, so you make sure it gets access to some! Old USGI bore-cleaner designed for corrosive primers was kinda "milky" and rusted it's way out of the metal containers it was stored in because it was an emulsion that contained a hefty percentage of water...old (and maybe new....I haven't checked the MSDS in a while) Hoppes had enough water in it to clear KCl out of a bore....I doubt Sweets has a drop of water! Plain old water is the key!
Red's suggestion of a little Windex is completely valid (it's mainly water with a little surfactant!). Failing that...the "cheaper alternative", is cheap automotive "blue-juice" windshield washer fluid. If you don't want to travel the "high-tech" road, then a patch or two of plain old tap-water (hot)....maybe with a TOUCH of dish-soap as a surfactant to make sure the water gets into all the nooks and crannies, and then dry-patching will do the trick!
Yes, its worth pointing out I also never shoot anything corrosive in an M1 or any gas gun, but in bolt guns no problem.
i don't mind shooting corrosive ammo in a bolt rifle but i don't think its a good idea in a semi auto if it can be avoided. (a complete dissassembly is mandatory). i find its always best to inspect a rifle a few days after cleaning. i'm always surprised at how dirty a 'clean' bore can become in a few days as is the case with gas systems.
How to properly clean after using corrosive ammo
This is how I do it... it's easy, it's fast, and it's effective. Best of all you can do it while still on the firing-line and thus not offend your significant other with the usually pungent stench of commercial cleaners in your home.
Dilute regular household ammonia (sudsy is best but regular is OK too) to 2/1 or 3/1 with water (it can be as much as 10/1 if the smell really gets to you). Keep in a small bottle to take with you to the range but label it well so you don't mistake it for contact-lens solution or something (yeeeowww!)
After you are done firing and while still at the range moisten (not dripping-wet, but sorta-soaked) a patch and run it down the bore and back once. This instantly will neutralize and dissolve the corrosive salt-compounds from the primers and start in on the copper and powder fouling with a vengeance.
Let stand for thirty seconds or so (just enough time to take off and throw away the ammonia-patch you just used and put a new, dry patch on your rod). Run the dry patch (or several) down the bore and you are most literally done.
DON'T OVERDO IT! More ISN'T better in this case...
You really don't want to slop ammonia (especially if heavily concentrated) all over the blued parts of the gun (as it will likely start to remove bluing after 30 minutes or so) and you also shouldn't leave the ammonia in the bore for an extended period of time (like hours, although I do know folks who do that anyway) as that may (not WILL, but MAY) cause "crazing" (microscopic pitting) of the metal. I also have to caution against slopping ammonia on the wooden parts of your rifle, as it will usually strip the finish down to bare-wood, BUT if you follow my advice on HOW MUCH ammonia to use (only enough to dampen, but not soak, a single patch per gun) you will not EVER experience ANY problems at all...
If you are worried about primer residue getting on the bolt-face you may want to quickly wipe it with the wet patch before throwing the thing away and quickly dry it. Same thing with the gas-tube in a semi-automatic rifle... don't go overboard, just wet it and dry it and get done with it.
As a final precaution (since the ammonia will also kill all lubricants and leave the metal very dry) you can run a patch of gun-oil down the bore and leave it like that for protection from the elements (just be sure to run a dry patch down the bore before shooting it again).
I've been cleaning guns this way (including *every* gun we sell) for nearly thirty years, and have never had rust form in any bore (even here in humid Florida).
However, if you are (like some folks I have met) completely obsessed about leaving traces of ANY powder or copper residue in the bore of your weapon, you can certainly follow up your "field-cleaning" with a detailed, strenuous, traditional cleaning once you are home (or in a week or month from then). But I warn you... your bore is much more be likely to be damaged from your over-enthusiastic scrubbing to get out that "last speck of copper" (which has no affect on the actual accuracy of your firearm) than it will with all the rounds you could possibly send down it during your lifetime.
Dennis Kroh
http://www.empirearms.com/
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CORROSIVE AMMO NEUTRALIZER
The original formula for the elimination of corrosive salts that are deposited on firearms when military style corrosive ammunition is used. No more "soap and water" treatment, introducing rust creating water to your firearm. Corrosive Ammo Neutralizer will remove the salts plus it will clean the burnt powders and dirt from your guns.8 oz. Jug $9.95
http://www.mg34.com/Misc.html
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The most important part of cleaning after corrosive ammo use is.....WATER.
You need to flush out those corrosive salts that will start the rusting process. Even better....Hot Water....even better... Hot Soapy Water.
Many ask why Windex? Windex is mostly water, comes in a handy-dandy easily portable spray bottle, and you get the added benefit of Ammonia and soap.
Again many ask why ammonia?, well ammonia (NH3) has a High pH (it is a base) and base solutions are good for steels. Industrial and Utility boilers for example are filled with water 24/7 and pH is maintained anywhere from 8.5 to 11. We run ours at 9 to 9.5 and the insides look like the day they were installed.
Ammonia also is deadly to yellow metals, it will disolve all admiralty metals (copper, brass, bronze etc.) over time, and is why ammonia based cleaning solvents are so good at removing copper fouling...note your patches coming out green!
The goal is to flush the salts out, or spray in or swab in enough windex to fully remove the salts. Without immediate treatment the salts just sitting in the bore will react with moisture in the air (humidity) and you will get a rusty bore pretty quick.Get them salts out!
Happened with my M-48 mauser that sat for just a day (summertime-high humidity) prior to cleaning, swabbed out a bit of rust starting to form...caught it quick so no damage done.
When I am shooting corrosive, when I am done, angle the rifle down, I spray down the bore from the chamber, soak patches on cleaning rods and swab a couple of patches through. Get home...normal cleaning.
Been doing this for years now and all the bores look like the day I bought them.
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Corrosive Ammo Cleaning
This is just a rundown on the reasons for cleaning your your barrel/lock/barrel extension and feedblock with hot water and soap.
First - the reason corrosive ammo corrodes is due to the deposition of strong oxidants in the barrel (Chlorates, usually) . These oxidants are inorganic salts, and in the presence of water will undergo a redox reaction with the steel of your barrel (without water both the steel and salts just sit there, dormant - as is demonstrated by leaving a 1919 barrel with 1400 rds of Turk 8mm uncleaned in AZ, no water, 3 months later, no rust).
How many remember their 101 chem, or organic chem class?? There is a term that is invaluable when running experiments in these classes "LIKE DISSOLVES LIKE." Inorganic salts are extremely POLAR (there are large + and - "ends" of the molecule) - water is also extremely POLAR (two positive hydrogens on one side, a big ol' oxygen on the other, with extra electrons, creating a negative side). Oils and solvents such as hexane/toluene are NON POLAR. They are usually a string of carbons with hydrogens spaced symmetrically around them (ie no unbalanced charge around any point). These non polar solvents cannot dissolve polar salts, and are not miscible in polar solvents (ie, if you already have water and salts in your barrel, washing them with non polar solvents will not remove either water nor salt).
I, being a chemist, and a gun nut, have done a bunch of reading on this stuff, I wanted to make a "Corrosive ammo cleaner" and looked up the solubility constants of these common oxidizing salts in various solvents. Guess what? None even come close to that of HOT WATER. There is absolutely no comparison between hot water and any other solvent. Add some soap to the hot water to cut through the grease (to help miscibility of oil and grease in water... want some background on micells?) - allow to dry, toss in the wife's oven (or buy a surplus oven and leave it in your garage, as I do... for moly coating, drying guns etc etc). Then clean the gun in exactly the same way you usually have (hoppes etc).
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Letter Re: Perpetuation of Corrosive Ammo Cleaning Mythology
Jim,
Please stop the perpetuation of dangerous [(to equipment)] mythology regarding cleaning firearms after shooting corrosive ammo. It's not magic. Not understanding how to clean your guns or why can seriously and dangerously corrode guns in a matter of hours.
The text from Mike's letter to SurvivalBlog is italicized:
Cleaning after corrosive ammo. It depends on how much moisture the gun is exposed to how quickly it needs cleaned. In my safes with “Golden Rod” heaters I have no trouble for one to two weeks. Sitting in the garage in Ohio’s notorious humidity, a few days seems the maximum. Of course, chrome lined barrels are far less of a problem.
No serious problems so far. Gun corrosion rates are directly related to ambient humidity.
If it may be a while before I can get my guns cleaned, I douse them in WD-40 (I buy it by the gallon can - cheaper).
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Cleaning corrosive residues from guns necessitates that the gun owner realizes that the corrosive residues are salts, most notably potassium chloride. Salts are ionic solids, and only dissolve in water. Just try dissolving a teaspoon of table salt (sodium chloride) in a glass of 100% alcohol or gasoline to see what I mean. (Granted, there are specialized organic solvents that will dissolve salts, but we're talking about gun owners, not laboratory chemists.) "Dousing" guns in WD-40 doesn't seem like it would do a whole lot. Rinsing them out with hot water definitely will.
To clean, I use one of several different methods. Hot soapy water is probably best. Immerse the muzzle in a bucket of it and brush in such a way as to really wash it out. If the water is hot enough, the gun will flash dry on it’s own.
I simply pour hot, nearly boiling water from my coffee maker carafe into the chamber and let it run out the muzzle. A quick brushing with a little soap removes the bulk of the powder fouling which may prevent occluded salt from being rinsed away the first time.
Apply oil to all parts exposed to the water as it removes all of the oil residue and rust is a certainty! I prefer LSA (available from Sarco, $6.95 per quart) or CLP (which I pick up at Knob Creek for about $10 per quart). If the hot soapy water is a problem I use Hoppe's Copper Solvent which contains ammonia, followed by Hoppe's #9 [bore cleaning solution], then oil. The ammonia helps rinse away the corrosive salts, not to mention removes some copper fouling.
I would recommend using a volatile, water-displacing solvent such as alcohol or acetone to remove traces of water, followed by a non-volatile gun cleaner - and then storing the gun horizontally, or at least muzzle-down until proper gun cleaning can be performed. In any event, store the gun in as dry an environment as possible.[JWR Adds: If using acetone, be very careful not to let it contact your skin. Wear disposable exam gloves, and work only in a well-ventilated area!]
There is a myth that ammonia somehow "breaks up" or "breaks down" the salts that are responsible for corrosion. This is a complete falsehood. It's the water that the ammonia is dissolved in that dissolves and rinses away the salt.
There is an excellent discussion of the probable origin of these myths in Hatcher's Notebook, by Julian S. Hatcher, on pages 334-360. It is a very scientific study and explanation of why guns corrode, and how to clean guns so they don't.
Most important, IMHO, is to inspect the gun every couple of days after cleaning and again a week or two later to make sure that you did not miss some odd spot and rust is developing. While I admit cleaning a PKM, Goryunov or AK gas system after corrosive ammo is a bit of a pain, the [low] price of the ammo certainly justifies it. Remember, when these guns were new and being used by the military, corrosive was the only kind of ammo available! A note on Hoppe's #9 – the older formula contained Benzene which worked very well at removing corrosive residue. Trouble is, the stuff is hazardous so it is not in the current formula. Hoppes still will clean a gun of corrosive residue but more effort is required! Same for some WWII / Korea era GI bore cleaner.
The Hoppe's original formula contained nitrobenzene, not benzene. This may or may not have helped to dissolve salts, but it still isn't anywhere nearly effective as water.
As a final note, make sure to clean the bolt face, action, and firing pin channel, since corrosive primer residues can build up on these areas and cause serious problems resulting in failures to feed or fire. - Virginia Gun Nut and "Patty"
On this subject....I saw a really effective alternative for clearing corrosive salts at Camp Perry today care of Sgt. Toby Tomlinson and the Army MTU! Hydrogen peroxide! The cheap OTC stuff you can buy at Wally World or Family Dollar for pocket change! The water will solubilize the salts while the decomp of the peroxide provides a foaming/scrubbing action to dig the salts out of the "nooks and crannies". Just a wet patch of it is enough, then a dry patch.
Another application for the peroxide....cancelling the potential corrosive effects of high-ammonia cleaners like Sweets. The effect is the same as with chlorate residue, except in this case, the peroxide is neutralizing any residual ammonia that can be TOUGH on stainless steel barrels.
This is a very good idea for effective bore-cleaning, with solid chemistry backing it up...and I never thought of it or heard of it in over 45 years of shooting!