Properly Cleaning AKs, Mosins and Other Soviet Bloc Weapons | Homestead Security | Forums

As a self accredited expert on anything AK or Mosin, I have done a lot of research on proper cleaning techniques over the past few weeks.

For the past few years everyone has been saying that the best way to clean Soviet Bloc weapons that shoot Corrosive Ammo (military surplus ammo) was to use Windex or any Ammonia based cleaner. I have recently found out this is not true. I read a post on a forum from a guy who claims to be a Chemist and he explained in the most layman terms he could, that the ammonia does not dissolve the salts in the primers of Military Surplus Corrosive ammo.

I got my hands on a real Russian copy of an AK User Manual, the kind a soldier would get in the army. After a few hours of translating with my father, I now know the proper way to clean these Soviet weapons.

Boiling, Water. Thats right, Boiling water.

In the Russian manual, the standard way to clean the service rifle is to get a 50 Gallon Drum, fill it with water and get it boiling. You then take the weapon and field strip it. You grab the rifle by the buttstock and agitate the rifle up and down in the water for about 15-30 seconds to break free any residue. When you pull it out, it WILL be hot so be careful. After that, dry the outside. Run the bore brush through the barrel, or use a bore sneak. You can use nitro solvent if you wish. Brush the inside of the gas tube and dry that. Make sure the weapon is dry.

Clean the Bolt, Bolt Carrier and Gas Piston with hot water and nitro solvent if you want. And that is pretty much it.

Obviously, we arent gonna spend an hour to heat up 50 gallons of water. So the best way I found of doing it is to get a tea kettle or an electric kettle, boiling some water, and pouring it down the barrel, gas tube, and the receiver. Dry it, clean the internals, and you are done.

I did this for the first time yesterday and it greatly cut down on my cleaning time.