Thread: HXP 303 ammo corrosive? found rust in my barrel

The corrosive salts dissolve into the pores of the steel in the barrel. Hot water removes most of it, but not every last bit. You reactivate what is there on shooting even using modern ammo in old firearms, also primers even non corrosive still contain reactive products so in the right conditions any barrel will rust after shooting including stainless.

Boiling water out of a jug is the easiest way to strip salt from a barrel, then push through a patch to dewater and then clean as normal. Always chamber to muzzle if possible, push the crap out of the chamber not into it (not always possible). Use a guide for rods if you can, bronze brushes are good for stubborn fouling but use with powder solvent only as copper solvent will eat the brush and show as green on a patch. One piece rods, if coated wipe the rod every few passes to make sure it's decrapped.

Originally Posted by No.3

The corrosive salts dissolve into the pores of the steel in the barrel. Hot water removes most of it, but not every last bit. You reactivate what is there on shooting even using modern ammo in old firearms, also primers even non corrosive still contain reactive products so in the right conditions any barrel will rust after shooting including stainless.

Boiling water out of a jug is the easiest way to strip salt from a barrel, then push through a patch to dewater and then clean as normal. Always chamber to muzzle if possible, push the crap out of the chamber not into it (not always possible). Use a guide for rods if you can, bronze brushes are good for stubborn fouling but use with powder solvent only as copper solvent will eat the brush and show as green on a patch. One piece rods, if coated wipe the rod every few passes to make sure it's decrapped.

Good point since I don't know the history of the barrel.
I my rifle rebarreled with this one I found at a gun show, the last one was absolutely toast.
The gunsmith described a special type of clean which he was supposed to do at the time but never did, can't remember what it was called.
I think I really need to get a gun vice too, as cleaning with such a long rod and holding the rifle is awkward to say the least.

Originally Posted by kotuku

an old deerstalker told me years ago -if your .303 is a bitch prone to rust do this .boil up 1/2cup of vinegar block ya barrel off and pour it in -leave for 15mins or so(time to boil the jug ,make a cuppa).right now empty barrel out and rinse with clean boiling water and leave in a warm place for barrel to cool down.it should be sparkling or close to it .if not repeat.

I've heard about the vinegar trick before too, would do a good job at dissolving copper and rust, my main concern is it would also technically dissolve some of the steel too if left in the barrel long enough, it also will remove bluing, so need to be careful.

Originally Posted by Old_School

Good point since I don't know the history of the barrel.
I my rifle rebarreled with this one I found at a gun show, the last one was absolutely toast.
The gunsmith described a special type of clean which he was supposed to do at the time but never did, can't remember what it was called.
I think I really need to get a gun vice too, as cleaning with such a long rod and holding the rifle is awkward to say the least.



I've heard about the vinegar trick before too, would do a good job at dissolving copper and rust, my main concern is it would also technically dissolve some of the steel too if left in the barrel long enough, it also will remove bluing, so need to be careful.

dissolve the steel In minutae if any -Id be more worried about corrosive ammo etc .hell i use vinegar on fish&chips -doesnt even soften the bloody soggy batter!
Ill give you another wee tip for free -got a paint brush with old hard enamel paint on -a good un .drop that in a cup of boiling vinegar and leave it .99%certain itll dissolve all the shit and you can clean up ya favourite brush .also bloody good for jock itch and athletes foot .tickles a little when applied liberally ,but stops the itch and the microbes up and ...k off elsewhere!

Originally Posted by kotuku

dissolve the steel In minutae if any -Id be more worried about corrosive ammo etc .hell i use vinegar on fish&chips -doesnt even soften the bloody soggy batter!
Ill give you another wee tip for free -got a paint brush with old hard enamel paint on -a good un .drop that in a cup of boiling vinegar and leave it .99%certain itll dissolve all the shit and you can clean up ya favourite brush .also bloody good for jock itch and athletes foot .tickles a little when applied liberally ,but stops the itch and the microbes up and ...k off elsewhere!

bloody hell - now that is snake oil-

Originally Posted by No.3

The corrosive salts dissolve into the pores of the steel in the barrel. Hot water removes most of it, but not every last bit. You reactivate what is there on shooting even using modern ammo in old firearms, also primers even non corrosive still contain reactive products so in the right conditions any barrel will rust after shooting including stainless.

Boiling water out of a jug is the easiest way to strip salt from a barrel, then push through a patch to dewater and then clean as normal. Always chamber to muzzle if possible, push the crap out of the chamber not into it (not always possible). Use a guide for rods if you can, bronze brushes are good for stubborn fouling but use with powder solvent only as copper solvent will eat the brush and show as green on a patch. One piece rods, if coated wipe the rod every few passes to make sure it's decrapped.

Agreed
+1 for boiling water. That's all we used in my old 303 rifle club days. Every Saturday when getting home had to face up to cleaning. Parker Hale amongst their accessories used to make an angled funnel to go into the chamber. I made my own. And with boiling water it self dries to a point. This method has worked since the dinosaurs.
Boiling water was what I cleaned my muzzle loaders with as well but with them I used to take them out of their wood. Parker Hales were easy to do this.

Unfortunately there are times when a bronze brush needs to be used with a Cu solvent and yes they get eaten away. (A stiff nylon brush doesn't always give the agitation a CU solvent needs to do its job effectively.) As long as this is recognised and the false positive Cu indication doesn't mislead to more and more cleaning. Same with older cleaning rod tips - false positive for Cu.

Ok, so I went into my store to grab some breakfree, they had heard about it but didn't stock it.
He said he only puts a bore solvent such as hoppes through the gun every 100 rounds or so. He just puts a few patches of a good penetrating oil down the barrel after a shoot.
He told me CRC brakleen is a good solvent to put down to clean all the crap down the barrel too.
Also was told you are supposed to put a dry patch down the barrel before shooting to get rid of any oil, can damage the barrel. He said a 303 is more forgiving, but if it had caused a bulge, you would feel it.
He sold me a can of Kroil to use, said this is a good penetrating oil that coats the barrel but it not too thick.

Originally Posted by zimmer

Agreed
+1 for boiling water. That's all we used in my old 303 rifle club days. Every Saturday when getting home had to face up to cleaning. Parker Hale amongst their accessories used to make an angled funnel to go into the chamber. I made my own. And with boiling water it self dries to a point. This method has worked since the dinosaurs.
Boiling water was what I cleaned my muzzle loaders with as well but with them I used to take them out of their wood. Parker Hales were easy to do this.

Unfortunately there are times when a bronze brush needs to be used with a Cu solvent and yes they get eaten away. (A stiff nylon brush doesn't always give the agitation a CU solvent needs to do its job effectively.) As long as this is recognised and the false positive Cu indication doesn't mislead to more and more cleaning. Same with older cleaning rod tips - false positive for Cu.

I will do the boiling water trick tonight, then spray with brakleen and then go over with a good scrub of hoppes followed by patches soaked in the stuff and finally the oil.
Quite a process!

Originally Posted by Old_School

Ok, so I went into my store to grab some breakfree, they had heard about it but didn't stock it.
He said he only puts a bore solvent such as hoppes through the gun every 100 rounds or so. He just puts a few patches of a good penetrating oil down the barrel after a shoot.
He told me CRC brakleen is a good solvent to put down to clean all the crap down the barrel too.
Also was told you are supposed to put a dry patch down the barrel before shooting to get rid of any oil, can damage the barrel. He said a 303 is more forgiving, but if it had caused a bulge, you would feel it.
He sold me a can of Kroil to use, said this is a good penetrating oil that coats the barrel but it not too thick.


I will do the boiling water trick tonight, then spray with brakleen and then go over with a good scrub of hoppes followed by patches soaked in the stuff and finally the oil.
Quite a process!

yes this thread has gone around in circles a bit - if you have not fired a corrosive primed round then you do not need to use boiling water -modern ammunition is non corrosive - Nitro powder solvents come in a number of types - some are very strong and a must is stick to instructions especially the ammonia based products - I dont use them just to violent and difficult to use - Hoppes no 9 is kind - a petroleum based product and can be left in - you are using it to get rid of mettalic fouling from the bullet jacket i.e copper nickel - and to remove powder fouling so use Hoppes to give your initial clean and if you have fired a lot of rounds then use with a bronze brush - dry rags and after that use a good oil to store firearm -the thin CRC type products use when you suspect water may have got in - or when camping out - or when you first arrive home put some thru barrel until you can give barrel a proper clean - keep those away from woodwork- scopes- they can suck themselves into very tiny spaces - I believe that's called capillary action - your cleaning regime was just not robust enough and I suspect parts of the barrel missed out -

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

yes this thread has gone around in circles a bit - if you have not fired a corrosive primed round then you do not need to use boiling water -modern ammunition is non corrosive - Nitro powder solvents come in a number of types - some are very strong and a must is stick to instructions especially the ammonia based products - I dont use them just to violent and difficult to use - Hoppes no 9 is kind - a petroleum based product and can be left in - you are using it to get rid of mettalic fouling from the bullet jacket i.e copper nickel - and to remove powder fouling so use Hoppes to give your initial clean and if you have fired a lot of rounds then use with a bronze brush - dry rags and after that use a good oil to store firearm -the thin CRC type products use when you suspect water may have got in - or when camping out - or when you first arrive home put some thru barrel until you can give barrel a proper clean - keep those away from woodwork- scopes- they can suck themselves into very tiny spaces - I believe that's called capillary action - your cleaning regime was just not robust enough and I suspect parts of the barrel missed out -

Yes I agree, going by what No.3 suggests, there may be a chance of remaining corrosive primer salts from the previous owner that we don't know about.
So probably no harm in using boiling water.
Going forward, main thing appears to use some sort of powder solvent, then apply oil, so I will research what products are best to address removing powder residue for a start, if no9 does the job, I guess I will stick with that.
Regarding the copper solvent dissolving brushes, ive never experienced this using hoppes no9. Is this stuff truly a copper solvent? Would also suggest this stuff contains some kind of acid if it can dissolve copper.
The guy in the shop also said that the eezeox stuffs probably not the best oil to protect the barrel.

Originally Posted by Old_School

Yes I agree, going by what No.3 suggests, there may be a chance of remaining corrosive primer salts from the previous owner that we don't know about.
So probably no harm in using boiling water.
Going forward, main thing appears to use some sort of powder solvent, then apply oil, so I will research what products are best to address removing powder residue for a start, if no9 does the job, I guess I will stick with that.
Regarding the copper solvent dissolving brushes, ive never experienced this using hoppes no9. Is this stuff truly a copper solvent? Would also suggest this stuff contains some kind of acid if it can dissolve copper.
The guy in the shop also said that the eezeox stuffs probably not the best oil to protect the barrel.

yeah I stick to bronze brushes and use very sparingly - protection after- I stick to Remington oil -lasts well

Originally Posted by Old_School

Ok, so I went into my store to grab some breakfree, they had heard about it but didn't stock it.
He said he only puts a bore solvent such as hoppes through the gun every 100 rounds or so. He just puts a few patches of a good penetrating oil down the barrel after a shoot.
He told me CRC brakleen is a good solvent to put down to clean all the crap down the barrel too.
Also was told you are supposed to put a dry patch down the barrel before shooting to get rid of any oil, can damage the barrel. He said a 303 is more forgiving, but if it had caused a bulge, you would feel it.
He sold me a can of Kroil to use, said this is a good penetrating oil that coats the barrel but it not too thick.


I will do the boiling water trick tonight, then spray with brakleen and then go over with a good scrub of hoppes followed by patches soaked in the stuff and finally the oil.
Quite a process!

Used Brakleen for years. Buy several cans at once when on special. Use it for other cleaning tasks, not just gun cleaning.
It will remove carbon and a bit of Cu when using it for the initial part of the clean. I mainly use it to neutralise any solvents I use. Despite what the manufacturers say (eg Boretech) I don't leave their stuff in my barrels too long. I also use the Brakleen to blast my brushes clean or flush them under the hot tap first followed up by Brakleen.

Hoppe's is basically useless for quich Cu removal and their benchrest blend is even more so..

Serious Shooters was the only place I could find Breakfree when I went looking about 6 months ago. Had to contact them and they bottled a smaller amount. Didn't want the 1 gallon they list on their website.

I always use a bore guide and put 2 layers of those cheap microfibre cloths over the butt and up to under the bore guide. Learnt my lesson of solvent attacking wooden stock finish years ago.