I got my Tantal!!!!

[King 5.45]

The price you pay for real, useful milsurp ammo at 12¢ a pop is eternal vigilance over its maintenance. FYI, you need to watch them like a hawk if you're using corrosive ammo, because they will start rusting after shooting in a matter of hours.

I break mine down completely and give it a thorough scrub-down with Windex after I'm done for the day. I then put it back together, take it home, and then tear it apart and do the powder solvent and CLP dance, followed by an inspection and light cleaning two days afterwards to look for any hotspots of corrosion.

I suggest you get the following for maintenance:

.22 patches

Windex or Ballistol, the Windex straight up, and the Ballistol cut nine parts of water to one of Ballistol, to flush the GSR from the inner metal surfaces before it has a chance to attract moisture to the metal. Some guys use near-boiling waater, but getting it is problematic at the range, which is where the first cleaning should be done.

20 gauge shotgun brush to clean out the piston tube and the gas block

Makeup applicators, rather than Q-tips, to clean out the small holes in the gasblock and the muzzle device. The applicators typically have one end that is shaped like a cone and it fits the holes perfectly to remove powder residue.

chamber brush

.22 mops, to run through the barrel with Windex or whatever else you use to get rid of the majority of the residue

.22 brushes

.22 jag or patch loop

small brushes

bottle brush to clean out the inside of the muzzle device as far down as you can get it

[nfafan]

Originally Posted by King 5.45

The price you pay for real, useful milsurp ammo at 12¢ a pop is eternal vigilance over its maintenance. FYI, you need to watch them like a hawk if you're using corrosive ammo, because they will start rusting after shooting in a matter of hours.
<snip>

Like King said.

A few range trips - even at 12cents a shot - followed by hours of what King has described, only to discover a day or so later that you missed some nook or cranny and now have rust to deal with...

That'll help explain why AK74 types are one of the cheaper AKMs out on the market.

[Mity2]

King, thanks for the cleaning tips. I didn't think about 20ga brush for bore idea.

with that being said, I naturaly clean all my gunz after each trip(except I haven't toutched M44. Kind of scared to clean it now..).

I can sit front of TV, and clean away gunz. I have no issue with that. But paying alot for ammo, I certainly have an issue with.

Just my opinion...

[nfafan]

Originally Posted by Mity2

I can sit front of TV, and clean away gunz. I have no issue with that. But paying alot for ammo, I certainly have an issue with.

Just my opinion...

Your'e lucky, I can't get away with eatin' a sandwich in front of the toob.
Well, that and I'm lazier than a freakin' snail; I'd much rather be shooting than cleaning. And there's a butt-load of nooks and crannies to scrub in an AKM.

Since I'm real frenetic over any gun I own - it became "work" to me.

That's why the "bloom left the rose" as they say, for my WASR2.

Loved it at first - but now I stick to my WASR22 and the 7.62 guns.
Once "O-biden" sleazes into the Whitehouse, I'll hawk the WASR2 bundle.