Potentially OCD Question

[Britsmoothy]

If you prefer warm or hot water and have chlorinated water just bring it to a boil and let cool a bit, the chlorine will evaporate, it will do so if your water sets overnight also.When I was in the army we were made to use nearly boiling water to clean our M1 Garands. No flash rust but the rifle I was issued had a horrible dark and pited bore, I think some rust may have been beneficial.

Buzz

Corrosive primers and back in the day caps had a lot to answer for, also cold damp climate and bringing cold kit indoors.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

someone left the door open to the asylum again.....

 

[JCKelly]

Clean with cool water. Best.

By the way, steel does not have "pores"

Just don't use hot water if you do not want steel to rust

And chlorine comes from good ol' soap

Jim Kelly, retired metallurgist, started work in '63

 

[Grenadier1758]

That's true, steel doesn't have pores. If you don't do a thorough job of cleaning the steel may develop pits, but that's a different issue and topic for discussion. I would recommend using water with no dissolved chlorine. It's the dissolved chlorine gas, not so much the bonded dihydrogen monoxide molecule that is the culprit in the flash rusting.

 

[Crow-Feather]

Steel may not have pits or pores, but it is not absolutely smooth. A rifle barrel is not as smooth as an engine cylinder.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Yeah but try running an engine on black powder!

 

[Col. Batguano]

It's been tried. Swabbing between cylinder strokes was hard on the operator.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Take a bucket to your local creek half fill from the creek set on the campfire let it heat to where it is uncomfortable to stick your hand in clean the rifle, swab the bore dry and oil lightly. Not rocket science.

 

[Woody Morgan]

I prefer the deep sink in the laundry room next to the shop.

wm

 

[Jay Templin]

Been cleaning my guns with boiling (or nearly so) water for over 30 years and have never seen this “flash rust” of which y’all speak.
Jay

 

[nightwolf1974]

Warm soapy water in a bucket to clean, compressed air to dry, and gun oil to oil the bore. When I take back out, I dump lacquer thinner down the barrel to clean out the bore, compressed air to dry, then an all cotton patch to make sure it's dry.