Two Old Warriors - that never made it to a battle!

[kragiesardar]

These two warriors never made it to a battle zone; nevertheless they probably tell each other some tall tales when they are together in my safe.

The Irishman and the Yank, must be some tall tales.

303 - Unissued, bought in cosmaline when they were imported from Ireland. Took a lot of scrubbing to get rid of the Cosmo line. Shot it once with Syrian military surplus ammo, scrubbed it and put it away, a week later it had a white deposit all over inside the bore. Guess the ammo was corrosive. Had to clean it out real good. Luckily no major damage. No fun to shoot since its stock and butt plate are more designed to beat your opponent’s brains out then for shooting off the bench!







Springfield Garand - never shot, just haven’t had the time. Real good finish, have the clips that it spits our once all rounds are exhausted. Not designed for malnutrition individuals, it real bulky and heavy. You also need to be real careful when pushing down the follower so the bolt can move forward, it does that very rapidly and you better get your finger out of the way soon.

[Sakobav]

Nice ones Ksardar the M1 garand reminds me of my Grandfathers , I never got to fire this due to the malnourished part and then it was interned in the police malkhana.

Best

[timmy]

Great pair, there, kragiesardar! They do look very pristine!

Regards

[penpusher]

Kragiesardar,

Nice rifles.

The best way to clean for corrosive primers is to pour hot water down the barrel to flush out all the salts.Then clean the normal way.You should also check the barrel after a couple of days,then after a week.You can get a funnel for the Enfield for pouring hot water down the barrel.I have made one from a piece of copper tubing with a rubber washer cut to fit the chamber,on one end and a cheap plastic funnel on the other.

You can use ammonia as well,but it is smelly.

Corrosive primers,in themselves don't cause any damage,but they leave salts in the barrel that are hygroscopic and cause the barrel to rust.If left in the barrel,they can cause rust even under a layer of oil.

[timmy]

Some guys recommend Windex for corrosive primers.

I shoot a lot of milsurp stuff in 7.62 x 54r and 8 x 57. Also used to shoot a fair amount of .30-06. I have used Windex, but usually just get a tub of hot water and put some dishwater soap in it. I like the water as hot as I can get it. I go thru the barrel with a bronze brush and the soapy water until all of the black stuff is out of the barrel. Then, I work patches with Hoppe's #9 thru until that stuff comes thru clean. There's been times, when I first got the guns, that it took lots of this scrubbing and I would augment the hot water with cups of boiling water.

When all is done with this, I have some old military stuff in green plastic bottles I run thru with a couple of soaked patches. I don't know what this is exactly, but it is a petroleum product that smells sort of like kerosene and it is oily.

I use that stuff at the end to put an oily coat on the bore.

Never had any problems with any of the milsurp I've used. Probably the nastiest stuff is a bunch of Turkish 8 x 57, which is pretty "hot" and extremely dirty.

It is important to get the chamber, the bolt face, and anywhere there is fouling -- a Hoppe's soaked patch works well for this.

But for such nice guns, maybe you are better off not shooting them, if you have others that are your working guns.

Ach! You probably know all of this anyway and all I'm doing is prattling!

[kragiesardar]

Pennpusher & Timmy - thanks for the info. Just trusted the dealer when I bought the ammo and wasnt expecting this issue. Did clean it with hot water. Never tried windex, hope I do not have to!
Regards,
Kragiesardar

[indian]

Nice guns in excellent condition sardaar im a fan of the 303 and i use winchester ammo.i never came across a garand in such a nice condition as yours.

cheers

[penpusher]

Kragiesardar,

I would treat any ammo that does not have 'non-corrosive primer' written on the packing as corrosive ammo.

Is it a No4 Mk1,Mk 2?

For the Enfield.

Before firing,clean the barrel and chamber of any oil.

After firing,remove the bolt and the magazine.Run a patch through the barrel.Then,holding the rifle with the muzzle down,pour hot water through the barrel using a funnel.I use de-ionized water for this.Run a couple of patches through the barrel to dry it.Then use whatever solvent you normally use to clean your rifles.

If you use ammonia,ensure that it does not get on the stock.If it does,wipe it off immediately.Ammonia will also remove any copper fouling in the bore.I use ammonia from a person who supplies to labs, diluted in de-ionized water.Smelly stuff.

Then remove the bolt head and wipe the face of the bolt head,the inside of the cone and the top of the firing pin with a damp rag(ammonia /water) ,dry rag followed by an oil rag.Also,remove the mag follower and wipe it the same way.I also wipe the action around the chamber.Re-assemble and give everything a light coating of oil.Re-check after a day or two by running a dry patch through the barrel.Re-oil.Re-check after a month.