picked up some 5.45 x 39mm ammo from a buddy, few hundred rounds for free.  about half of them have some corrosion on them. seen a youtube video showing someone using vinegar and salt solution to clean them.  Any thoughts about this?

Water... that's it.

 

Well, then clean and oil as normal.

Why would anyone use salt to clean corrosive residue? That's like washing your car with mud to get it clean. The guy using vinegar and salt is an idiot.

 

Nothing, I mean nothing, cleans corrosive salts better than...water. This is not just GRIZ's opinion. The US Army Ordnance Board came to this after testing before WW2. Hot water works better as the heat speeds up the dissolving of the corrosive salts. A bit of soap or detergent keeps the salts in suspension.

 

Windex, household ammonia,or any of the other popular myths are no better than water.

 

Hoppes #9 or GI bore cleaner will remove corrosive salts. Once again not as good as water.

 

If I'm doing a complete clean on a semi auto that has fired corrosive ammo I first use hot water. I follow with dousing the parts with WD40. This is what WD40 is for, displacing any water that may be in the nooks and crannies. Follow with a conventional clean using your favorite solvent and lube.

great info and thanks for the feed back. should I be worried about water getting the gun powder wet?

great info and thanks for the feed back. should I be worried about water getting the gun powder wet?

 

 

You're supposed to unload it first...

great info and thanks for the feed back. should I be worried about water getting the gun powder wet?

You're supposed to unload it first...

The water should never be near ammunition or powder. FWIW fixed ammunition, factory or reloads is pretty waterproof as it is. There are countless times I've left dome ammo in my pocket and it went through the wash, rinse, and spin cycles in the wash. Would I load it in a gun for serious social purposes? No, but I would take it to the next practice session and it all would work fine.

 

After using the WD40 as I described above I often use Brake Kleen or Gunscrubber to blast all the WD40 off. If you do so you need to be aware this can damage some plastics. The only plastic I can say won't be damaged is in a Glock. I went to a seminar by Glock and the factory rep recommended Gunscrubber.

Edit: I failed my reading comprehension test. I thought that the OP was talking about cleaning up after using corrosive ammo

 

A mixture of Ballistol and water (1:7) is what a friend uses to clean his combloc rifles after shooting corrosive ammo. He explained to me that the water dissolves the salts and the Ballistol coats/protects the metal until he can dry and properly lubricate everything.

 

Hot water alone does the "real" work and the. Ballistol just gives him a little peace of mind during the cleaning process

 

 

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picked up some 5.45 x 39mm ammo from a buddy, few hundred rounds for free. about half of them have some corrosion on them. seen a youtube video showing someone using vinegar and salt solution to clean them. Any thoughts about this?

It would appear your friend figured out a way of disposing unfired ammo.....

How badly corroded? I'm assuming steel case