Corrosive Ammunition       








Dealing With Corrosive Ammunition



Contributed By: L. S. Barrel







The term ãcorrosive ammunitionä refers to the fact that the       

priming compound in the cartridge (when the gun is fired and then not       

cleaned) will cause the bore to rust and pit. Corrosive priming by       

itself is not necessarily a bad thing because if the ammunition is       

stored properly (in a cool, dry environment, out of direct sunlight) it       

will last virtually forever. You just have to thoroughly clean the gun       

after shooting it. The U.S. Army considers non-corrosive ammo to have a       

shelf life of thirty years, if stored properly. Iâve successfully fired       

corrosive ammunition that was loaded in 1913, prior to WWI.       

If you cannot immediately clean the gun after shooting corrosive       

ammo at the range, try hosing the bolt, barrel, and gas system       

thoroughly with WD-40. this should give you a couple of days time to       

scrub the gun. WD-40 is a great solvent (being about 85% kerosene) but       

is a miserable gun lubricant and can be down-right dangerous if sprayed       

on any of your ammunition. Military-spec. ammo has been ãwaterproofedä       

by using sealers around the primer and the bullet at the case mouth.       

WD-40 dissolves those sealers and can contaminate both the primer and       

the gun powder inside the cartridge. At the best you may have a failure       

to fire (a dud) and at the worst you may have a hangfire (a round that       

goes bang 10  to 15 seconds AFTER you pull the trigger).       

What makes corrosive priming so damaging to the bore is the       

powdered residue it leaves behind after firing. They call these residues       

ãsaltsä. It is an accurate name because these salts attract moisture       

from the air and immediately begin to attack the steel in your gun       

barrel. It will even eat through a chrome-plated bore in short order, as       

a friend of mine found out when he lost a chrome-plated Colt AR15 barrel       

in less than three weeks to shooting corrosive ammo. Which brings up       

another point: my friend was firing Chinese Norinco ãnon-corrosiveä .223       

in his AR15. what is non-corrosive by third- world standards MAY       

OR MAY NOT be non-corrosive by U.S. standards. IF IN       

DOUBT, CLEAN IT OUT!!!       

The old traditional method of cleaning a gun after firing       

corrosive ammo was to thoroughly scrub the bolt, barrel, and gas system       

with HOT soapy water (just like black powder       

shooters), then dry it all out and administer a light coat of       

preservative oil to the clean gun. This method is extremely cheap,       

reliable, and effective.       

From time to time at gun shows you can find the one quart       

containers of U.S. GI Rifle Bore Cleaner (RBC) for sale by the surplus       

dealers. If you pop the lid, take a sniff, and IF it smells sweet (like       

the old Hoppeâs NITRO #9 bore solvent) - BUY IT for       

cleaning up after shooting corrosive ammo. That ãsweetä smell is       

Nitro-benzene and they stopped making bore cleaners with it in the       

1970âs because it is carcinogenic. A one quart container or RBC, mixed       

with three quarts of mineral spirits (paint & hardware stores have it)       

makes one gallon of corrosive ammo bore solvent (which should last you       

quite a while). Clean the barrel, bolt, and the gas system like normal,       

wipe dry, and then put on a light coat of preservative lubricant.       

ODDS & ENDS       

AMMO STORAGE: Keep your ammunition in a cool,       

dry place, out of direct sunlight and (if at all possible) try to       

prevent large, rapid swings in temperature. Gradual temperature swings       

do not seem to bother ammo; but large, rapid swings start the chemical       

breakdown of the gun powder. For instance, on an 80¼ F day: the inside       

of the trunk of your car may reach 130¼ F in the sun, but at night may       

only be 60¼ F ....NOT a good place to leave your ammo.       

Did you know that Hillary wants to ban the future sale of       

ammunition cans by the U.S. military? Those cans are probably the best       

way to store or to carry your ammo and once the lid is locked down       

theyâre waterproof, too! One .50 cal. can will hold up to 5,000 rounds       

of .22 1r in boxes, or over 1,000 rounds of loose 7.62x39mm ammo, or       

just about anything else you can think of!       

I like to store ammo in .50 cal. cans but for easy carrying,       

Iâll move the ammo into .30 cal. size since they tend to be bulky, and       

when fully loaded, it may take two people to move them.       

7.62x39mm Ammunition: This cartridge was one       

of the first successful modern military battle rifle cartridges in the       

world. It continued the .30 caliber trend in Russian bore diameter       

weapons (during WW II all of the Russian small arms used .30 cal.       

barrels, even their pistols. Think of the savings in barrel making       

equipment costs, not to mention the ammunition manufacturing savings).       

Based loosely on a German design of nearly the same time, the 7.62x39       

was adopted in 1943 but not manufactured for a new rifle design until       

after WW II was concluded.       

The SKS rifle was the first Russian issued weapon to use this       

cartridge. The early threaded barrel SKS rifles seem to be inherently       

more accurate than the later pressed and pinned barrel models that began       

showing up in the 1960âs production. the cartridge is capable of fine       

accuracy in a threaded barrel gun out to about 300 yards maximum while       

the pressed and pinned models accuracy seems to have a maximum accuracy       

range of about 250 yards (individual guns may be better or worse).       

The follow-up design, the AK47, was designed as a full-automatic       

assault rifle ( a machine gun). As a result of the full-auto nature of       

the design, the accuracy of the semi-auto models is not much (if any)       

better than the pressed barrel SKS rifles and is probably worse. Most of       

the AK47s that Iâve fired, were not much good beyond 250 yards for       

shooting groups. The average SKS rifle would shoot rings around the       

average AK47 for accuracy.       

Most of the available 7.62x39 ammo is corrosive and the accuracy       

varies quite a bit from lot to lot (Mfâg. lot, that is). If your rifle       

doesnât group well with one batch, try another lot... it may shoot one       

hole groups with the next batch. It still is a very fine cartridge in       

the .30-30 power class with a usable range of up to 300 yards and a good       

deal cheaper than .30-30 ammo as well. Certainly no better deal can be       

had than the SKS rifle on todayâs market for the money!!!       

The rear-most sight setting on both the SKS and AK47 rifles is       

the battle setting for approximately 350 yards. Rather than make a lot       

of sight changes for the 100, 200 and 300 meter settings, I just set the       

rifleâs sight on the back setting and hold a little low (under) the       

target at distances up to 250 yards and then put the sights dead-on at       

targets from 250 out to 350 yards away. It seems to work well for me at       

any rate.       

Both the SKS and the AK47 have extremely powerful extractors for       

positive case extraction and ejection in Arctic conditions. As a result,       

empty cases tend to be thrown quite a ways from the shooter and the AK47       

tends to leave a crease in the shoulder of the casing, not a desirable       

thing if you were planning to reload that shell case. As long as       

imported ammunition stays below 30¢ to 35¢ a round, it will be difficult       

to justify the expense of reloading this caliber.

                                           






