Corrosive Rounds

fe...@netins.net

unread,

May 12, 1996, 3:00:00 AM5/12/96

to

With all the treads about corrosive ammo, is there a quick or simple way
to determine if the contents of your purchase is corrosive? It's easy to
pull a bullet and dump out the powder, but how can you tell if the powder
or the primer is going to rust your bore if not thoroughly purged of the
salts after firing? The 7.62x54R and 7.62x39 seem to be the most
questioned. I guess it is always better to assume it is corrosive and
clean accordingly, but sometimes one buys ammo that may or may not be
labeled one way or the other and time may not always be plentiful. Short
of taste/smell or litmus test what can you do?

Steve

Norman F. Johnson

unread,

May 13, 1996, 3:00:00 AM5/13/96

to

Steve,

# With all the treads about corrosive ammo, is there a quick or simple way
# to determine if the contents of your purchase is corrosive? It's easy to
# pull a bullet and dump out the powder, but how can you tell if the powder
# or the primer is going to rust your bore if not thoroughly purged of the
# salts after firing? The 7.62x54R and 7.62x39 seem to be the most
# questioned. I guess it is always better to assume it is corrosive and
# clean accordingly, but sometimes one buys ammo that may or may not be
# labeled one way or the other and time may not always be plentiful. Short
# of taste/smell or litmus test what can you do?

Clean your bore if you have fired any corrosive ammo since the
last bore cleaning.

Take a mild steel plate and scrub off any rust and dirt and then
degrease.

Pull the bullet and dump the powder from a KNOWN non-corrosive
round (commercial ammo is best here since some of the imported
stuff is corrosive no matter what the advertizer claims). Place
the empty, primed case in gun. Hold it about two inches from the
plate (safety glasses here) and fire.

Do the same with your "test" ammo. "Shoot" the plate at a spot
about four inches away from the first location. Put the plate
in your garage for 24 hours. If the test sample contained a
corrosive primer there will be a marked difference in the corro-
sion at the point of "impact". The non-corrosive primer impact
area will show virtually (depending upon your ambient relative
humidity) no corrosion.

Today's smokeless powder is not corrosive.

God Bless!

Norm

Gale Barrows

unread,

May 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM5/16/96

to

fe...@netins.net wrote:

#With all the treads about corrosive ammo, is there a quick or simple way
#to determine if the contents of your purchase is corrosive? It's easy to
#pull a bullet and dump out the powder, but how can you tell if the powder
#or the primer is going to rust your bore if not thoroughly purged of the
#salts after firing? The 7.62x54R and 7.62x39 seem to be the most
#questioned. I guess it is always better to assume it is corrosive and
#clean accordingly, but sometimes one buys ammo that may or may not be
#labeled one way or the other and time may not always be plentiful. Short
#of taste/smell or litmus test what can you do?

The powder is not or very very rarely is corrosive (in fact I know of
no powder that is corrosive) . Yes black powder and Pyrodex are
sometimes said to be corrosive but are not by themselves. The primers
are the culprits. To test the primers, pull bullets from 2 rounds and
dump the powder. One round should be a round from a US maker or Norma
stating on the box it is non-corrosive. Take two carbon steel plates
about 4-6 inches square or round. Dump the powder from the cases and
fire the primer in a gun with the muzzle about 4-6" from the degreased
plates. Leave them in a firly humid place but out of the direct
weather for 24-48 hours. If the primer is corrosive, you will find
more rust on the plate with the corrosive primer residue.

Ross Bench

unread,

May 18, 1996, 3:00:00 AM5/18/96

to

In article <4nfscm$3...@xring.cs.umd.edu>,
barr...@rapidnet.com (Gale Barrows) wrote:
#fe...@netins.net wrote:
#
##With all the treads about corrosive ammo, is there a quick or simple way
##to determine if the contents of your purchase is corrosive? It's easy to

#
#The powder is not or very very rarely is corrosive (in fact I know of
#no powder that is corrosive) . Yes black powder and Pyrodex are
#sometimes said to be corrosive but are not by themselves. The primers
#are the culprits.

Isn't Cordite corrosive ????

Stephani36

unread,

May 21, 1996, 3:00:00 AM5/21/96

to

##From: ben...@teleport.com (Ross Bench)
$###
####Isn't Cordite corrosive ????

No....Cordite is EROSIVE...it burns hotter than more modern powders and
tends to burn out barrels faster; this is a mechanical process during
firing while corrosion is a chemical process usually occuring after
firing.