Corrosive or not?

[Meaty]

Hello,
I have brought some 7.92 x 57 mil surp ammo that is 1953-55 manufactured with 198 gn FMJ ball bullets.
Does anyone know if this is likely to have corrosive primers as I cant seem to find a definitive date when the change over to non corrosive took place. Afraid I wont be able to give any indication of head stamps until tomorrow afternoon (when it arrives!)
Thanks

[Steve E]

It depends on who manufactured it. If it is European or from USA it may or may not be corrosive. If Eastern European or Chinese I would definately say corrosive. In realiity does it really matter? Shoot the stuff and then clean the bore as if its corrosive.

Steve

[Tower75]

Does it matter if it is or not?

If it is, or your believe that it is, all you need to do is run a litre or two of boiling water through the barrel, to get rid of the sodium deposits, before you clean it normally.

Corrosive-ammo is nothing to be scared of. [sings Adam Ant]

[Meaty]

Great thanks,
This is my first foray into the realms of mil surp hence the questions. Thanks for the advice.

[Tower75]

No problems.

Honestly, apart from the odd [click-bang] of mil-surp ammo, corrosive is NOTHING to worry about.

There is so much male-cow poop out there about corrosive ammo, my advice; ignore it all.

The only reason corrosive ammo can bugger up a barrel is because the corrosive crap that is inside a primer deposits sodium in the lands and groves and gets inside all the nooks and crannies we cannot see.

Simply flush with *boiling* water, about one or two litres to get rid of the sodium, then clean as per normal.

Hey, I may be a Young Gun but I've been shooting corrosive for over 8 years. I only started reloading last year. Hitherto all my ammo was cheap and dirty and corrosive .303 and 7.92x57mm

[Meaty]

cheap and dirty and corrosive

Christ! Did you know my ex-wife? :lol:

[dave_303]

I've used 8mm FNM ammo from the 60's and 70's and if's much better than the 50-60s Yugo stuff I've used.

If anything it left my barrel cleaner than it was before i shot it. gave it a clean, but there was minimal fouling

If you don't want to faff with boiling water 009 is formulated to deal with corrosive ammo, simply patch it through, or let it soak using a fibre brush and patch out, if needs a bronze brush then use it

[meles meles]

Most of us badgers use milsurp ammo, it's pretty good on the whole. We're currently using a batch of 1953 Hungarian 7.92 and haven't had a dud yet. A kettleful of boiling oxygen dihydride clears the barrel of our Yugo M48 nicely, bronze brush once or twice, then pass an oiled patch through it afore it goes back in the cabinet...

[Steve]

Milsurp dont worry me either.I just do as the rest said and tip a kettle full of boiling water down the barrell then clean as normal.Parker Hale 009 cleaner is good although it has got a somewhat pungent smell.

Dont forget to clean the bolt face though otherwise you'll get a black ring (oooo'er!). :lol:

[rufrdr]

I stumbled on a fellow who was selling a semi trailer load of WW2 vintage USGI bore cleaner in pint cans. I bought two cases of the stuff! So far I've managed to use a couple cans of it. If you have any experience with the GI bore cleaner from WW2, the usual stuff is a funky brown color and smells horrible. This stuff came before it, is white and has a pleasing odor to it. I imagine enough GIs drank it to cause the formulation to change! The WW2 bore cleaner is perfect for cleaning corrosive residue and on a whim I tried it on my MH 577/450 to clean the Pyrodex fouling and it worked on that too.

If this stuff is for sale in your neck of the woods I recommend it for cleaning corrosive primer residue.