1000 Rounds of German Military Surplus Ammunition

R

rjinga

New member
I was scrolling a recent SGAmmo.com email notice and saw this ammunition offer. At $0.47 (and ½ cent) a round, it is over $0.10 a round cheaper than what I’ve been shooting; that’s an over $100.00 savings. So, after reading several favorable reviews, I decided to roll the dice. I hope to make it to the range this week and try it out.

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I was of the understanding that Berdan primer is the corrosive part of the cartridge, has the primer recipe been changed? Or do you still need to clean very well afterwards?
 
I was of the understanding that Berdan primer is the corrosive part of the cartridge,
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Berdan vs Boxer primed is unrelated to corrosive or not, it is the primer design.

Boxer primers have a single flash hole centered in the case head, and the anvil is part of the primer. Berdan primers generally have 2 flash holes, offset from the center-line, and the anvil is part of the case.

There are also odd-ball Berdan primed cases with a single flash hole, confused the hell out of me the first time I saw one, (on ~50s vintage Romanian surplus 8mm Mauser).
 
The stuff has been argued over for at least 2 years on the assorted forums. Some guys think it's fine, others are afraid if it. Mostly due to the so-called 'sanitizing' of the head stamp.
It is alleged that the caliber ink stamp is required for sale in Germany. Even that gets argued about.
Bullet has a 'Cupro-Nickel' jackets that make the projectile magnetic. Problematic on some ranges.
Anyway, it's not about how cheap the stuff is. It's about how well it shoots out of your rifle.
You don't have to flush non-corrosive ammo(yes, it's the primer, but it doesn't matter if it's Boxer or Berdan) with hot water.
 
I find it hard to believe that German milsurp would have ".308 WIN" written on it.

More likely, this is a contract overrun or made on the same production line as real German milsurp (Germsurp) ammunitions.
 
Just an FYI about corrosive primers, its the residue from the priming compound, that is corrosive, or not.

Corrosive primers leave behind a chemical salt that attracts moisture, and holds it to the steel, creating rust. In the right conditions this can happen, literally, overnight. Fortunately the chemical salts (usually a potassium compound) are water soluble. The can be flushed away with water. Do that, then clean with the usual solvents and corrosive primers do no harm.

Also note that corrosive primer residue goes everywhere powder gas goes. This includes the bolt face, and any part of the action powder gas contacts when ejecting fired cases. And especially the gas system!! Don't just flush the bore and think you're good.;)

Non corrosive primers use a different chemical compound and do not leave the corrosive residue.

US military ammo changed to non-corrosive priming during the 50s. Many other countries have changed, since, but some still use corrosive priming.

If you assume that any foreign milsurp ammo that doesn't say "non corrosive" is corrosive and act accordingly when cleaning, you won't have trouble.
 
The label clearly says non-corrosive, and I see no reason to doubt it. This is not old WWII military ammo, it is modern ammo and I see no reason for concern. A thin cupro-nickel plating of steel jacketed bullets is common in other countries solely to prevent rusting of the bullet. The U.S. does the same thing, but uses gilding metal instead cupro-nickel so the bullet looks the same as if the jacket were all gilding metal. It is hard to tell a gilding metal plated steel bullet from one with a solid gilding metal jacket. (Hint: use a magnet.)

I assume the removal of the headstamp was part of some "demilitarization" process or an attempt to conceal the source. Oddly, militaries often do such things, even though the other characteristics are all there and might as well be on a billboard.

Jim
 
Germany has very strict rules about the sale of military material - they have to remove the NATO style markings and ink the 308 on it to even be able to sell it without a military export license.
 
"the caliber ink stamp is required for sale in Germany"

This is absolutely true, 100%.

"Bullet has a 'Cupro-Nickel' jackets that make the projectile magnetic"

This is completely false. Just like the US use of gilding metal, bullets with a CN cladding can have a steel jacket or not.
 
I can't remember where I ran across it, but there's interesting reading on US experience with cupro-nickel jackets. What I read was that at Camp Perry and other matches in the early 20th century they found the CN jackets would leave stalactite type formations in the bores that were horrible to clean and would quickly degrade accuracy. Their solution at the time was to dip the projectiles into grease prior to loading. This supposedly kept the buildup down.

I don't doubt they did it, because there were photos attached to the article. But, dipping ammo in grease seems like such an odd thing to do by todays standards.
 
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