Ammo ID. ??
- Thread starter jbalazs
- Start date
Mike Irwin
Staff
Egypt, Syria, or UAE, most likely.
It can be kind of tough to figure out exactly where some of that stuff was produced.
One thing you can bank on, though, is that it's corrosive primed.
It can be kind of tough to figure out exactly where some of that stuff was produced.
One thing you can bank on, though, is that it's corrosive primed.
Mike Irwin
Staff
Corrosive priming contains potassium chlorate which, upon firing, is converted to potassium chloride (KCl)
Like its cousin sodium chloride (salt), KCl is very hygroscopic, meaning that it will literally draw water to itself right out of the air and will, in short order, cause rusting on anything steel, like a gun barrel.
After firing the KCl residue must be removed by liberal applications of water, which dissolves it and washes it away.
Hot soapy water has always been one of the main standards, as the soap dissolves any residual oil the KCl might hide under, and the warm water helps with solubility and also warms the metal and promotes quicker drying.
Potassium chlorate priming used to be the standard, but has slowly been phased out around the world since WW II.
It remained common in the Soviet Block and also in desert nations because it's cheap, it's effective, and in desert areas there's not a lot of free water in the air so rusting isn't really an issue.
Like its cousin sodium chloride (salt), KCl is very hygroscopic, meaning that it will literally draw water to itself right out of the air and will, in short order, cause rusting on anything steel, like a gun barrel.
After firing the KCl residue must be removed by liberal applications of water, which dissolves it and washes it away.
Hot soapy water has always been one of the main standards, as the soap dissolves any residual oil the KCl might hide under, and the warm water helps with solubility and also warms the metal and promotes quicker drying.
Potassium chlorate priming used to be the standard, but has slowly been phased out around the world since WW II.
It remained common in the Soviet Block and also in desert nations because it's cheap, it's effective, and in desert areas there's not a lot of free water in the air so rusting isn't really an issue.
Shadi Khalil
New member
That's Arabic. I can read it but it will take me forever to sound everyhting out. I'm gonna email it to my dad, I wanna know what it says now..
Its Egyptian and its is corrosive. Its also fairly hot.
It was made for the Egyptian version of the Swedish M45 "Swedish K", the Port Said. The mags hold 36 rounds.
I still have some I got cheap back in the 80's. Its the only corrosive ammo I've used that left a nice orange fuzz on the muzzle, bore and chamber area of my MAC overnight because I was to lazy to clean it after getting home late and figured I'd wait til morning.
It was made for the Egyptian version of the Swedish M45 "Swedish K", the Port Said. The mags hold 36 rounds.
I still have some I got cheap back in the 80's. Its the only corrosive ammo I've used that left a nice orange fuzz on the muzzle, bore and chamber area of my MAC overnight because I was to lazy to clean it after getting home late and figured I'd wait til morning.
Mike Irwin
Staff
"nice orange fuzz"
Yep, it's been described as "wildly corrosive" by some people... Including me.
While corrosive is corrosive, and there's no getting around that, there is mildly corrosive and extremely corrosive priming.
I know some people object to that by saying that there's no such thing as mildly corrosive, just like there's no such thing as a little pregnant...
But, there is, and there isn't...
Yes, any ammunition with a corrosive primer will cause gun rusting in the right circumstances, but how quickly and what degree of rusting depends on how much potassium chloride is left in the bore after firing.
In many European primers, there's really not much at all, because the push had been to remove as much of the material as possible in the years prior to WW II becuase of the realities of the battlefield and the nasty wet weather that often overtakes Europe.
In the middle east, though, there was no compelling need to remove the potassium chloride. It was cheap and worked well, and was certainly cheaper to manufacture than some of the advanced European primer compounds. And, the middle east isn't known for its high ambient humidity, so the danger of bore rusting was far less than what it was in Europe.
But, take those primers to, say, central Pennsylvania in mid summer, fire them in a Helwan, and toss the gun in the back of the truck and forget about it, which a friend of mine did?
When he finally remembered it, it was sitting in a puddle of orange water that had dripped out of the barrel. The bore was almost rusted shut and the slide couldn't be pulled back. Couldn't get the magazine out, either.
Took a long term soak in penetrating oil followed by tapping the slide open with a hammer and chunk of 2x4 to start the road to recovery.
Oh, and a new barrel.
Yep, it's been described as "wildly corrosive" by some people... Including me.
While corrosive is corrosive, and there's no getting around that, there is mildly corrosive and extremely corrosive priming.
I know some people object to that by saying that there's no such thing as mildly corrosive, just like there's no such thing as a little pregnant...
But, there is, and there isn't...
Yes, any ammunition with a corrosive primer will cause gun rusting in the right circumstances, but how quickly and what degree of rusting depends on how much potassium chloride is left in the bore after firing.
In many European primers, there's really not much at all, because the push had been to remove as much of the material as possible in the years prior to WW II becuase of the realities of the battlefield and the nasty wet weather that often overtakes Europe.
In the middle east, though, there was no compelling need to remove the potassium chloride. It was cheap and worked well, and was certainly cheaper to manufacture than some of the advanced European primer compounds. And, the middle east isn't known for its high ambient humidity, so the danger of bore rusting was far less than what it was in Europe.
But, take those primers to, say, central Pennsylvania in mid summer, fire them in a Helwan, and toss the gun in the back of the truck and forget about it, which a friend of mine did?
When he finally remembered it, it was sitting in a puddle of orange water that had dripped out of the barrel. The bore was almost rusted shut and the slide couldn't be pulled back. Couldn't get the magazine out, either.
Took a long term soak in penetrating oil followed by tapping the slide open with a hammer and chunk of 2x4 to start the road to recovery.
Oh, and a new barrel.
johnwilliamson062
Moderator
From what i have read, I would take one round out to put in the collection and send the others to the trash can.
johnwilliamson062
Moderator
So lets say you were committing a crime. You use this ammo then drop the gun at the scene. The police find it and throw it in some evidence room. "CSI" guys come to do some tests and it is a goopy rust pile.
Maybe I should get some, JIC.
Maybe I should get some, JIC.
Any cheep import surpluse military type ammo should be considered suspect until proven innocent.