Corrosive Ammo ???

G

Guyon

New member
I've become a little concerned after reading posts here and on other boards about the potential for "slightly" corrosive (similar to "slightly" pregnant in my book) primers in foreign-made ammunition.

I'm just wondering if any of you have had problems with any of the following ammo:

Wolf Ammo (7.62x39 or even 9x18 Mak)
Hirtenberger 7.62x51
Radway Green (1980s) 7.62x51
PMP (South Africa) 7.62x51
Bosnian 7.62x51

And just while I'm asking, Novosibirsk and Barnaul 9x18 Makarov?

I've shot Hirtenberger and Radway Green in my .308 so far (and Wolf and Novosibirsk in the Mak). I've looked carefully for any signs of rust or corrosion in both the rifle and the pistol, but haven't noticed anything conspicuous.

I guess I'm most curious about the Wolf rifle ammo, the PMP, and the Bosnian since I haven't shot those yet. Thanks for any input.
 
I don't know about the Bosnia ammo, but the rest is non-corrosive.

Some of the ammo being advertised as "mildly corrosive" is WWII U.S. GI .45. You are right about "mildly pregnant". It is corrosive as he*l.

Jim
 
Hey Guyon,

If you reload ammunition, I would suggest not buying corrosive ammunition at all. Buy whatever quantity of "regular" factory ammo you need, shoot it up, and reload without a care of the corrosive residue in the brass. If you do not reload, then I guess you might want to buy corrosive ammo because it is cheap. It seems like most of the corrosive ammo also uses steel cases or Berdan primers which effectively rule out reloading anyway. The short version is that you better clean your rifle - carefully - after every use of corrosive ammo. If you can move to reloading, you no longer are tempted to buy the corrosive stuff.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile
 
Thanks for the info Jim. I know the Wolf, Barnaul, and Novosibirsk all say "non-corrosive"--just wanted to make sure it wasn't just a matter of degrees. I'd heard the Hirtenberger and Radway Green are non-corrosive before, but wasn't entirely sure about the PMP.

I'm clueless about the Bosnian stuff. I just picked up a 15 round box for a couple of bucks at the last gun show. Thought I'd try it out, but the more I think about possible corrosive qualities, the less I'm inclined to shoot it.

David, you're right. Reloading is the way to go, and I'm hoping that my birthday present this year will be a Rockchucker starter kit. We'll see. Some of the "good" milsurp stuff like Hirtenberger is boxer primed, so I'll be able to save those casings. I simply chuck the Berdan stuff.
 
Trust me, mildly corrosive usually means just that.

If you want full-bore, kick but EAT YOUR GUN ALIVE corrosive, try some of the Syrian, Egyptian, or Iraqi surplus stuff!

Given the extreme dryness in those nations, it usually wasn't a problem.

A friend of mine shot a Helwan with some Syrian(?) 9mm, maybe Eqyptian, and then threw the gun under the seat of his truck and forgot about it.

It stayed there for about two weeks in the middle of a Washington, DC, high humidity summer.

When he remembered it, it had rust litterally growing out the barrel. The slide wouldn't even open.

We dunked it in a tank of penetrating oil and left it sit for a couple of days, and then used a wooden dowel rod down the barrel and a hammer to break the slide loose.

The barrel was toast, the inside of the slide was pretty bad, but we were able to salvage it.
 
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