Have I damaged my Garand?

B

baddarryl

New member
When I first got a Service Grade about 10 years ago my first 200 rounds were Greek surplus from the CMP. I didn't know anything about corrosive ammo and water so I have always cleaned it with CLP. I haven't noticed any degradation in accuracy. I have since put 400 rounds of new Seller and Bellot though it and cleaned after every range trip.

Have I harmed it in any way and is there anything I should do now? Thank you!'
 
The issue with corrosive primed ammunition is that the priming compound leaves chemical salts behind, everywhere the powder gas contacts. These salts attract water out of the air, and hold it against the steel, which causes rust.

Sometimes, really bad rust rather quickly.

Cleaning with solvents that do not contain water does not dissolve the salts well, if at all. Cleaning with water (or something with water in it, like Windex) does dissolve and flush out the salts. But it is water, so you have to clean again with something that displaces the water (regular gun solvent and oil).

Check your gun, carefully. If there is no rust, I'd say you haven't harmed it.
 
Greek Surplus M2 Ball

From the CMP is non corrosive. Tha Garand ammo made by PPU is non corrosive. US commercial M2 Ball equivalent is non corrosive. US military .30-06 made before 1955 is corrosive. 1950's era PMC Korean surplus. 30-06 is corrosive.
Corrosive primed ammo fired and left uncleaned overnight will rust a bore, if you pay careful attention to the ammo you use you should have no problem.
 
Greek surplus M1 ammo is some of the best. More accurate than the most of the Lake City I have shot and is not corrosive. I believe most of the HXP ammo that was through CMP was from the 1960s-1970s. Great stuff.
 
baddarryl said:
When I first got a Service Grade about 10 years ago my first 200 rounds were Greek surplus from the CMP. I didn't know anything about corrosive ammo and water so I have always cleaned it with CLP. I haven't noticed any degradation in accuracy. I have since put 400 rounds of new Seller and Bellot though it and cleaned after every range trip.

Have I harmed it in any way and is there anything I should do now? Thank you!'
Click to expand...

IF - you shot 200 rounds of corrosive ammo ten years ago, and never properly cleaned it?

You'd be picking up that rifle with a dust pan.

1. HXP is non-corrosive.
2. Shooting non-corrosive ammo will dislodge most/all of the salt left behind by corrosive ammo.

Rest easy.




Red
 
I have a few milsurp rifles that most certainly saw actions during 2 world wars, firing corrosive ammunition. Pretty sure they were not cleaned with water anything right after action, if at all. They are still in pretty good shape. Corrosive ammo has higher chance to cause rusting, but it may not always.

AK-47 are known to last forever, right? The ammo Vietcong used during Vietnam war was corrosive. If it is that bad, AK wouldn't be considered so rugged.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
If you clean right after shooting, clean everything thoroughly and clean the bore back to bare metal and then get all the metal oiled then it doesn't matter what you clean with.

I got a bunch of corrosive pistol ammo years ago at a really low price and shot a bunch of it. Then one time I couldn't get the pistol cleaned right after shooting and found out the stuff was corrosive. Up until then I had cleaned it immediately after getting home from the range, cleaned the bore to bare metal and then wiped on a very thin layer of a good CLP over the whole gun. No problems at all until I didn't clean immediately after shooting.
 
The Greek HXP is definitely non-corrosive. I've shot a couple thousand rounds of it through Garands, 03s and 1917s. Headstamps 68-72. Complete non-issue.

Great brass by the way, some of mine is on it's 5th loading.
 
M-1 Garand

I treat all ammunition except modern in my Garands. I actually have a few cans of GI bore cleaner that is specifically for corrosive ammunition.
 
If the bore doesn't look like the insides of an old iron water pipe ... all correded , rusty and pitted ... after 10 years ... you are GOOD !

I had an old 1895 Spanish Military Mauser 7 X 57 that was so corroded I didn't give it any hope ... Rough , pitted , dark bore from that old Army Ammo ...
Several sessions with a bore brush , wrapped in steel wool and smeared with J-B Bore Cleaning Compound saved it for shooting with jacketed bullets ... just in case you ever get a barrel that needs serious cleaning ... that's the way to get-r-done !
Gary
 
I have a few milsurp rifles that most certainly saw actions during 2 world wars, firing corrosive ammunition. Pretty sure they were not cleaned with water anything right after action, if at all. They are still in pretty good shape. Corrosive ammo has higher chance to cause rusting, but it may not always.

AK-47 are known to last forever, right? The ammo Vietcong used during Vietnam war was corrosive. If it is that bad, AK wouldn't be considered so rugged.

-TL
Click to expand...

To add to this, I purchased my first surplus rifle years and years ago (not quite 20, but getting close) when I was 27, recently out of the Marine Corps, and thought I knew it all. It was basically new never fired, numbers matching, Yugoslavian Mauser (24/47) that I picked up for $150 out the door. I also picked up a tin of Romanian surplus 8mm ammo... which I assure you IS corrosive (the propellant was condite, and I know the primers were corrosive). I know this because I darkened the bore of my rifle. It actually did OK if I cleaned after shooting, even if I didn't use anything water based (i didnt know to at the time, i just cleaned firearms like i was taught in the Corps). Being fresh out of the Marine Corps, my motto was clean after you shoot. Then, one day, I took her to the range and failed to clean after. I put her up, intending to clean within the next week. Well, a few weeks passed. When I went to clean it I noticed bright orange patches! I had rusted the bore! A forum search revealed that my ammo was corrosive, and that cleaning immediately after shooting (preferably with water) is required. Fortunately, there was no pitting. But the bore darkened considerably. I still have that rifle. It shoots as good today as it ever has. But it taught me a lesson.

All this to say, corrosive ammo IS an issue. You need to clean very quickly after shooting, and water based cleaning does in fact help (learned that tidbit when I started shooting black powder). But but but, your rifle won't rust into oblivion if corrosive ammo is not cleaned that day. Or a week later. A few weeks? You'll have my experience, but no major damage will be done. A few months? You'll likely have at least some pitting. 10 years? There would be no doubt you shot corrosive and didn't clean properly with one look down the bore.
 
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