Is 1957 FN (Belgian) 30-06 corrosive or not?

[cornered rat]

I just ppicked up 40 rounds of it and would like to test accuracy before getting more. I do not know if it is corrosive or not (would like to know before I clean the rifle). Any guesses? Also, any guesses as to the weight (150/165/180/?)

 

[Art Eatman]

Back when God and I were a lot younger, I shot a lot of corrosive-primed '06. I did the old hot water and soap followed by a hot-water rinse...Later on, I just ran a patch through the bore with a liberal amount of bore cleaner on it, followed by a dry patch and then one more lightly-oiled patch.

I never had any problems with rust or corrosion from the latter method. I've heard that the reason "corrosive" primers are corrosive is that the residue attracts moisture more than the new compounds. I dunno.

Another post on this forum said that the corrosion was actually in the brass itself, and not in the bore (unless you just didn't clean it at all, in a humid climate).

But, dunno nuttin' about that particular ammo.

Pull a bullet and weigh it. You must be getting the stuff real cheap, right? Waste one! Or, recover a spent bullet from your backstop--shoot into a can of sand or some such...

FWIW, Art

 

[.]

CR,

The FN ammo used a corrosive primer mixture up thru the late sixties/early seventies. The corrosive primer mixture was very reliable and kept well in storage, hence it's availability 40 odd years later.

 

[mbott]

The FN 57 I purchased last year was corrosive and non-reloadable. Bullet weight was right at 150 grains. Accuracy was so-so.

 

[flatlander]

Jeez, it's hard to believe there's any of that stuff left out there! I bought FN'57 & '58 30-06 ammo from a local dealer for $7/100 rounds in 1967. It came packed in 100rd. boxes, and was shiney good looking ammo 32 years ago. I've still got most of the cases, as I used to buy Alcan 217B Berdan primers and reload the stuff. I filled each case with water, set it on a base with a hole drilled through for the primer to drop out, and set a fitted punch(made from a valve-stem from an old flathead Ford)just into the case mouth. A sharp rap with a hammer, and the hydraulic pressure would spray water all over me, and knock the primer out. Mercuric primers will cause brass to crystallize, which makes it too brittle to be safe, but I was told this stuff had non-corrosive primers. I've reloaded some of it several times without a problem, so who knows? It was loaded to be the equivalent of US M2 ball, so the bullets are 150gr.