Options for old nasty looking ammo

G

Geezerbiker

New member
I have a couple boxes of ammo that came from an estate. Some of it looks like it was stored in a damp basement and is somewhat corroded.

I know how to handle the boxer primed stuff but I'm not sure what to do with the 40ish rounds of Berdan primed 7.65x54 ammo. I pulled down one of the worst looking ones and even the base of the bullet was green. Most of them look ok but don't have a rifle in this caliber or the desire to get one. I'd like to pull them down, tumble the bullets for maybe use in my Arisaka and recycle the brass but I don't think I should put brass with live primers in my recycling.

Should I just put them in the trash or try to recycle them?

Tony
 
After you pull the bullets, how about burn the brass to pop the primers? It shouldn't hurt the brass for recycling. Put them in something so you don't get hit by a flying primer.
 
Usually, if you find green on the inside, you've had powder breaking down and the nitric acid fumes have initiated the corrosion and that has pinholed through to the outside, starting the greening process there, as well. So, pull the bullets and flush the powder or give it to your local fire department. If you want to save the brass you can fire the primers. Just be sure to run a little motor oil down into the bore and to clean the bore out with mineral spirits followed by soap and water and then boiling water and then a corrosion inhibitor afterward, as there may be some acid residue that has made its way down into the primer pockets. If there is, it will rust a bare barrel just as surely as nitric acid fumes initiate rust for rust-bluing in a steam cabinet. I shot a bunch of surplus ammo that was going bad in my M1A one time and even after normal cleaning, the bore was painted red in no time and needed the water treatment.
 
To me it would come down to what rewards I would get for the effort. I might pull them down to save the brass to sell to my local scrap yard, but otherwise, what you describe, sounds like trash to me.
 
Pull the bullets, burn or flush the powder, and trash the primed brass. Despite the wisdom of the interweb, primers aren't bombs.
 
@Unclenick I don't think he has a gun to fire the primers, that's why I suggested burning the cases if he wants to recycle the brass. Although maybe the junk yard will take them still live.

OTOH maybe this is a good excuse to buy another gun... :) what uses that, a Mosin Nagant?
 
burrhead said:
Pull the bullets, burn or flush the powder, and trash the primed brass. Despite the wisdom of the interweb, primers aren't bombs.
Click to expand...

That's why it is not unsafe to punch out live primers just as you would with spent primers. Again, if one is going to all that work, you may as well salvage and sell the old brass.
 
Thanks for the reminder .

A buddy of mine gave me these rounds and asked if they were still good . Because of Covid I never looked at them and put them aside for natural virus death over time . This was about 5 weeks ago and this thread reminded me to go take a look in the cloth pouch :eek::eek::eek:

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Holy crap not only are they corroded to all get out , there's actually some sort of moisture on them . Am I wrong in these not only not being safe to fire but not even safe to handle at this point ???

That bottom round is soaking wet from something and that green circle on the one above and to the right is wet as well . :eek::eek:

Do I put these in water or some sort of oil to deactivate them . I don't want to pull any bullets for fear it would be like unscrewing a 30 year old corroded black powder can :D OMG I crack me up . That's an inside joke some here will get lol
 
I keep a can that I put junk powder in and once a year I take it outside and burn it for entertainment.

I can't imagine a recycler taking brass with live primers so if I can't burn them off, I suppose I'll just put them in the trash. It just seems a wast of brass to do that. I currently don't have a can of sufficient size to burn them or a wood burning stove.

Years ago I would toss damaged primers in the wood stove of the place I lived then to listen to them pop. Now a days having a wood burning stove in a house more than doubles the cost of home owners' insurance so I chose to not to have one in my current home.

BTW, the 7.65x54 was used in the Belgian and some South American Mausers...

Tony
 
After you pull the bullets you can knock the primer out. You need a block of wood with a hole drilled a little bigger than the head, about an 1/8 inch deep. Then drill in the center of that hole with a bit a little bigger than the primer. Drill it all the way through the block. Fill the case with water and put it in the larger hole, place a wood dowel that is as close to the diameter of the bullet as you can get. Hit the dowel with a hammer. The hydraulic pressure pushes the primer out of the case. If your worried about the primer detonating, put the block on something that leaves a gap for the primer to fall out the bottom of the block. And wear safety glasses. If the primer pops, it pushes itself out of the case. If it isn't trapped it won't have enough pressure to cause damage.
 
I've decided not to bother with them. I'll hang onto them until I can find some one that has a rifle in that caliber then give them away.

I also found in the lot a dozen more rounds that looked pretty good and I knocked them down for the bullets and low and behold they're boxer primed. I tried to nudge out the primers but they're lacquered in and I don't want to risk setting them off. I'm going to put these in the giveaway box too.

I have another reloading project that is more worth my effort that I'd rather deal with. I have over a 100 old rounds of .30-30 that I'll probably pull down. Most of it looks modern but not exactly properly stored and the rest is ancient. A few have headstamps that I've never seen before.

Tony
 
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