Corrosive Ammo

[unearthlyevil 2]

Hello,

 

I am new to the forum, so with this being my first post I would like to say hello to everyone.

 

What exactly is considered corrosive ammo as compared to non-corrosive ammo?

 

Ed

[ktcm7271 999]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Corrosive ammo comes from the primer. Most surplus foreign ammo is corrosive. It's not as bad as it sounds, though. If you have a chrome lined barrel, it's almost immune to it. If not, put some window cleaner on your bore snake after shooting and it cleans it right up. I do that with all corrosive ammo, chrome lined barrel or not, just out of habit. Hope that helps.

[unearthlyevil 2]

Thank you. That makes sense.

[sillydiabetic 0]

Specifically, it's the ammonia that neutralizes the corrosive salt compounds found in corrosive ammo. It's not super acidic like you might hear, but still important to clean your barrel, firing pin, and internal parts after shooting corrosive ammo. Welcome to the forum!

[jimdigriz 580]

Specifically, it's the ammonia that neutralizes the corrosive salt compounds found in corrosive ammo.

 

You can use just water, or Hoppe's #9, or a lot of other stuff. It doesn't have to be Windex.

[shalamov 9]

yes it is water ... if You stuck in sutation where You don't have access to water You can just piss down the barrel works the same way...

[Casp 119]

Although if you don't have a chrome lined bore (or other parts exposed directly to the propellant gas,) and you don't clean the gun for a long period after shooting it......

 

......I wish I could find the picture I had of the piston of an AR-15 after shooting lots of surplus 7.62x25mm Tokarev and being left to rot. If I find it, I'll edit this post.

 

EDIT: Hey look at that, I found it. From what I understand, this is from a 7.62mm Tokarev conversion made by CNCgunparts. I don't know who the original manufacturer of the bolt carrier assembly is. I would ascertain that the inside of the gas tube looks pretty bad as well. Obviously an AK isn't going to see this kind of internal damage but the point is that the corrosive primer salts are bad for bare steel if left uncared for.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Caspian Sea Monster

[Patria Povo 31]

You can use just water, or Hoppe's #9, or a lot of other stuff. It doesn't have to be Windex.

 

Or get a big jug of straight ammonia at a big box store I do this when shooting black powder. It works well and is pretty economical. Just be sure to clean outside!!

[Casp 119]

Or get a big jug of straight ammonia at a big box store I do this when shooting black powder. It works well and is pretty economical. Just be sure to clean outside!!

 

Remember those double oiler bottles that come with Mosin-Nagants, the ones that are vaguely stopwatch shaped? On side is marked for oil (either нефт or масло) and the other is marked for lye solution (щелок) the (basic/alkaline) lye being for neutralizing the (acidic) primer salts. Ammonia or Windex also seem to do the same job pretty well.

 

I will now sit back and wait for someone with a better grasp of either chemistry or русский язык to beat me about the head and shoulders.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Caspian Sea Monster