Korean Era Ammo Safe or Not?

[HAM]

I have several hundred .30 carbine GI cartridges all marked LC 52. It's been in my possession for some 40+ years. I want to shoot it but have read so much chatter about Korean era ammo's corrosive qualities that I hesitate to use it.

Does anyone have the real skinny concerning this ammo?

If the primer contains the problem materials it would be difficult to reload this stuff because I would like to pull the bullets and shoot the primer which would then cause corrosion. This then becomes a perfect "catch 22" Also pulling bullets from these things is very difficult, I've tried and usually damage the bullet in the process.

Hope someone that is in the know can offer some direction.

Regards,

HAM

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Sarge]

The first thing you want to do is pull a bullet and dump the powder. Then look in the case and see if there is a single flash hole or 2 smaller ones.
If only 1 then you have US ammo and it is/always was non corrosive. IF it has 2 flash holes it is chicom made and is corrosive. Safe to shoot, but requires the normal cleaning for corrosive ammo.
Sarge

[HAM]

Thanks much Sarge13 for the information. I had previously pulled a bullet and it had only one flash hole.
Looks like I can shoot and reload this stuff. Good News!

Sarge13 said about ammo with 2 flash holes:
"Safe to shoot, but requires the normal cleaning for corrosive ammo."

That statement prompts another question though. How does cleaning for corrosive ammo differ from cleaning non-corrosive ammo?
Different solvents, etc. or just more intense cleaning?

Thanks Again,

HAM

[vintage hunter]

Gunpowder does have a shelf life. Each grain of gun powder is coated with a flame retardant to control burn rate and over a period of time it will begin to deteriorate, even under ideal storage conditions. To see if this is happening disassemble one of the cartridges and dump the powder on a clean sheet of white paper or in the palm of your hand then spread it around a little with your finger. If a dusty residue is noticed on the paper or your hand then the powder has degraded and may be unsafe. With the retardant gone or mostly gone from the granulues the burn rate will be much faster and the whole charge could ignite at once in stead of burning progressively as it should. I learned about this the hard way in 1998, had a Remington 700 let go on me while shooting '60's vintage factory ammo i got from an old gun shop in town. Sent the rifle and rest of the ammo off to Remington and their findings were that the powder had deteriorated and the entire charge had ignited at once and the rest is history. They did replace the rifle though.

[DaveHH]

Your experience is certainly not normal. I've used plenty of 20+ year old powder, 50s vintage M2 and even shot some 1918 .45. All worked fine. The only deteriorated ammunition I've encountered is some 8mm Yugp that has bad primers.

[vintage hunter]

Yep, and nobody thought the Spruce Goose would fly either, but it did. I shoot surplus ammo a lot too, some dating from the 30's, but I check the condition of the propellant first. I'd rather sand paper a wild cat's a** than have another gun blow back in my face.

[Stevo]

I spent the day shooting 57 year-old Ecuadorian 8x57 and 38 year-old Czech 7.62x39.

As long as it's been stored well, I've never had any issues with surplus ammo.

[HAM]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post to offer help and let me know their experiences with old ammo. Nothing is simple however as vintage hunter pointed out with the problem he had.

It would not be practical to pull bullets and reload with fresh powder because pulling those bullets is very difficult and the bullets become distorted. At least that's my experience. These bullets were actually glued in place with now age hardened adhesive and their round nose's difficult to grip.

I think a conservative tack might be to use a sampling or two from each bandolier and check the powder as suggested by vintage hunter. If the powder looked OK by VH's stated standard, I'll go ahead and shoot it. If it is not OK then pull the bullets and reload the cases.

Would anyone like to volunteer to shoot the first round so I don't get hurt?

Regards,

HAM

P.S.
"Spruce Goose"? VH you must be as old as I am. I wonder if that pile of plywood is still out in LA?

[shadycon]

I volenteer to shoot all you want. In my opinion just shoot one and check primer hole, if single hole and shoots fine, HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shoot a lot of 5.45x39 in my AK, 50's manufacture with no problems. I clean with amonia,wash,normal cleaning, and oil. the same with my PPsh 41, 50's ammo. No problems. .02

[OlManDow]

You need to clean with a water-based cleaner to remove the corrosive salts left by the primers, then dry and clean normally. I use Sweet's 7.62, which does both, but you can use water, water plus detergent,or windex and then your favorite borecleaner. None of this will get down in the gas cylinder to remove the corrosive crud there, and it isn't a good idea to remove the gas piston and nut frequently - they were staked in place for a reason. To at least reduce the corrosive residue there, I fire a couple of rounds of known non-corrosive ammo before cleaning - blows out 99% of the bad stuff.

OlManDow