Korean M2 Ball

[mag318]

I was shooting some of this through my M1 and it was very accurate a clean. I found some for sale at $230 a can,which is the same as the CMP charges for Greek HXP ammo, what do you guys think of this ammo.

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[AFJon]

Might be ok since it doesn't appear on the list of potentially bad lots. Price looks decent if you are getting bandos, cardboards, and enblocs.

Korean 30-06 Surplus - CMP Forums

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I don't know why people get bent out of shape about "corrosive" ammo.

ALL US "Mil-Spec" ammo made before the introduction of the .30M1 Carbine round was primed with "corrosive" primers. This continued until the introduction of the 7.62 x 51 NATO cartridge, which was specified as "con-corrosive" from day 1.

IF, and it's a big IF, the troops (and civilian users) are following the correct cleaning and maintenance routines, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with "corrosive" ammo.

The source of the corrosion is the traces of Chlorate salts in the primer mix. On ignition, these release Oxygen that then bonds with other stuff in the brew to create a "flash" of suitable amplitude and duration to ignite the main powder charge.

The residual "chloride salts ", the KEY WORD is "salts" ,left behind get blown up the barrel and settle on the rifling in MINUTE quantities.

In a VERY DRY atmosphere, like Northern Canada in mid-winter, or Death Valley, this is not a problem as there is no atmospheric moisture to speak of, and thus, no chance of the "chlorides" dissolving in that moisture and attacking your barrel.

Try the same "non-maintenance" in Florida or Northern Australia and you can just about watch the rust form before your eyes.

Like millions of others, I grew up with Lee Enfields and "traditional" .303 ammo.

A true trifecta:

CORROSIVE primers? Check.

EROSIVE propellant? Check.

MERCURIC primers? Check.

Corrosive primers, as noted, cause rust.

Erosive propellants, like the fast and VERY HOT-burning Cordite, eat the throats / leades out of barrels, even more-so during rapid fire.

Mercury in priming compounds destroys the brass in the fired cartridge. When the primer ignites, metallic mercury is released at VERY high temperatures. This instantly bonds with the brass case, disrupting the copper / zinc alloy bond and makes the metal brittle and very prone to cracking. Getting more than one reload, even using LEAD based primers, is considered "good".

If you are shooting "corrosive ammo", there are commercial "cleaning brews" available. Alternately, just pour boiling water, via a suitable funnel, down the barrel and watch all the evil black stuff come out the muzzle end. When the water runs clear, stop. The barrel will dry by itself from the heat, most times. Whilst the barrel is still HOT, apply a good preservative "gun-oil" through the barrel and set away in a DRY place. DO NOT use de-humidifiers in sealed gun safes unless you particularly want your nice expensive woodwork to "dehumidify" and warp and split.

"Corrosive" cases can be reloaded like any other brass. I just finished another batch of "corrosive" WW2 German 7.92 x 57 brass. Once the crimps for the Berdan primers are swaged aside, reloading is easy.

[browningautorifle]

Borg-Warner clips and ...what's the headstamp? Are just the cans Korean?

[AFJon]

I don't know why people get bent out of shape about "corrosive" ammo.

ALL US "Mil-Spec" ammo made before the introduction of the .30M1 Carbine round was primed with "corrosive" primers. This continued until the introduction of the 7.62 x 51 NATO cartridge, which was specified as "con-corrosive" from day 1.

IF, and it's a big IF, the troops (and civilian users) are following the correct cleaning and maintenance routines, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with "corrosive" ammo.

The source of the corrosion is the traces of Chlorate salts in the primer mix. On ignition, these release Oxygen that then bonds with other stuff in the brew to create a "flash" of suitable amplitude and duration to ignite the main powder charge.

The residual "chloride salts ", the KEY WORD is "salts" ,left behind get blown up the barrel and settle on the rifling in MINUTE quantities.

In a VERY DRY atmosphere, like Northern Canada in mid-winter, or Death Valley, this is not a problem as there is no atmospheric moisture to speak of, and thus, no chance of the "chlorides" dissolving in that moisture and attacking your barrel.

Try the same "non-maintenance" in Florida or Northern Australia and you can just about watch the rust form before your eyes.

Like millions of others, I grew up with Lee Enfields and "traditional" .303 ammo.

A true trifecta:

CORROSIVE primers? Check.

EROSIVE propellant? Check.

MERCURIC primers? Check.

Corrosive primers, as noted, cause rust.

Erosive propellants, like the fast and VERY HOT-burning Cordite, eat the throats / leades out of barrels, even more-so during rapid fire.

Mercury in priming compounds destroys the brass in the fired cartridge. When the primer ignites, metallic mercury is released at VERY high temperatures. This instantly bonds with the brass case, disrupting the copper / zinc alloy bond and makes the metal brittle and very prone to cracking. Getting more than one reload, even using LEAD based primers, is considered "good".

If you are shooting "corrosive ammo", there are commercial "cleaning brews" available. Alternately, just pour boiling water, via a suitable funnel, down the barrel and watch all the evil black stuff come out the muzzle end. When the water runs clear, stop. The barrel will dry by itself from the heat, most times. Whilst the barrel is still HOT, apply a good preservative "gun-oil" through the barrel and set away in a DRY place. DO NOT use de-humidifiers in sealed gun safes unless you particularly want your nice expensive woodwork to "dehumidify" and warp and split.

"Corrosive" cases can be reloaded like any other brass. I just finished another batch of "corrosive" WW2 German 7.92 x 57 brass. Once the crimps for the Berdan primers are swaged aside, reloading is easy.

Corrosive ammo in a bolt gun is a lot easier to clean than having to worry about cleaning the gas system on an M-1.

That said certain lots of PS ammo are said to have poor QC and the OP was asking about PS head stamp ammo. Fortunately the lot in question may be OK.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Re: gas systems.

I always thought that the reason the .30 M1 Carbine round was ALWAYS (well, US production, anyway) NON corrosive, was because said system was "non user-serviceable".

On the other hand, as I recall from "the good old days", the M-1 Garand is not too much of a challenge to strip and clean.

Here in Oz, a LOT of Garands and FN-49s, not to mention "concurrent" FN-52 Mausers were "rotted out" by slack individuals who foolishly thought that all .30-06 was "non-corrosive". The ammo available in bulk at the height of the use of these rifles, was "surplus" 1950's French stuff, both brass and steel cased. Generally reliable and accurate, it was, however, HIDEOUSLY corrosive stuff. The other problem, from a reloading aspect, with this Berdan-primed, brass-cased ammo, was, not the priming system, but that many of the necks were SO THIN that the expander balls in dies barely touched the sides. Thus, "new" projectiles were a bit "loose". The usual trick when hunting ammo was required was to simply pull the "ball" bullet and replace with the classic "Super" 150gn soft point job.

[Bruce McAskill]

The PS-81 is excellent M2 ball ammo. It is non-corrosive and made to USGI spec. There have been a couple of bad lots of PS ammo but the 81 is not one of them. By the way PS is the same company as PMC.