Corrosive Ammo

[browningautorifle]

our not so sunny state

[Calif-Steve]

Actually, firing a few non-corrosive rounds will help a bore after a day of corrosive shooting. But, hot, soapy water followed by Hoppe's No.9 is the way to go. The US Army would clean rifles 3 days in a row.

[bombdoc]

Bruce... what are you using for re priming Berdan cases.. I have some "ancient" primers of unknown provenance which I use occasionally for .303 and my small stock of .310 berdan cases...

I know RWS makes Berdan primers, but importing them to UK is a nightmare (EU is NO help here - quite the opposite!).. is this what you use...? (or have you a cave somewhere in the NT you keep a stash of Berdan primers and cordite in?)

[ireload2]

I once ran a test on an old Mauser using Egyptian corrosive 8X57 ammo.
I fired 20 rounds of the ammo and then cleaned the bore very thoroughly with Hoppe's #9.
Within 3 days I cleaned it again and the bore had began rusting.
I cleaned again within another 3 days and there was more rust.
I finally cleaned with soapy hot water and oiled the bore. That finally stopped the rusting. I would say that only a water based cleaner is going to get the corrosive salts out.

[browningautorifle]

I finally cleaned with soapy hot water and oiled the bore. That finally stopped the rusting.

There endeth the lesson...

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Here in Oz, RWS Berdan primers seem to have dried up years ago. Those that I still have, go back well over a decade; store in a cool, dry, dark place, as per also, beer and fine wine.

If you have cases that take the "European standard" smallish Berdan .217" primer, these were made by RWS; eg. 5608 unplated, heavy cup, mil-spec , or 5627 standard but nickel-plated cup, etc.. The Finns, Vihtavuori, specifically, sell just the thing under their "Kemira" brand. Ask for the 5.5mm No. 3 and, if you are lucky, instead of blank looks, you will get a small, white cardboard box containing ten "slabs", each of 250, brass-cupped, non-mercuric, "non-corrosive", "mil-spec" primers.

There are also, as one would expect, "instructional videos" on the inter-tubes, showing how to "convert" Berdan-primed cases to work with Boxer Large-rifle types. Proceed with caution.

If you need the larger "British" .250" size, as used in a zillion Commonwealth .303 cases, you are out of luck unless you find some in the dusty recesses of an obscure gun shop.

[TDH]

Try spraying some Windex/glass cleaner down the barrel while still at the range it helps neutralize the salts until you can clean properly. Works with black powder and substitutes as well

[Parashooter]

. . . Windex . . . helps neutralize the salts . . .

This bit of misinformation has been so often repeated that many think it is accurate. In reality, the salt in corrosive priming residue is potassium chloride, already a neutral compound (pH 7). The water in Windex can dissolve it, but we have to wipe the resultant salty solution out of the barrel before it causes rust.

[CINDERS]

One full bore shooter we had (Shooting modern non-corrosive reloads) used a 50/50 Windex & White Vinegar mix and swore by it reckons it worked a treat guess you could bring some salt and have it with Chips/Butty sandwich!

[Bruce McAskill]

Parashooter is so right. The Windex myth just keeps going and in reality if one were to take a thermos of hot water to the range and use that it would be much better then spraying the Windex. In fact the ammonia in the Windex can be harmful to the barrel steel. Hot water is the key.