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Posted: 10/8/2005 6:12:16 PM EDT
| I was given 2000 rounds of spanish nato marked 5.56 ammo. The ammo had gotten under water during hurricane Katrina. I pulled some bullets and the powder was dry, but the brass cases have that green corrosion on them. I can take 0000 steel wool and get it off, but dont want to do this for 2000 rounds. What would be the easiest way to clean the brass up? The same guy also gave me 1000 of Q3131a, but it was not corroded. I will shoot both of them tomorrow to see if they still worl for sure, but I need to get them cleaned up. Any ideas? |
Bad idea. What can happen is as the powder tumbles the granules breakup into smaller pieces. The smaller pieces will burn faster and thus generate more pressure. This is what I've read in reloading manuals. You'll have to decide if the warning came from the technical department or the legal department. Do not use brass polish like Brasso to clean them either. IIRC it will soften the brass. |
Internet myth. Ammo manufacturers tumble ALL new ammo. Much of the loose milsurp ammo is also tumbled, some in huge batches in a cement mixer (with appropriate media, of course). Do not use polishes with amonia, it will weaken the brass. |
COMPLETELY WRONG! This has been covered here before and some of the members here even contacted ammo/powder manufs! They indicated that powder is not affected by tumbling. In fact, during the blending process powder is tumbled extensively.  |
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Tumbling OLD (WWII-era and earlier) ammo is a bad idea, as much of that ammo is loaded with flake powders made up of very large square/rectangular granules, which can break up from the vibrations and increase burn rate considerably. MODERN ammo uses much smaller, much tougher powder granules that are not affected by tumbling, and won't be harmed by such. -Troy |
LOL. Don't worry. I've tumbled over 2,000 rounds of Aussie .308. Once I fogot about them and left them in overnight, something like 14 hours. They were a little warm, but no damage to them, the tumbler, my house, or my Corvette that was 4 feet away. If I go 2 hours in corn cobb with some polish and the worst look like new. |
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| be real careful with flood ammo. I've had several boxes of it and in each box there were a couple that only partially ignited. Luckily this was at a class so it was apparent. Might not be so noticeable bump firing or running FA. Keep track of your impacts, a squib sucks. |
| ive shot about 80 rounds of it and only had 1 that did not go off. I pulled several bullets to look at the powder to see if it was dry which it was. My neighbor just called and told me that he called sierra bullets and they told him NOT to tumble live ammo because of it breaking down the chemistry of the powder. I was tumbling about 80 rounds at a time for 30 minutes. I guess I'll have to scrub each round. That will take forever to do almost 2000 rounds. |
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Sierra makes bullets, not powder. Contact tech support at a powder maker if you want input from a manufacturer. No one will tell you it is OK, for liability reasons. Also, no gun manufacturer will tell you it is OK to shoot reloaded ammo, it voids all warranties. The "don't tumble loaded ammo" chorus is from the same school of thought as the "don't ever shoot reloads". You have 100 bucks in "free" ammo. Is it worth risking your $800 rifle to save 100 clams? Only you can make the risk/benifit analysis in your particular situation. |
| I called Hodgdon powder. They too said do NOT tumble loaded ammo as in can affect the burn rate of the powder. Right now I have about 1500 rounds of the ammo I havent tumbled soaking in WD40. I took several bullets that I had tumbled and pulled the bullets and pulled the bullets of some non tumbled ammo and could not see any difference in the powder. |
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