How in the hell does one tell corrosive from non-corrosive when dealing with calibers like 8mm and 7.62?  

What is in corrosive ammo that damages the gun?  How bad does it damage it?  

If it is brass cased, can you still reload it?

What's the proper procedure after you've shot corrosive ammo?  Windex with ammonia down the pipe and barrel, and then soak the receiver?  After ammonia, just clean as normal when you get home?

Is Wolf 7.62x39 steel cased corrosive?  

tag

Quoted: tag

You waiting to see just how flamed I get for asking a question I should have somehow known about already like the ones that were born with a vast knowledge of everything that goes bang ?  

Or just wanting to know, too?  Be nice to know I wasn't the only one who had questions about this shit.

If it's 8mm surplus figgure it is corrosive and clean accordingly. Wolf is not corrosive, MOST 7.62 russian Mil stuff [along with romanian and all the rest] that is surplus is corrosive. The new russian stuff [barnuel] is not. You can reload brass with no problem, The primer is what makes it corrosive, when you shoot it, the byproduct is salts. You can hose the BBL down with windex at the range swab it out oil it down and then when you get home wash it down with black powder cleaning stuff or HOT soapy water, clean normall, then oil. Make sure on a semi that you clean the gas related items also.

Quoted: How in the hell does one tell corrosive from non-corrosive when dealing with calibers like 8mm and 7.62?   If it is surplus, just count on it being corrosive.  If you are wrong, then you aren't hurting the gun by going an extra step in preventative maintenance.  If you are wrong and it is, you get rust.  New stuff like Brown Bear and Privi Partizan are good, normal ammo. What is in corrosive ammo that damages the gun?  How bad does it damage it?   Old primers have Mercuric Salts that are very hygroscopic.  They absorb water like a sponge out of the air (especially if you are in the south) and cause pitting and rust in short order. If it is brass cased, can you still reload it? It can be, but odds are that your corrosive ammo is also Berdan Primed, which in shorthand means its a bitch to reload and you cant do it with a standard Dillon or Rock Chucker. What's the proper procedure after you've shot corrosive ammo?  Windex with ammonia down the pipe and barrel, and then soak the receiver?  After ammonia, just clean as normal when you get home? Bingo was his name-o.  Soaking the reciever isn't necessary, but spraying windex until it comes out the barrel is. Is Wolf 7.62x39 steel cased corrosive? No.  I can't think of any x39 ammo that is corrosive, but surplus x54R is.

Wasn't there a thread on this just last night?

Quoted: Quoted: tag You waiting to see just how flamed I get for asking a question I should have somehow known about already like the ones that were born with a vast knowledge of everything that goes bang ?   Or just wanting to know, too?  Be nice to know I wasn't the only one who had questions about this shit.

Ed Zachary. Benefits of membership

And there is no such thing as “mildly corrosive” ammo.  Ammo is either corrosive or non-corrosive.

Quoted: Quoted: How in the hell does one tell corrosive from non-corrosive when dealing with calibers like 8mm and 7.62?   If it is surplus, just count on it being corrosive.  If you are wrong, then you aren't hurting the gun by going an extra step in preventative maintenance.  If you are wrong and it is, you get rust.  New stuff like Brown Bear and Privi Partizan are good, normal ammo. What is in corrosive ammo that damages the gun?  How bad does it damage it?   Old primers have Mercuric Salts that are very hygroscopic.  They absorb water like a sponge out of the air (especially if you are in the south) and cause pitting and rust in short order. If it is brass cased, can you still reload it? It can be, but odds are that your corrosive ammo is also Berdan Primed, which in shorthand means its a bitch to reload and you cant do it with a standard Dillon or Rock Chucker. What's the proper procedure after you've shot corrosive ammo?  Windex with ammonia down the pipe and barrel, and then soak the receiver?  After ammonia, just clean as normal when you get home? Bingo was his name-o.  Soaking the reciever isn't necessary, but spraying windex until it comes out the barrel is. Is Wolf 7.62x39 steel cased corrosive? No.  I can't think of any x39 ammo that is corrosive, but surplus x54R is.   Wasn't there a thread on this just last night?

Thank you.

If there was a thread on it in this forum, I couldn't find it.  I was having a discussion in Team with another member the other day about 8mm, and it got me to thinking.  So I went through all my ammo and couldn't determine what was corrosive and what wasn't.  Figured I take the flames and ask and make sure my rifles get the proper care they need, rather than guessing.  

So it's the actual primers that are corrosive, not the powder.  You'd think the gasses would burn off the salt.  

So, if I do set up to reload berdan, can you just buy non-corrosive primers and then load per the chart, and you'd have non-corrosive ammo?  

My understanding is that you have to ream and drill the primer hole because Berdan has 3 tiny holes instead of Boxer priming's single bigger hole.  Also, the reloading equipment for Berdan is prohibitively expensive.  

If you are planning to reload for milsurp calibers that aren't russian, just buy the brass when its cheap and be done with it.  Its a big hit in the beginning, but you wont regret it if you are serious about reloading that caliber.  IF you reload for it, make sure you have a really really good gun to shoot it out of.  If your barrel is pitted all to hell and your action is sloppy and your headspace is all out of whack, the most precisely crafted round wont mean diddly squat.

Brass that is berdan primed has two small flash holes that are not centered at the base of the cartridge and require special tools to remove prior to resizing the brass.  Boxer primed cartridges have one flash hole that is in the center and the primer is remove as part of the re-sizing process.


Here's a picture of a berdan primed cartridge.

Quoted: And there is no such thing as “mildly corrosive” ammo.  Ammo is either corrosive or non-corrosive.

Yep.
"Mildly corrosive" is like being "a little pregnant"

Quoted: My understanding is that you have to ream and drill the primer hole because Berdan has 3 tiny holes instead of Boxer priming's single bigger hole.  Also, the reloading equipment for Berdan is prohibitively expensive.   If you are planning to reload for milsurp calibers that aren't russian, just buy the brass when its cheap and be done with it.  Its a big hit in the beginning, but you wont regret it if you are serious about reloading that caliber.  IF you reload for it, make sure you have a really really good gun to shoot it out of.  If your barrel is pitted all to hell and your action is sloppy and your headspace is all out of whack, the most precisely crafted round wont mean diddly squat.

Yes, that's a berdan-primed cartridge.  Reloading an actual berdan-primed is expensive, but reaming the flash hole is fairly simple with a good press setup.  In fact, IIRC, Dillon makes caliber-specific automatic reamers designed to transform berdan to boxer that can be had for around 100 clams.  

I'm not into reloading for the savings or accuracy, I just want a new hobby that doesn't soak up a shitload of financial resources.  I'm transforming my garage into a room, and plan to build a partitioning wall to deliniate the strorage/tool area from a small living area that will have my stereo and reloading shit (and a big ass TV).   The idea is to have a place where I can crank the music and reload or fuck around here or watch the hockey game without someone in my house bitching

Camy works nights, and John is up all night.  I have ZERO time to enjoy anything I once did, and with Camy, the kids, John, and my mom here, I'm fucking sick of being relegated to silence lest I bother someone.  It's not their fault, it's just the way it is.  I want to respect their privacy, so I formulated an idea.  Since the garage is detached, it'll be my spot to get away from everyone and put these 14" speakers to some real use with some sevendust.  

While I'm doing that, I want to plan for all the reloading shit - hence, I went and checked all the thousands of rounds of brass I have and the ammo waiting to be shot.  I want plenty of room for reloading, tooling, and maintenance.  Then I remembered the conversation from Team, and thought, well, might as well check on this too while I can't sleep.  

Mucho gracias to all who answered my questions!  We learn by asking, although some don't realize that at one time, they knew little, too.  I appreciate the real responses and not flaming me for having honest questions.  

It's pretty easy to test if ammo is corrosive. I didn't quite believe the KA head stamp Korean .30-06 was corrosive. I took a primed case and fired it with a center punch, case mouth against a piece of steel that was cleaned with sandpaper and acetone. After a couple of days at room temp, ~60% RH, the rust was very clear. The parts of the cleaned steel not directly exposed to the gasses remained shiny. Clearly the KA head stamp stuff is corrosive. I'm a little afraid to fire it out of my Garand now.

Quoted: It's pretty easy to test if ammo is corrosive. I didn't quite believe the KA head stamp Korean .30-06 was corrosive. I took a primed case and fired it with a center punch, case mouth against a piece of steel that was cleaned with sandpaper and acetone. After a couple of days at room temp, ~60% RH, the rust was very clear. The parts of the cleaned steel not directly exposed to the gasses remained shiny. Clearly the KA head stamp stuff is corrosive. I'm a little afraid to fire it out of my Garand now.

Tell me that wasn't 70's shit!

I just bought a ton of '06 from AIMSurplus, and they specifically said it was NOT corrosive, but some of it WAS Korean.  I won't put that shit through my Garand.  

Edit:  If I find out they lied and that is corrosive, I am going to choke a mother fucker.

I hate to tell you guys this but those Garands have had lots of corrosive ammo fired through them already, firing more of it will not hurt them as long as you clean them properly.

IIRC it wasn’t until the mid 50’s that the US started using non-corrosive primers to load 30-06 ammo.

Quoted: Quoted: It's pretty easy to test if ammo is corrosive. I didn't quite believe the KA head stamp Korean .30-06 was corrosive. I took a primed case and fired it with a center punch, case mouth against a piece of steel that was cleaned with sandpaper and acetone. After a couple of days at room temp, ~60% RH, the rust was very clear. The parts of the cleaned steel not directly exposed to the gasses remained shiny. Clearly the KA head stamp stuff is corrosive. I'm a little afraid to fire it out of my Garand now. Tell me that wasn't 70's shit! I just bought a ton of '06 from AIMSurplus, and they specifically said it was NOT corrosive, but some of it WAS Korean.  I won't put that shit through my Garand.   Edit:  If I find out they lied and that is corrosive, I am going to choke a mother fucker.

If it is PS ammo it is NOT corrosive, if it is KA it is. AIM was pretty good about saying what was and what was not. I've bought a lot of the PS stuff and it is NOT corrosive.

Quoted: I hate to tell you guys this but those Garands have had lots of corrosive ammo fired through them already, firing more of it will not hurt them as long as you clean them properly. IIRC it wasn’t until the mid 50’s that the US started using non-corrosive primers to load 30-06 ammo.

I know, but that's like saying you used to piss in the sandbox when you were a kid, so might as well whip out the ol cheese log and squirt a little on the local playground.  

Yeah, I bought a can of korean in enblocs from ammunitionstore.com I think. It was a mixture of PS and KA head stamps. I think they were all 70's dates. PS is supposed to be good. Maybe I should get an '03 to shoot the corrosive. I think it was worth it just for the clips though.

A good rule to follow with the Korean surplus is to treat all of it as if it is corrosive and clean accordingly.