Ruger Blackhawk 30 Carbine, old corroded/wet ammo questions.
I made a trade today and acquired a Ruger Blackhawk in 30 carbine along with several buckets of old ammo that had gotten wet in the original boxes.
The Blackhawk dates from the early 80s and is drilled and tapped on the topstrap. Were these drilled and tapped at the factory?
The Carbine ammo looked to be just corroded normal 30carbine ammo. About 3/4 of a five gallon bucket full. Some looks decent, some not so much......would this stuff be safe to tumble or something to make it useable in the Blackhawk? There is also a lot of 30-06 black tip in the same condition, and some very rusted and unusable Garand clips. About 1 1/2 buckets worth of that. I had thought about just pulling those bullets instead of trying to fire that. The man who owned it died about 20 years ago, and the ammo has been sitting in a shed since. No telling when it actually got wet. Is there any way to take the corrosion or whatever is on the brass off?
The Blackhawk dates from the early 80s and is drilled and tapped on the topstrap. Were these drilled and tapped at the factory?
The Carbine ammo looked to be just corroded normal 30carbine ammo. About 3/4 of a five gallon bucket full. Some looks decent, some not so much......would this stuff be safe to tumble or something to make it useable in the Blackhawk? There is also a lot of 30-06 black tip in the same condition, and some very rusted and unusable Garand clips. About 1 1/2 buckets worth of that. I had thought about just pulling those bullets instead of trying to fire that. The man who owned it died about 20 years ago, and the ammo has been sitting in a shed since. No telling when it actually got wet. Is there any way to take the corrosion or whatever is on the brass off?
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steel wool or a polishing grit cloth or polishing pads and a lot of patience should clean up the brass enough to try and fire them. 0 -
I would pull the bullets, and deprime than tumble the brass. Rather than fooling around with any loaded ammo. That has been water logged, for the best part of 20 years.
Also to be noted is the French made 30 carbine ammo, that is corrosive. (Why they would make corrosive 30 carbine ammo, always puzzled me?) Don't remember the French headstamps? But it was packed in Gray boxes. Use to be sold cheep and a lot of it was around. Because nobody with any sense, would shoot it.0 -
Personally I would not fire ammo that had possibly been wet.
A bad round might be just enough to become a "squib".
Just enough power to push the bullet out of the chamber and into the barrel, but not enough to push the bullet out of the barrel.
The next round could cause a catastrophic failure in your hand or face.
Plus destroy a neat revolver.
I have a Ruger Blackhawk in 30 carbine I bought back in 1978.
Loud as hell, so wear hearing protection.
Throws an impressive fireball especially at night.
Pulling the bullets and removing the primers would be the safest bet.
That Blackhawk gathers a lot of attention at the range, especially when I sit down at the 100 yard firing line.
People generally clear out once the first round goes off.
Mine is scoped for hunting West Texas Jack rabbits.
Did I mention it is loud?
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My memory is that this gun was not d & t'ed by the factory. You may want to have a gunsmith check it out; you can only put so many holes in a top strap before you weaken the gun......You won't be able to pull the bullets without a Forster or Hornady bullet puller; the plastic kinetic bullet puller will not be up to the task.Neal
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They were not D&T'ed from the factory.Ammo, not worth risking life or limb to shoot. Possible components if brass is not pitted.
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Wiz1997 (and others) said it well. Pull the bullets, deprime and clean brass if it looks salvageable. Squeeze the necks with pliers or in a vice. If it cracks, I'd trash them all. Neat trick on the bullet pulling, which you may already know, is to first "re-seat" the bullet 1/16th" or so deeper into the neck. That should break any seal that's developed over the years, either through metalic reaction or actual sealing compound. 3 -
p.s. Also, note the condition of the powder after pulling the bullets. If it pour out smoothly and completely, continue to check the brass for suitability. In my experience, if the powder has caked and hardened I take that as indication of bad things happening internally and I just crimp the neck and trash the brass. 0 -
Unless you have a lot of extra time on your hands, I would just pull the bullets out of both the .30 Carbine and .30-06 Springfield. My guess is that the bullets can be recycled even if it's just for plinking. The brass should be recycled (not used), punch the primers and dispose of, burn off the powder in the backyard or use for fertilizer.
There is brand new Privi Partisan .30 Carbine on sale at Grafs for $12.99/50. .30-06 can be found anywhere inexpensively or use those black-tips in a .308 instead. Be sure to check local laws for M2 Armor Piercing rules.
Best.0 -
Tumbling live rounds can wear the deterrents off the powder resulting in a very hot round, according to the manufacturers. They advise NEVER to do this. (I asked). 0 -
No the carbine Blackhawk was not factory tapped and I would throw ALL the ammo out and save yourself the aggravation and trouble. ymmv. 0
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