Brown Bear, Silver Bear and Wolf Ammunition?
Picked up a late war Walther P38 that appeared to be in excellent condition a few years ago from one of the major distributors, but could not remember if I checked the bore or not for pitting.
Fired about 2 mags of Brown Bear non-corrosive 9x19mm ammo through it with good accuracy and no problems and then put it away in dry temp controlled storage, however I may or may not have cleaned it although with only 2 mags fired through it.
Recently had been checking some old guns in the same storage and took it out and apart and looked through the bore and it looked really dirty, tried cleaning it to no avail along with bore cleaner which didn't work either.
Took it to the gunsmith who borescoped it and said that the bore was badly pitted and didn't recommend firing it, but that it also didn't look recent and looked old although I don't know how one could tell that, but I am not a gunsmith either.
Anyway to make a long story short; could Brown Bear, Silver Bear or Wolf Ammunition cause this, or was it probably already pitted and just overlooked?
Thanks.
Fired about 2 mags of Brown Bear non-corrosive 9x19mm ammo through it with good accuracy and no problems and then put it away in dry temp controlled storage, however I may or may not have cleaned it although with only 2 mags fired through it.
Recently had been checking some old guns in the same storage and took it out and apart and looked through the bore and it looked really dirty, tried cleaning it to no avail along with bore cleaner which didn't work either.
Took it to the gunsmith who borescoped it and said that the bore was badly pitted and didn't recommend firing it, but that it also didn't look recent and looked old although I don't know how one could tell that, but I am not a gunsmith either.
Anyway to make a long story short; could Brown Bear, Silver Bear or Wolf Ammunition cause this, or was it probably already pitted and just overlooked?
Thanks.
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I think overlooked 0 -
You must have missed it. Even if you fired two magazines of ammunition loaded with corrosive primers you would not see that level of damage after just two weeks, especially inside a controlled environment. 0 -
Actually the pistol had sat for the few years in the dry, temp controlled storage with desiccant canisters and just recently had I got it out and discovered it that way and was d*mn near heartbroken about too when the gunsmith told me.
Its about the same feeling as when you discover a ding or scratch, etc to a gun or other collectible, but short of placing a gun or other collectible mounted in a plexiglas case and never using it sooner or later something may happen unfortunately, but anyway sounds like I missed it and of all the things to miss too, geez my loss...0 -
It still seems unlikely, especially with non corrosive primers. To get the bore to corrode with corrosive primers you have got to have moisture because the chlorides (salts) in the primers draw the moisture from the air, hold it on the metal and this causes the rust that leads to pitting. Dry air and no temperature swings (which means no condensation) inside something like a safe makes of very unlikely that there is going to be enough moisture present to cause that kind of severe pitting, so sever that the pistol was deemed unsafe to fire. If you gave the pistol even the most basic cleaning (just a quick pass through the bore with a brush) that should have been more than enough to protect it. Even if you did nothing at all and just put it into the safe, two magazines (16 total rounds) is just not going to cause the kind of damage you are now seeing, even with the worst quality ammunition. 0 -
So then all Brown Bear, Silver Bear and Wolf Ammunition is safe to use and is non-corrosive with non-corrosive primers?
Do you shoot this ammunition and if so what did you think of it, any problems?
Also, what is an acceptable humidity range for keeping firearms?
Thanks.0 -
quote:Originally posted by milsurplus
So then all Brown Bear, Silver Bear and Wolf Ammunition is safe to use and is non-corrosive with non-corrosive primers?
Do you shoot this ammunition and if so what did you think of it, any problems?
Also, what is an acceptable humidity range for keeping firearms?
Thanks.
It is somewhat dirty but goes bang.0 -
quote:Originally posted by milsurplus
So then all Brown Bear, Silver Bear and Wolf Ammunition is safe to use and is non-corrosive with non-corrosive primers?
Do you shoot this ammunition and if so what did you think of it, any problems?
Also, what is an acceptable humidity range for keeping firearms?
Thanks.
I don't know if it is all non corrosive, I only know that you said that you fired two magazines filled non corrosive ammunition and I took you at your word. I've used Brown Bear ammo, it worked fine and my firearms suffered no damage at all..0 -
That is what the ammunition labels state anyway that Brown Bear, Silver Bear and Wolf Ammunition are non-corrosive as I was considering getting rid of it since I couldn't be sure if it was really non-corrosive there for a while. I guess I have to take their word for it as well and since I haven't heard otherwise I will have to accept that and is all that I can go by and is why I asked.
What about an acceptable humidity range for keeping firearms, is 40%-70% acceptable?0 -
i have not had issues with BB or wolf 0 -
35-45% is generally considered to be the acceptable range for firearms storage, although if you remove the wood and have only metal you can go much lower. Wood needs moisture so very dry storage conditions can cause problems for wood, but metal can stay happy as dry as you can manage. When you start getting relative humidity reading over 55% you begin to run the risk of rust and at 65+% you are in real trouble because you can actually get fungal growth and fungus makes a real moisture sink: it is just like having a wet sponge in there. In humid areas of the country you should also try to avoid temperature swing of more than +/- 10 degrees to prevent condensation. Here in SoCal we have a very dry climate and humidity levels seldom get high enough to cause problems. Other ares are not so lucky and the battle against humidity is fought long and hard. 0 -
I have a cheap little dial hygrometer that seems to want to read 55%-60%, although I have a golden rod and desiccant canisters as well, is the gauge possibly not accurate, otherwise not sure what else I can do maybe get a digital hygrometer perhaps; it certainly doesn't seem humid nor does there seem to be a fluctuation in temp nor is it cold either? 0
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