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Corrosive Ammo? What Is it?

tr fox
What exactly is corrosive ammo? Is it something in BOTH the primer and powder or just the primer? Other than hot water and soap, what is the best and easyist way to clean a gun after you shoot such ammo in them?

And is it safe to de-prime a live primer from a shell casing? Or is it better to pull the bullet, dump the powder and place the shell casing into the gun and fire off the primer?

Quote "Somehow government decided that the Constitutional Bill of Rights has become the Bill of "Suggested" Rights and are to be rationed to the citizens as the power elite sees fit"
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  • pinshooter13
    quote:Originally posted by tr fox
    What exactly is corrosive ammo? Is it something in BOTH the primer and powder or just the primer? Corrosive ammo is just in the primer- usually Fulminate of Mercury, but there are other compounds as well.

    Other than hot water and soap, what is the best and easyist way to clean a gun after you shoot such ammo in them? Check the gunshop for some of the commercially available stuff, but soap and water is cheaper and does just as good. But be sure to get a "bore snake" for the gun your using to wipe it out as soon as you have finished shooting.

    And is it safe to de-prime a live primer from a shell casing? NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO, understand? NO!

    Or is it better to pull the bullet, dump the powder and place the shell casing into the gun and fire off the primer?

    Quote "Somehow government decided that the Constitutional Bill of Rights has become the Bill of "Suggested" Rights and are to be rationed to the citizens as the power elite sees fit"


    Edward Milliron

    Dillon XL650 "Crank & Shoot"
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  • tr fox
    Thanks Edward. Some good info and fast. Andd BTW, say for some unknow reason I wanted to deprime a live primer (after pulling the bullet and dumping the powder) in a brass case cartridge, would pouring water into the case and letting it stand overnight make depriming a live primer safe? Or is there even a device that will force a primer (live or dead) out of the case using air or water pressure? Like for example if for some reason someone wanted to reload Berdan primed military brass cases?

    Sorry for the weird questions but I am always up to something. That's just me.('[:D]')

    Quote "Somehow government decided that the Constitutional Bill of Rights has become the Bill of "Suggested" Rights and are to be rationed to the citizens as the power elite sees fit"
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  • Ray Boone
    The corrosive in ammunition is a term regarding the residue left by firing and it's attraction to water, basically, it leave salt in the barrel. The salt attracts water, the water then rusts the barrel, causing pits and corrosion. The cure for this is to wash the salt out of barrel, which is where the hot water comes in, since after the barrel is washed it needs to be hot enough to evaporate the remaining water so when it's cool, the barrel will be dry. The salts can either be contained in the primer or the powder- the prkimer will contain a chlorate, the powder is black powder (all smokeless powder that I'm aware of is non-corrosive). The fulminate of mercury is a different issue- It doesn't hurt the barrel, however the coating left in the brass case causes a chemical change that causes the brass to become brittle= splitting (fracturing) when fired again.

    Corrosive primers can be fired without damaging the brass, but if you have brass that you want to reload, that is primed with mercury, you will need to remove the primers prior to firing them. The best way to do this is to carefully disassemble the cartridge, removing the bullet and powder, then spray some WD40 into the case, let soak into the primer for several minutes; then in a press where the punch can be pressed on the primer very slowly and without pounding, push the primer out. This project calls for safety equipment and moving powder, etc out of the immediate area. Also, if the primer is crimped into the case, it may represent too much risk to be worth the operation.
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  • tr fox
    thanks guys. Sounds like really good info. I will print and save it for future use.

    Quote "Somehow government decided that the Constitutional Bill of Rights has become the Bill of "Suggested" Rights and are to be rationed to the citizens as the power elite sees fit"
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  • heavyiron
    trfox,

    Most primer manufacturers recommend that oil be used to render the primer inert. I am not quite sure of all the reasons for oil, but suspect because the primer pocket is small and surface tension will keep water from moving into the pocket, oil would be better able to penetrate. I suspect also from reading that lubricants are sudden death to primers and powder - they quickly render them inert. If the primers are oiled leave them set overnight and use the depriming (or re-sizing) die of your reloading press to shuck the inert primers. Please wear saftety glasses when performing this operation just in case.

    Regards,

    Heavyiron[8D]
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  • tr fox
    thanks heavyiron. the part about the water tension not allowng the water to fully penetrate the primer makes sense to me.

    Quote "Somehow government decided that the Constitutional Bill of Rights has become the Bill of "Suggested" Rights and are to be rationed to the citizens as the power elite sees fit"
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  • TRAP55
    Fox, most of the Berdan primed cases I've come across have a crimped primer or it is sealed with a shellac of some kind. I had a tool that would pull the primer out, but it trashed more cases than I saved. Very messy, but you can fill the case with water and use the decapping die(minus primer pin)and hydraulic the primer out. I repeat very messy!

    "Aim small...Miss small"
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  • Iconoclast
    One final caveat on killing primers . . . while the oil (I use Marvel Mystery Oil for this purpose) does a good job (and do leave it in there for 24 hours or so to give it time to do the job completely), you must be certain to remove every last bit of it or it will do the same thing to the new primers, also! I toss the brass in a mesh bag, put it in the clothes washer with quality detergent, run a soak cycle with hot water then a gentle wash cycle with hot water - but pull the bag before the spin comes on. Then let the brass drain, rinse again in a vegetable drainer, finally dry at low temp (200 or so) in oven. Sounds like a lot more work than it actually is. Possibly my technique is overkill - I tend to do things that way - but it has worked real well for me over the years.

    Oh, another thing. When you pull the slugs & dump the powder, be alert of signs of powder breakdown. If you start finding that, forget the whole business. The byproducts of the powder degradation will corrode / embrittle brass.

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the french." (Mark Twain) ". . . And liberals / demoMAGGOTS" (me)
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  • TRAP55
    What Iconoclast said, only one safety warning. Wait till the wife is gone to use her washer. Under these conditions, the female of the species will block her genetic code for understanding and/or humor!

    "Aim small...Miss small"
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  • tr fox
    thanks guys. Very, very useful info.

    Quote "Somehow government decided that the Constitutional Bill of Rights has become the Bill of "Suggested" Rights and are to be rationed to the citizens as the power elite sees fit"
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