[Deadman]

1st - is 7.62x39mm Norinco ammo berdan or boxer primed?

2nd - how corrosive is 7.62x39 Norinco ammo?

And 3rd - are there any online dealers that are able to ship detachable SKS mags to Australia ( or more to the point is it even possible to ship rifle mags overseas from the U.S. )?


Thanks in advance.

[BHP9]

1st - is 7.62x39mm Norinco ammo berdan or boxer primed?

The answer is that it is berdan primed.

2nd - how corrosive is 7.62x39 Norinco ammo?

Some Norinco ammo made back about 10 years ago was corrosive and there is absolutely no such thing as just a little bit corrosive. If it is corrosive at all it will annihilate your weapon in short order and no amount of cleaning will completely eliminate at least some serious damage to the weapon.

Some Norinco ammo made recently has been non-corrosive. I have some of this stuff.

I have seen the corrosive stuff packaged in Green boxes and the Non-corrosive ammo packaged in yellow boxes with easy to read lettering that states non-corrosive right on the box.

Asking this questing is a lot like commenting that a woman is only a little bit pregnant. Any ammo that is corrosive will ruin your expensive and rare firearm is short order.

A fellow once brought to me a Norinco AK47 that was completely annihilated by the use of corrosive ammo. The corrosive salts got into everything including the muzze threads that held the recoil reducer on. I actually had to use a pipe wrench to get it off. Even the hard chromed piston had its entire head almost ate off by this nasty stuff. The hard chromed bore was also damaged although to a somewhate lesser degree.

I have seen so many very fine firearms ruined by cheap corrosive ammo that I have come to loth and detest the mere sight of even one round of corrosive ammo. It is just not worth ruining your weapon no matter how cheap it is to shoot. Most ammo of this type is way less accurate than good commercial non-corrosive factory ammo or carefully taylored handloads.

Corrosive ammo salts will even get back into the bolt head which will eat out the bolt face and firing pin.

In short avoid this stuff like the plague. If you do not your weapon will be worth little or nothing if you ever decide to sell it.

AS far as the importation of rifle mags go it would depend on Australias laws. Correct me if I am wrong but I recall reading that the Australian Gov't even confiscated semi-auto .22 cal rifles and pump shotguns and melted them all down. How in the world do you still own an AK-47? Is there a loophole that allows some people to still own them or are some people just refusing to turn them in? Just curious about this.

[Art Eatman]

I don't use the corrosive stuff, so I hadn't given it a lot of thought. I can see how it would be a problem for gas-operated semi-autos.

In bolt guns it's no problem. Easy to wash the salts from the barrel with hot soapy water. I grew up on that routine with my first '06, back when the world and I were a lot younger.

:), Art

[Mike Irwin]

A good rule of thumb is to treat any Eastern European/Communist Chinese ammo in military calibers, especially surplus, as being corrosive.

The cleaning routine for corrosive ammo adds virtually no time to the entire cleaning procedure.

[Deadman]

" Correct me if I am wrong but I recall reading that the Australian Gov't even confiscated semi-auto .22 cal rifles and pump shotguns and melted them all down. How in the world do you still own an AK-47? Is there a loophole that allows some people to still own them or are some people just refusing to turn them in? Just curious about this. "


I do not own an AK :) Unfortuneatly :mad:
I do however own a No.4 based Enfield carbine in 7.62x39mm.

In order to own a pump shotgun or semi-auto rifle ( rimfire or centerfire, semi centerfire being even more restricted ) in Australia you have to have a specific need for one. Ie pest control for a park ranger or farmer.


" A good rule of thumb is to treat any Eastern European/Communist Chinese ammo in military calibers, especially surplus, as being corrosive. "

Yeah, even though I've heard of non-corrosive Norinco ammo, I do treat it all as corrosive just in case. For now I'm using Win SuperX as the carbine is a brand new rifle, and I'm not in the mood to risk any damage to it early on. Even though I'd give it a thorough cleaning with say Windex or some other ammonia based product if I did use corrosive ammo.
Afterall the only ammo available in Aus. for M-N M-44's is corrosive milsurplus ammo, so I'm used to dealing with corrosive ammo.
I'm buying Norinco ammo while I can to have a reasonable supply of it if no other milsurplus ammo is available in the near future.

[s&w 24]

If you want a "I'm bored out of my mind" project you could make a special funnel to clean your rifle. Obtain some copper tubing,a copper funnel, and save an empty cartrige case. drill out the base of the case so you can insert the tubing wich you have pre bent so it will hold the funnel to the side. Then put the funnel on the top and solder the thing together. Now when you need to clean after shooting corosive just put the kettle on and insert your funnel thing into the chamber and pour some boiling water down the bore disolving the corrosive salts!