Surplus ammo corrosion

[JustinL]

Hello

I recently purchased a batch of surplus ammo: my first. It is 1994-vintage German 7.62x51mm surplus and up to a third of it may be corroded.

The first picture below shows what appears to be mild corrosion: a shiny, flat, green spotch on the surface of the casing. The second picture is typical of the more severe corrosion seen. A larger discolored area that is raised and feels rough to the touch.

I am pretty sure the second example of the two would be considered unsafe to shoot, but what about the first one?

 

[kingpin008]

Barring better pictures, I'd shoot both. If the second case feels really rough or has obvious pitting, of course, that's another story.

 

[PCCUSNRET]

Take a piece of 000 steel wool to it so you can see if it has eaten into the brass. Without seeing what is under the green stuff I wouldn't shoot either in my guns.

 

[Murphy4570]

Looks like surface corrosion to me. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Apocalypse-Now]

it's fine. shoot it.

 

[JustinL]

I picked up some 000 Steel wool on may way home from work last night. It takes most of the green stain right off & the underlying metal looks fine. It looks like I'll be able to reclaim a lot of the ammo I thought I would have to write off.

Now I just need some time to clean them all up.

 

[mongo4567]

I have a buddy that bought a lot of that stuff. He used a brass brush on his buffer, cleaned it all up very quickly. He only had a few discards. It shoots great.