7.62 vs .223-corrosive ammo

[jimbombo]

Decided on a saiga in one of these two calibers(7.62x39 or .223)-the most logical being .223 b/c eventually would like to get AR or nice bolt action for varmint and target. Last factor is which is going to have a good selection of non-corrosive ammo? It has been said that just because an ammo says it is non-corrosive does not mean it always is, how to be sure??

Thanks all
Jim

 

[Nowhere Man]

I might be wrong but I don't know of any company producing corrosive .223 ammo(?). 7.62x39 has many manufacturers giving you a choice of corrosive or non-corrosive.

Dave

 

[Sky]

There is plenty of non corrosive 7.62x39 available; it is just there are some great deals with some of the surplus ammo that uses corrosive primers.. If you clean after shooting then neither should not be a problem IMO.

 

[rule303]

As far I know, no .223 ammo available in this country has been corrosive-ever. All current production commercial 7.62x39 is also non-corrosive. You do still run across some milsurp 7.62 ammo that is corrosive, like the Yugo currently on the market, and some old stock Norinco (which was marketed as non corrosive, but certainly was).

 

[jimbombo]

7.62 non corrosive

Thank you-what do i look for when purchasing this 7.62 from JG or Aim or whoever to make sure i get current production instead of surplus??

 

[Hizzie]

As long as you have access to hot soapy water or a corrosive salts specific cleaning agent it is a non issue. As others have said plenty on non-corrosives options for ammo out there. The real issue, depending on the ranges where you live, is whether or not you can shoot steel cased ammo. Steel cased ammo is frowned upon by many (lazy) ranges not willing to sort brass they send to the scrapper. Brass cased 5.56 is much cheaper than brass cased 7.62. The Yugo suplus stuff being the exception-IF it works in your rifle and there are multiple reports of it being on the weak side and not properly cycling actions.

 

[Sky]

Aim will say if it is corrosive. Bear, Tula, and Silverbear are producing non-corrosive. Again do not worry clean when you get home.

Hummm the Yugo ammo I use in the AK and SKS platforms is very accurate and certainly never have I thought it was underpowered. Some of the most accurate ammo I have used in that caliber.

 

[Redlg155]

Also, there is no such thing as "mildly corrosive". It's corrosive or it's not.

I've seen this marketing ploy used a lot.

 

[jimbombo]

Ok Thank you

Ok so if I stick with newer prodution ammo that says non-corrosive do I clean the rifle bore with solvent then lube and wipe out. OR do you guys do the soapy water then solvent??? again this is with newer, not surplus ammo! thanks again

 

[Nowhere Man]

If I buy Tula, Wolf, Bear or Silverbear, I just clean it as non-corrosive. Milserp gets cleaned as corrosive.



Dave

 

[Hizzie]

Non-corrosive ammo gets regular cleaning solvents like BreakFree CLP or Ballistol and a half dozen pull thru's with a bore snake. The action parts get liberal application of above solvent and toothbrush action then either degreased with GunScrubber or wiped down to remove all the crud. I grease by bolt/bolt carrier with Tetra although any grease will do, including lithium grease.

The hot soapy water is for corrosive ammo to remove the corrosive priming compounds that they leave in the form of corrosive salts. Oil/solvent won't dissolve the salts so you have to use the hot soapy water first to get the salt out. Then you use regular CLP on the pieces/parts.

Clear as mud right?

 

[jimbombo]

Yup

Clear as MUD-so for corrosive ammo only the soapy water on the Bore right?! everything else reciever, bolt, internal clean as normal. Thanks again

 

[Redlg155]

forgot to mention, Windex with ammonia works great as well. I've used it with my previous Mosins with good results.

 

[briansmithwins]

Windex doesn't have any ammonia in it, just alcohol and perfume. Check the MSDS.

I've gone thru several thousand rounds of corrosive Yugo M67 with no rust problems. Just clean everywhere there is powder fouling with soapy water, dry, and oil. Sooner is better but the rate of rust formation depends directly on the local humidity.

BSW

 

[Sky]

Yes turkey pan loose parts sprayed with Windex and cleaned then lubed. Windex down the barrel then just lube normally. There are many ways that work for protecting and cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo.

 

[barnetmill]

.223 is noncorrosive, but 5.45x39 often is corrosive.

 

[JohnnyK]

I use frog lube and rarely clean my weapons after trips to the range or competitions... frog lube was developed by a Navy Seal and absorbs in to the metal itself and if you clean your weapons, it's super easy.... just black powder to wipe off... I never feed my babies corrosive stuff.... trainers like Brian Hoffner go years and many tens of thousands of rounds after treating their weapons with Frog Lube to test this stuff and not a single jam... great stuff! it's NOT oil based and actually cleans oil and grease off your gun...

 

[Hizzie]

Clear as MUD-so for corrosive ammo only the soapy water on the Bore right?! everything else reciever, bolt, internal clean as normal. Thanks again

Any and every part that MAY have come into contact with corrosive salts should get the hot soapy water. Even the magazines can show pitting and corrosion from salts. Just clean and lube with normal stuff after its bath.

 

[Sam1911]

Soap isn't required for cleaning up after corrosive ammo, either, though it helps degrease and cut the crud. The active agent in soapy water or in windex is -- WATER. The other stuff is supurfluous.

I put on a teapot to boil while I'm breaking the gun down and then douse every part well with boiling water. Then clean with standard solvents and oil.

 

[M1key]

To the OP: This is not difficult.

Just stick with newer production non-corrosive Russian ammo (Wolf Performance WPA, Tula, Silver Bear, Brown Bear, Golden Tiger, etc) and you will be fine.




M