Is Wolf 7.62x39 Actually Corrosive...

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HB

HB

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That question has really bugged me. I always clean my SKS after shooting it from bolt to gas system to barrel. It's a pain to have to clean it especially if I only fire a shot or two. The box on both Military Classic and Black Box say non-corrosive but I don't know if that's the case.

So is there any way to test it without firing it and letting it sit? I'm thinking of taking a piece of steel and burning the powder from a pulled round, but I don't know how to safely fire the primer onto the steel. Any suggestions?

HB
 
I'm no expert, but could you pull the bullets, dump the powder, and fire the primer with the muzzle pointed at the steel (properly clamped down onto your shop bench, of course)?

AP
 
Next time you go to the range, save one of your casings, then keep it for a while. If it's corrosive, the inside of the steel case should rust.

At the range, I picked up a Bulgarian surplus 5.45x39 casing; it's rusted on the inside. Not so with the Wolf casings I've picked up. Maybe this means something, maybe it doesn't.

This is something I've observed, and nothing more. :)
 
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I would think that the inside of a steel case that you just found lying out on an outdoor range would rust pretty soon, whether is Wolf or not.

Why would the inside of Wolf cases not rust if left outside?
 
I doubt it, the old mil-surp ammo my friend shoots and my Wolf are night and day. After 1 week his casings are filled with copper corrosion and mine are like they were just fired.

FFMedic
 
The answer is:

Maybe.

Wolf has been known to use corrosive primers when they've run out of noncorrosive ones on their assembly line (although this is much a thing of the past).
 
The answer is:

Maybe.

Wolf has been known to use corrosive primers when they've run out of noncorrosive ones on their assembly line (although this is much a thing of the past).
 
Hmmm it sounds like gun makers need to use the rust-proof steel that Wolf is using. I am not sure that I am buying that Wolf cases don't rust. I know I have seen a lot of rusty Wolf cases laying around on my range.
 
I haven't ever had issues with Wolf ammo. However, if you are concerned that you somehow did get corrosive ammo, the easiest way to clean the firearm is with Windex with ammonia, then clean and oil as normal.
 
Wolf uses a lacquer coating on their casings. The heat of firing tends to melt or damage that coating and accelerates the rusting. The fact the fired casings are laying out on the ground also accelerates the process.

I wouldn't worry too much about the corrosive ammo. If you store your weapon properly it shouldn't be that much of an issue whether you clean it or not. The big issue with the corrosive ammo is the salts in the primer. the salts will deposit on you barrel (just a little bit) and will attract moisture and form rust. If you store you weapon indoors, in an air conditioned environment, there won't be much issue. If you store it in a damper environment that you might have an issue. If you have a chrome lined barrel you have an extra degree of protection also.
 
I'm no expert, but could you pull the bullets, dump the powder, and fire the primer with the muzzle pointed at the steel (properly clamped down onto your shop bench, of course)?
Click to expand...

armored-pig has it right the steel plate will rust if the ammo is corrosive,sometime within a matter of hours depending on how corrosive the ammo is. However the Wolf is not corrosive,some of the steel case Chinese stuff and other foreign Military Surplus mfg are and the YUGO brass cased surplus ammo is very corrosive. You can shoot the corrosive stuff just clean your rifle including the inside of the gas tube with some hot soapy water oil it back up like you usually would and you will be fine.

What makes the ammo corrosive is the salt in the primer it attracts mosture causing the rust,some are worse than other simple water will desolve it,allot of people use Windex but it's 98% water some blue coloring and the Ammonia-D is not actually ammonia.
 
Thanks for the information. I probably try to clean the rifle to well sometimes which takes forever after a long shooting session.

HB
 
nalioth is right. Some Wolf, as well as some Barnaul, has been corrosive. I know this for a fact as I own a ton of Barnaul 203 grain 7.62x54r soft points that ARE without any doubt corrosive. I know because I tested them. I have owned them for ten year now. The earliest Wolf and Barnaul were corrosive, or at least had corrosively-primed batches. I doubt that happens today, but it most certainly did happen. As a result, some of the older Wolf and Barnaul stuff most certainly IS suspect.

All commercial Chinese stuff is corrosive, as far as I know. Ignore what the box says. The B-West 9mm Mak ammo was also corrosive (but to give B-West credit, after a while, they actually marked the Non off the Non Corrosive on their boxes).

The rule of thumb ten years ago was that all of it was corrosive if it was Berdan primed and came from a former Communist or present Communist nation, regardless of what the boxes said.

Indeed, the only 7.62x54r that was trustworthy was Lapua, Norma, and then later Sellier and Bellot.

Ash
 
The rule of thumb ten years ago was that all of it was corrosive if it was Berdan primed and came from a former Communist or present Communist nation, regardless of what the boxes said.
Click to expand...

My experience has been the same as Ash and nalioth. Back in the 1990s, a lot of the Eastern European and Chinese "commercial" ammunition was just repackaged mil surp and/or used whatever primers were available. A lot of the Novosibirsk/LVE ammo was in this category as well.

The first few cases of Wolf I purchased back then were non-corrosive. I believe it was the third or fourth time I bought a case, but it turned out to be corrosive, despite being labelled as non-corrosive. This is why I usually rate Tula a little lower than some of the other manufacturers. At least I never caught them red-handed.
 
I don't think it's corrosive, especially the kind made w/in the past few years. Wolf, however, is some of the dirtiest ammo ever. One of the reasons it's so cheap is because it's so dirty.

Because the steel casing doesn't expand, a little bit of that burning powder gets blown back into the chamber, because there's no tight seal. So you just have to clean it more and it's a pain sometimes. Well worth the cheaper prices in my opinion.
 
I've never had any problems with Wolf 7.72x39 but:

The answer is:

Maybe.

Wolf has been known to use corrosive primers when they've run out of noncorrosive ones on their assembly line (although this is much a thing of the past).
Click to expand...


I have had problems with Wolf 7.62x54r where a Mosin nagant of mine rusted 2 days after firing the Wolf stuff.
 
Since the Wolf ammo is made specifically for the commercial market, it is unlikely that old milsurp primers could be mixed in. Also, Wolf is the largest brand of 7.62x39 ammo, so if there was a problem everyone would have noticed it.
 
Just burning the powder won't give you a definitive answer; the 'corrosive' action comes primarily from ingredients in the priming compound and how they react with ingredients in the powder.

The 'soot' is primarily carbon, which is highly hygroscopic. The moisture it absorbs reacts with the residual nitrates and other 'salts' in it to form acids. These greatly accelerate the oxydation of ferrous metals.

Even if the priming compound doesn't contain mercury, lead staphnate or other highly 'corrosive' ingredients leaving the carbon residue in contact with unprotected steel for extended periods isn't a good idea, IMO. There're enough residual nitrates left in it from smokeless powders to react with humidity in the air and get rust started. The longer that carbon is allowed to keep attracting moisture and holding it in contact with the steel, the more likely it is to damage it.

Just my $0.02. I clean my firearms after every use out of long habit and training, no matter what ammo I use.
 
MAKster, all of the components are purchased on the open market, frequently huge lots of old corrosive primers come up at much lower prices than non corrosive primers the reason your Wolf ammo is cheaper than Winchester is because they use the components that they get the best deal on...... sometimes that means corrosive primers

I have several million corrosive boxer primers that a local ammunition remanufacturer keeps trying to trade me out of loaded ammo for my primers his company produces ammo that is sold at gun shows all over the country as well as in many warehouse type sporting goods stores like Sportsmans warehouse etc.... I'm not selling as I actually use em for some loads since they do result in more consistant ignition for particular loadings and as I actually clean my guns after use corrosive primed is no issue for me......... but if they find some at a bargain price...... they will use them and you will only find out when ya notice the rust forming because you failed to clean your gun properly.....

ALL of the European ammo producers have access to huge numbers of old corrosive primers from military ammo production, when they need to cut costs in order to remain competitive in the market that is one means they use to cut those costs......

As they say ya get what ya pay for
 
Assuming it was a Yugo...most others are chrome-lined.

Even so, it merely has the potential to establish that that particular lot was not corrosive.

Ash
 
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