Warning: Long term storage in leather

[Cosmoline]

Well about a year and a half ago I loaded up some very nice 8x57JS cartridges in Norma brass with Barnes bullets. I sealed the primers and packed them away in an old leather ammo pouch for the day when I found a rifle worthy of them. This is one of the two-pocket pouches that comes with M-48 Mausers and can be found all over.

In the mean time my interest turned to other cartridges. I was doing some sorting on Memorial Day, and I discovered this old pouch. I pulled out the ammo and found that the rounds touching the leather had turned green and started to corrode!

I've now switched to using sealed plastic military surplus containers, the kind used for decon kits. These will hold three stripper clips worth and are air tight.

 

[Mal H]

I'll vouch for that, Cosmoline. I left some .44 Mag cartridges in the cartridge loops of a belt. Went back a few months later and the cartridges couldn't be removed without lots of effort. They had corroded and were stuck to the leather.

No firearm (or ammo) should be left stored in any leather.

 

[critter]

WARNING! DO NOT fire the ammo which has had the green fuzzy corrosion on it. It weakens the brass.

When I was MUCH younger and foolish, I fired a 30-06 round in a model 17 enfield. The brass burned through for about an inch about half way down the case. ONLY the strength of the '17 and it's great mauser gas-handling properties saved me from a great deal of harm!

 

[Kaylee]

I'm kinda curious if there's a particular tanning process that makes leather more or less gun-friendly.

Grampa's single-six sat undiscovered in gramma's closet (loaded!) in an old handmade Mexican holster for..gads... 17 years, at least. In often humid East Tennessee, no less.. not a speck of corrosion on it, and the blue's still right purty.

Wierd.

-K

 

[firestar]

It seems to attack brass and copper worse than blued steel in my experience.

 

[Elmer Snerd]

I'm kinda curious if there's a particular tanning process that makes leather more or less gun-friendly.

Chrome tanned leather tends to corrode metal. Vegetable tanned leather is more metal-friendly.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

It is my understanding that nickle plated brass was created for this very purpose. It will not corrode in ammo belts and it harder than regular brass, which can be a killer on reloading dies.

-SquirrelNuts