what powder is in this mil surp ammo?

[fred45]

I have a bunch of Korean 30-06 M2 ammo, head stamp KA-xxx with corrosive primer and am thinking of pulling bullets and reuding them and the powder. any idea what powder that is?

Thanks

 

[rcmodel]

No.

There is no possible way to tell what they used, and you couldn't get it, or data for it anyway.

Just weigh 5-10 charges to get an average charge weight and use that again.

rc

 

[fred45]

I was hoping to use it in a 308 but that may be a better idea

 

[rcmodel]

Not suggesting you do this, but?
If you are brave, you could probably find the average charge weight in the old 30-06 loads.

Then find a similiar MAX charge weight of a common powder for that bullet in .30-06 reloading manual data.

Then find .308 MAX load data with that same powder & bullet weight as yours.
Then back off 10% from that and work back up.

Shouldn't be dangerous, or too far off.

But unless you have a whole bunch of the 30-06 powder, probably not worth all that trouble either.

rc

 

[fred45]

yea thanks everyone I think I will just reload them into '06 brass, I am sure I can find something to shoot them at

 

[jim147]

Are you reloading them because of primer problems like hangfires and duds or are you just worried about the corrosive primers?

If the primers still work I would shoot them. I still run some corrosive ammo in a few of my rifles. I just have to make sure I clean them.

jim

 

[USSR]

I was hoping to use it in a 308...

After you find the average charge weight, drop it back 6 grains and you will be fine in .308 with the same weight or lighter bullet.

Don

 

[Clark]

IMR-POWDER GRANULATIONS AND COMPOSITIONS
Powder/ Dia. / Perf./ Lgth. / Web/ Coating / Density /
(.65xdie) / (.93xcut) / (%) / (g/cc)
4198 .027 .007 .085 .010 6 DNT .85
3031 .030 .007 .030 .0015 8 DNT .89
4064 .032 .007 .085 .0128 9 DNT .90
4320 .034 .007 .042 .014 8 DNT .92
4350 .039 .008 .085 .016 5 DNT .925
4676 .034 .007 .058 .013 7 DNT .90
4895 .033 .007 .058 .013 6 DNT .90
4831 .039 .008 .085 .016 8 DNT .90

The powder can often be identified by measuring a grain.
The problem is that bulk powder speed is precise but not accurate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision

So with bulk powder I find some powder in the Quickload library that matches. i.e. I got 32 pounds of surplus pull down IMR4895 from High Tech Ammo, but it did not behave like canister IMR4895.
But the speed [velocity over chronograph and threshold of brass deformation] and density matched H322, so I can use it without any more work.

 

[BBDartCA]

Personally, its not worth the risk and hassle transferring powder from 30-06 surplus to 308. I guess you could extrapolate the 308 load based on the average weight found in your pull downs. For the pennies a round powder costs seems like a hassle.

I think when I pulled down some Korean 30-06 (forget the date) the powder was ball not stick. I've seen both ball and stick in Greek. I've also seen same date stamp on USGI with very different looking stick powders (4064 versus 4831 looking stuff). So even if you are pulling down tons of ammo from one supplier or date code, beware the powder type could vary and things could go "boom."

 

[kingmt]

If it came to about 4lbs or more it would be worth my while to work up a new load maybe even 2lbs but less then that by the time you work it up it would all be gone so not productive. I sometimes use rifle pulldown powder in pistol if it is fast enough & less would be more worth while but it is rear to find such a treasure.

You would be best to just shoot it as is or take the average & rebuild them in small amounts.

 

[animator]

There's a strong chance that Korean ammo is berdan primed, so in addition to the primer, you'd also be needing new brass to go along with it.


Me personally, I'd just shoot it, unless there's a safety concern with the ammo itself. Corrosive primers are not a problem, just so long as you clean your gun afterward.

 

[JLDickmon]

just shoot the stuff..
clean the snot out of the gun when you're all done..

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Korean 30.06 ammo was built on U.S. machinery. The powder is a bulk version of IMR4895. Unfortunately, a good bit of the korean ammo was poorly manufactured from an assembly standpoint, but the components are all good stuff.

Your idea of pulling it and reloading it is a good idea. The idea of using the components after weighing the charges to get an average charge weight is a good idea. Reloading it back in the original cases is a good idea. Re-using all the components is a good idea.

Once correctly assembled, it should shoot as well as any other GI surplus.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Are you sure the primers are corrosive? I have shot a lot of Greek ammo and none were made with corrosive primers. Might this be the ammo that's currently available on the CMP site? If it is the primer are not corrosive. Also, even if the primers are corrosive what's the big deal? Clean your rifle when you get done shooting and get home and you will not do any damage at all.

 

[USSR]

Regarding Korean ammo. Both the "KA" headstamped ammo and "PS" headstamped ammo are boxer primed. However, the "KA" ammo uses corrosive primers. Here's how I remember it: KA = Korrosive Ammo; PS = Perfectly Safe.

Don

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thanks Don, I didn't know that...

 

[highorder]

Regarding Korean ammo. Both the "KA" headstamped ammo and "PS" headstamped ammo are boxer primed. However, the "KA" ammo uses corrosive primers.

Here's how I remember it: KA = Korrosive Ammo; PS = Perfectly Safe.

That's funny; I use the same little reminder!

I shot up all my KS stuff back in the 90's, but I have a few thousand rounds of PS loaded in en-blocs for the M1.