what surplus ammo to stay away from?

[jon1996]

hello,
well, i am getting ready to start my c&r buying craze, i need ammo recomendations, what to stay away from, the ammo i will be buying will be 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, 30.06, .308, and 9mm, and 45acp, i know to get noncorrosive, and i dont mind shooting commie ammo in my commie guns, but all my others i want brass case ammo, and reloadable, so help me out.
later,
jon

 

[dbshabo]

I've read here and elsewhere that the Indian manufactured ammo is bad juju. I've had good luck with Portugese and Aussie .308 ammo.

Shabo

 

[Slimjim]

Anything corrosive...and indian 308

 

[Tropical Z]

Theres some fun stuff out there thats corrosive.Look at all the sweet 8mm you can get right now for a song and a dance! Just clean well afterwards.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Read the .30-06 ammo thread about dangerous 30-06 ammo.

 

[Greg L]

Corrosive isn't bad as long as you neutralize the salts immediately after you are done shooting. Spraying windex or something else ammonia based down the barrel & in the receiver works well & will stop things until you get home & can do a thorough cleaning.

8mm at $0.07-.08/round can't be beat. Your shoulder will give out long before your wallet.

Greg

 

[Jim K]

In 7.62x51 NATO, anything with the NATO cross in circle headstamp is non-corrosive and to NATO spec. I would avoid South African as well as Indian, but Portuguese is fine.

In .45 ACP and 9mm, you actually would have to look pretty hard to find corrosive primed ammo in any quantity these days. In .45, only the WWII stuff that was selling a while back is corrosive; there is nothing earlier in quantity.

In .30-'06, any U.S. made after 1952 is non-corrosive, and so is Danish, Brazilian and most of the other stuff.

In 7.62x54R, there is a lot of WWII corrosive stuff around; I would go with Wolf or other commercial ammo. Most 7.62x39 is non-corrosive, but again I would avoid the older military ammo.

In 8x57 (8mm Mauser), assume it is corrosive unless you know otherwise. WWII Canadian is non-corrosive and so is Israeli. Turkish and all the rest is corrosive.

Cleaning a rifle that has been fired with corrosive type primers is not terribly difficult or onerous, but it is a lot easier if non-corrosive ammo is available. Contrary to popular belief, ammonia does not neutralize the primer salts that cause corrosion, though it will (in a strong solution) remove copper fouling. But the water in something like Windex dilutes the salts and flushes them away, as will plain water.

Jim

 

[Slimjim]

I knew the corrosive part would get you guys talking Yes, i dont like to shoot it, always afraid i didnt clean good enough.

 

[No4Mk1*]

Oxygen is corrosive, but I'm not holding my breath. I do avoid corrosive ammo in gas guns as they are more difficult to get clean. In bolt actions I just squirt a little liquid hand soap down the barrel before cleaning with water. Of the calibers you list you should only buy corrosive in 7.62x54R.

 

[telewinz]

Selfish

I've fired about 300 rounds of Turk ammo in my milsurp semiauto rifle. Cleanup is a breeze and at .04 a round, I hope everyone keeps badmouthing Turk 8mm ammo for at least 3 more weeks so I can buy at least another case (shipping free) at the next gunshow.

 

[StuporDave]

I have no idea why folks get all freaked out about corrosive ammo. It's nothing to panic over. Your gun isn't going to disolve in your hands if you fire corrosive ammo. If you keep your guns clean, which you should anyway, you won't have a problem.

Think about it. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers, all over the world, in two world wars. All using corrosive ammo. All the communist block countries using corrosive ammo. You'd think all these great milsurp firearms would have corroded away by now.

Buy all the cheap corrosive surplus ammo you want. Run some windex or water down the barrel and wipe the bolt face when you're done. Take it home and clean as usual. No problem. I do it all the time. I keep a small bottle of windex in the range bag for this purpose.

I've fired thousands of rounds of corrosive ammo through my milsurp rifles. No rust or corrosion is any of my guns.

BTW, Jim Keenan is correct. It's not the ammonia, it's just water that washes the salts away. Technically I could just fill a squirt bottle with water and use that. I use the Windex out of habit. I was originally told, many moons ago, it was the ammonia that was needed. Found out a few years later that was not correct.

I'll shut up now

Dave

 

[Jack19]

Amen StuporDave.

 

[BenW]

I would avoid South African as well as Indian, but Portuguese is fine.

Have people reported problems with South African? I gotta say, I've shot lots of it and have had no problems, but I do miss the "keep up on current events" train a lot.

I would throw Aussie .308 in as great stuff too. Just started using it and I've found it to be both reliable and the most accurate milsurp .308 I've shot.

 

[Politically Incorrect]

I haven't had any problems with South African ammo either.

 

[entropy]

"I would avoid South African as well as Indian, but Portuguese is fine."

I agree with BenW and Politically incorrect: South African is among the best, along with Aussie. Santa Barbra is good, too. NO INDIAN!

 

[No4Mk1*]

It is not on your list, but Pakistani Ordnance Factory (POF) .303 is not worth if if it is free. Unless you like to pretend that your rifle is a flintlock... Click...........Bang.

 

[Joe Demko]

Have people reported problems with South African?

I bought some of the South African .308 for use in a PTR-91. It was some extraordinarily dirty stuff. No function problems, but the gun was filthy in short order.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I'll second the ixnay on POF .303 Mk. VII. This stuff is not only corrosive, it's erosive due to the hot burning temp of the Cordite that it's loaded with. If you shoot a lot of it through a L-E you can wear out the throat.

Aside from that, it's really crummy ammo.

 

[TooTaxed]

Indian .308

Check out the thread on Indian .308 in the Ammo and Reloading Section...has blown up a FAL, CETME, and MG-42...slam fires?