SuperSixOne 4 Posted September 5, 2014 Hi Guys, Let me start off by saying I am new to everything reloading. I was having a conversation with another shooter on how reloading is a little bit cheaper, depending on the ammunition, than your standard factory load. This got me thinking, I recently acquired a Mosin Nagant (that I love), and am using old Russian surplus ammo. I know that this ammo is cheap because its corrosive. If I reload, I can get around the corrosive issue, at about cost. My question is, if I have some corrosive surplus ammo that I use, can I reuse the brass? Which part of the actual round is corrosive; the primer or the powder? Will firing a corrosive round 'ruin' the brass so it cannot be used with non-corrosive power/primer? Thanks for the help! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T Bill 649 Posted September 5, 2014 Primer is the corrosive part. Probably not reloadable as they are berdan primed and not worth the effort. Hot soapy water after shooting is easier than loading. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tj462nj 32 Posted September 5, 2014 you can get non corrosive spam cans (440rds) for about $100., doesn't pay to reload it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Damjan 73 Posted September 5, 2014 When you re done shooting and the barrel is warm run a 0.5l soapy water bottle through the barrel. Go home and clean as normal. Been doing this for years and no problem. Surplus round brass is steel (except Yugo Surplus) and all of them have Berdan Primers. Reloading this combo will be not worth the effort. It c an technically be done but painful to do so. I dont have any personal experience with this anyway. Only what i ve read online. Prvi Partizan and S&B makes non brass that you can buy that is boxer orimed and reloadable. They cost close to a buck a round though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan_G 0 Posted September 5, 2014 you can get non corrosive spam cans (440rds) for about $100., doesn't pay to reload it I dont want to say you're wrong but I'm nearly 100% sure you are wrong. I believe any of the spam cans currently available are corrosive. Southern Ohio and other sites are selling silver tipped saying they are not corrosive but they actually are corrosive. There is however some newer production non-corrosive silver-tip however the price comes close to 50 cents per round. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NJKen 23 Posted September 14, 2014 I dont want to say you're wrong but I'm nearly 100% sure you are wrong. I believe any of the spam cans currently available are corrosive. Southern Ohio and other sites are selling silver tipped saying they are not corrosive but they actually are corrosive. There is however some newer production non-corrosive silver-tip however the price comes close to 50 cents per round. Thats been my experience as well. Plenty of "allegedly" non corosive ammo out there that could put rust on stainless steel. Ken Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scarecrow 0 Posted September 21, 2014 You can also swab out your barrel with Windex. The ammonia in it neutralizes the effects of the corrosive ammo.Then clean as normal after that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted September 22, 2014 you can get non corrosive spam cans (440rds) for about $100., doesn't pay to reload it I agree, shoot the surplus and trash the spents. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ReadDude 0 Posted September 22, 2014 You can also swab out your barrel with Windex. The ammonia in it neutralizes the effects of the corrosive ammo.Then clean as normal after that. Here is an interesting note from the garandgear site about how to clean after using corrosive ammo. He notes the solutions that remove KCLand to quote "Windex is often mentioned as a good cleaning agent after shooting corrosive ammunition. If we look at the ingredients in Windex we find the following: Isopropanol,2-Butoxy ethanol,Ethylene glycol n-hexyl ether,Water, Ammonia and other surfactants. The only ingredient with any ability to remove KCL is the water component which is the fourth ingredient in the list. The water component can remove KCL, but the solution as a whole is not as good as water by itself" referenced here: http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-barrel-cleaning Personally, I use hot water with a 10% mixture of Ballistol on my Mosin, Garand (when shooting old suspect surplus) and my muzzle loader. I usually start with just water, then use Ballistol mixture with the later runs with water, then finally Ballistol or Rem Oil as a water displacing oil as mentioned on this site. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scarecrow 0 Posted September 22, 2014 Here is an interesting note from the garandgear site about how to clean after using corrosive ammo. He notes the solutions that remove KCLand to quote "Windex is often mentioned as a good cleaning agent after shooting corrosive ammunition. If we look at the ingredients in Windex we find the following: Isopropanol,2-Butoxy ethanol,Ethylene glycol n-hexyl ether,Water, Ammonia and other surfactants. The only ingredient with any ability to remove KCL is the water component which is the fourth ingredient in the list. The water component can remove KCL, but the solution as a whole is not as good as water by itself" referenced here: http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-barrel-cleaning Personally, I use hot water with a 10% mixture of Ballistol on my Mosin, Garand (when shooting old suspect surplus) and my muzzle loader. I usually start with just water, then use Ballistol mixture with the later runs with water, then finally Ballistol or Rem Oil as a water displacing oil as mentioned on this site. Good read thanks for posting. Do you use some type of funnel with the hot water? Sounds kind of messy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ReadDude 0 Posted September 23, 2014 Good read thanks for posting. Do you use some type of funnel with the hot water? Sounds kind of messy. Use something like one of those re-usable squeeze bottles for ketchup, a sports water bottle or some other liquid squeeze bottle that will let you put out a directed stream of water to target into the chamber. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeerSlayer 241 Posted September 23, 2014 You can also swab out your barrel with Windex. The ammonia in it neutralizes the effects of the corrosive ammo.Then clean as normal after that.Did you get that idea from that movie, "my big fat Greek wedding"? LoL.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites