Bad ammo? I think so.

CAMc · Mar 25, 2014

I have some old surplus 9mm with Arabic writing on it, I assume it is Egyptian. The last time I shot any was over 10 years and it didn't cycle my dad's p38 consistently then.
Anyway, I just popped the lid on the ammo can that I had stored it in, and I was immediately hit with a nostril-burning odor, akin to something in between chlorine or ammonia. From what I have read, this smell is common upon firing, but what about unfired ammunition?

Throckmorton · Mar 25, 2014

strong indication that the powder has deteriorated badly, I would not shoot it,it may do something weird or erratic, . Your local pd or recycler may have be able to dispose of it for you,safely

CAMc · Mar 25, 2014

I'll likely just break them down for their components, and just burn the powder in the backyard. The primer pockets are staked, but I'm sure I can figure a way to clean them up.

Certaindeaf · Mar 25, 2014

If they're boxer primed it'll be a cinch.. if you have an inertia bullet puller, you might find that the lacquer seal at the case mouth makes it difficult to pull them.. just seat them a bit deeper to break the seal.

CAMc · Mar 25, 2014

Certaindeaf said:
If they're boxer primed it'll be a cinch.. if you have an inertia bullet puller, you might find that the lacquer seal at the case mouth makes it difficult to pull them.. just seat them a bit deeper to break the seal.

Yep, I am pretty sure I remember them being boxer primed, and they are only sealed around the primer.

AMProducts · Mar 26, 2014

You don't even need to burn the powder, just mix it in with your mulch pile and it will add valuable nitrates to your soil.

And yes, sounds like your powder has deteriorated, I'm sure they probably didn't add much in the way of acid neutralizers when they made that stuff.

CAMc · Mar 27, 2014

My mistake, I just checked, and they are Berdan primed.

Nwcid · Mar 27, 2014

Pull the bullet, add fresh powder, shoot.

rpatton · Mar 27, 2014

Nwcid said:
Pull the bullet, add fresh powder, shoot.

Shouldn't you put a bullet back in before you shoot it?

RVTECH · Mar 27, 2014

Pull the bullet, add fresh powder, shoot.

I would probably resize the cases before reloading.

Nwcid · Mar 28, 2014

I was being short, assuming people that would do this knew how to reload.

I am not sure the advantage of resizing. They have not been fired so what is out of "spec"? I would use my mouth expander though so the bullet would seat easily.

RVTECH · Mar 28, 2014

I am not sure the advantage of resizing.

Ensuring uniformity with brass of unknown origin or quality of loading. Something about the packaging with the hieroglyphics on it doesn't do much for my confidence.

AMProducts · Apr 7, 2014

That's not hieroglyphs, that's squiggle...

I've seen tons of ammo made on soviet tooling, most of the time "round" is more a suggestion or a general impression than a mathematical requirement. Might have to size them.

Toxic6 · Apr 7, 2014

That was some dirty, corrosive stuff right there..........

chemist · Apr 28, 2014

Yeah, it'll be corrosive all right, if it's giving off noxious gas.

That's NO2, nitrogen dioxide burning your nose, and its stench reminds me of rotting fish soaked in acid - at low concentrations. In higher amounts, it feels more like a baseball bat to the face. The stuff used to be a common oxidizer in biprop liquid rockets like the Russian Proton. Nasty as all get-out.

(NO2 and N2O4 are basically the same stuff, if pressure and low temp are used to turn the red-brown NO2• gas into the colorless liquid N2O4 dimer.)