corrosion on 308 ammo

The Governor · Dec 27, 2013

I have some 308 ammo that has some kinda blackish & greenish spots of what I think is corrosion on the brass(some of which I have cleaned up) & I need to find a gunsmith or professional in or near my area(salem oregon) that would be willing to take a little time to look at my ammo in person & give some info &/professional opinion about whether this ammo would be safe to shoot.

jbett98 · Dec 27, 2013

What brand are they. Are the head stamps all the same.
Are they in the factory box, or do they look like reloads, if so, is there reloading data written on the boxes
How many rounds are you talking about.
Where did you come across this ammo.
Have you shot any yet.
What kind of firearm will they be used in.

sheepdip · Dec 27, 2013

carry the affected cartridges around in your pocket for a few days, they will clean up nicely.

The Governor · Dec 27, 2013

I think head stamps are all the same. I was told it is south african military surplus made in argentina, not reloads(as far as I know). no boxes, 1000 loose/bulk rounds. at least half of them are affected. have not shot any yet. Would be used in a century arms fal & century arms cetme.

Velzey · Dec 27, 2013

Clean off the green and fire it!

erudne · Dec 27, 2013

send it to me (post paid) and I will sort them and send back the good stuff!

KalamaMark · Dec 28, 2013

I shot some old, corroded .35 Winchester Center Fire ammo that was probably from the 1930's through my 1895 Winchester that I inherited from my Great Grandfather. I likely wouldn't have shot the ammo, but it's not like you can just go down to the store and buy .35WCF on the shelf anywhere.

The corrosion was deep enough to pit the brass where you could feel the divot with your thumbnail. Several of them shot fine, but a few leaked and spit gas and powder back through the action.

I've since obtained some new brass from Bertram in Austrailia, and I have no intention of shooting any more of the corroded rounds.

I'd say your wise to have it checked it out. At the bare minimum, I'd be inclined to triage the ammo into 3 categories.. Not corroded/surface corrosion(wipes off with a few rubs)/pitting corrosion. I'd be inclined to shoot the first two, and leave the rest for SHTF/I ran out of ammo/emergency use only back stock.

The Governor · Dec 28, 2013

KalamaMark- Thanks for the info. I take it that none of the ammo blew up in your face? Seems to me that the most that could happen is that the shell might crack or expand due to pitting or weak spots & expand & get stuck in the chamber. I worry about the ammo exploding in my face but as thick as a barrel, chamber, bolt, etc are I think the force & pressure would still be released at the weakest point(at the projectile end) & prevent any "explosions" elsewhere.

jhirte · Dec 28, 2013

Post pics. A little green or black isnt too big a deal. Clean up with some steel wool. Pink corrosion is bad..if its a lot toss it. A lot of German MEN surplus and some Portugese have reportedly been pretty bad with corrosion (pink) that went through the cases. Ive had some German DAG that had a spec of pink that I cleaned off and had zero problems with.
Ive got a lot of late seventies and early 80s South African thats totally fine..same with some 80s portugese stuff.. really comes down to being properly stored and if the boxes and paper were acidic.
If your really concerned about it..take a really bad looking one to a buddy with a bullet puller and break the round down and then cut the case open and see what its like.

Good luck.

KalamaMark · Dec 28, 2013

mrdink said:
KalamaMark- Thanks for the info. I take it that none of the ammo blew up in your face? Seems to me that the most that could happen is that the shell might crack or expand due to pitting or weak spots & expand & get stuck in the chamber. I worry about the ammo exploding in my face but as thick as a barrel, chamber, bolt, etc are I think the force & pressure would still be released at the weakest point(at the projectile end) & prevent any "explosions" elsewhere.

I can only speak to my experience with my particular ammo in my particular firearm.. and in my instance, after the rounds were fired, the corroded cases that vented gas back at me had pencil lead or larger size holes in them where the gasses had vented to the chamber wall, then back around the case, and into the action.

The cases extracted ok. There was no 'explosion'. The only sign to me, the shooter, that there was a problem was a rapid, high pressure venting of gasses and powder coming from all of the seams in the action...and most of those are exposed to the shooter's face or eyes on a Winchester 1895 rifle.

Most bolt guns have a gas relief port out the side of the bolt, away from the shooters face, to direct such gasses in an occurrence, as I recall.

To put it in some perspective... I've found the gasses vented back around the charging handle from an AR15 equipped with a silencer to be more offensive to the eyes and face than what I experienced with the ventilated brass in the 1895. Eye protection was helpful in all instances.

Velzey · Dec 28, 2013

Reddish pink is powder breakdown, it also gives off an off smell, green is from brass. I have never heard of powder as it breaks down becoming more explosive.....Brass cracks / seperates but its not going to explode

bballer182 · Dec 29, 2013

sheepdip said:
carry the affected cartridges around in your pocket for a few days, they will clean up nicely.

Lol. Some of the cleanest brass I've ever made, rode around in my work pants front pocket for a week. Funny, but true.

erudne · Jan 5, 2014

my method:
I use a green 3M pad, chuck the ammo in an electric drill and polish with pad, this takes a few seconds, I then inspect for deep pits and tiny pinkish spots on the case, then I shoot the best ones