Corrosive primers

[Eric N.]

I've acquired some Russian 7.62X54R that's advertised as non-corrosive, but I'm not so sure. I detonated the primer from one of them against a piece of clean steel plate tonight- Does anyone know how long it would take for corrosion to appear if it is corrosive? Thanks.

Eric

[Tuna]

It would depend on how humid the air in your area is. The more humidity the faster it will rust. Give it at least a couple of days to be sure one way or the other.

[Bill]

I would not rely on this test.

I tried it with some known corrosive primers, and no rust appeared.

I suggest you just assume the primer is corrosive, and clean the gun as if it were. Not a big deal, and then you won't have a very unpleasant surprise in the future.

[joem]

Best practice would be to treat them as corrosive and clean the firearm.

[carym2a]

Hot soap and water,dry, then use your solvents as you do on the rest of your firearms, we have had to do this for years with the cheap milsurp stuff we burn:)

[dogtag]

The best way to find out if the primers are corrosive, is to not
clean your rifle for a week or so.
If you clean your firearm in a timely fashion, it makes no
difference whether the primers are corrosive or not.
I never really understand questions like this.

[Parashooter]

The question is reasonable because "cleaning" has different meanings to different shooters and/or for different situations. If there's any suspicion that the priming is corrosive, cleaning with water or some solution containing a good proportion thereof is a positive way to prevent corrosion that will otherwise result from the presence of chloride residue. If one is sure the priming is non-corrosive, "normal" cleaning with non-aqueous solvents is sufficient - but it won't do much to remove chloride or prevent it from eventually causing bore damage if some corrosive primers sneaked into the shooting session.

[dave]

When foreign ammo is advertised as non-corrosive the only thing you can be sure of is, it is not loaded with black powder. Primers have been the corrisive factor for at least 100 years.