7.62x39 identification

[2W2X1]

[2W2X1]

It came in spam cans that no longer have markings on them, paint is rubbed off or faded.

Here is a shot of the primer and head stamp.

[2W2X1]

Curious if it is corrosive or not and or how to tell. Thanks in advanced.

[stilly]

It probably is. I want to call it yugo or something but I ahve seen that stuff and might even have some - It is a copper washed case I think and it is most likely berdan primed and corrosive. I know I am wrong in doing so, but I tend to lump most/all berdan primed stuff into the same group of commie ammo.

Commies will use berdan priming and rarely do you see a commie gun shooting brass boxer primed ammo. I am sure things have changed a bit but that USED to be the way it was. I do recall my gunsmith telling me that I should NEVER run anything but brass in my SKS because Brass is slick and smooth and ejects easily and steel will **** my guns up. But times have changed now for the better I think.

[2W2X1]

Thanks Stilly.

I have inherited quite a boat load of this stuff and want to use some for range plinking. I'm looking forward to seeing how this performs in the saiga.

[Gene1986]

Its def corrosive

[chknlyps2]

I would treat it as corrosive and clean well after shooting. If you can, pull a bullet out of a case and dump the powder. Then get a clean piece of steel, freshly cut or sanded and with the muzzle close to the fresh steel, fire the primed case. Put the steel in a moist area like the bathroom when you take a shower. In a few days to a few weeks you should see way more oxidation or green/brownish growth where the primer sprayed the metal.

[FLIGHT762]

Your ammo is Chinese. Factory 31 made in 1973. It is corrosive and very likely steel core.

[Socalman]

There is nothing wrong with corrosive ammo as long as you follow the proper cleaning method very soon after shooting. I have been told that normal cleaning procedures do not solve the corrosive problem.

I was taught that you need water to dissolve the corrosive salts from the primers. After my time at the range I head home and clean, starting with spraying water and ammonia down the barrel to begin washing out the salts, followed by several water soaked patches. When things are looking fairly clean I then go into a normal cleaning/oiling mode.

I have actually seen some guys at Burro Canyon use a squirt bottle and begin flushing the barrel before they even leave the range.

BTW, there is some great non-magnetic but corrosive ammo to be had. I don't recall the what the numbers are on it. I would have to look at my boxes.

[Cowboy T]

Yep. When I get home, I grab a jug of warm/hot water (cold will also work, but warm/hot dries faster) and wash the barrel and gas-piston area with it. Then, clean as normal with Hoppe's #9 or whatever. Nothing wrong with corrosive ammo as long as you do this.

[stilly]

HAHA.

Yeah, For cleaning- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have a PPSH-41 (Pepishaw 41) and after shooting about 200 rounds of 7.62x25 one day that thing was rusty by the time I got to clean it. Two days later I boiled water in a 3 quart pot and cracked the receiver open, poured it down and all over the gun. God that felt weird. That gun looked like something out of a movie where the alien rust grew at a FAST rate. The nice thing about boiling the water is it heated the metal up a lot and it ended up drying very fast so normal gun cleaning and oiling was okay to do. The plants did not seem to mind the hot water too much either, but if you have fire ants, they REALLY like boiling water

Thankfully though most AKs adn SKSs are better than this and many have chrome lined barrels. If you have a chrome lined barrel then you are in good shape. If you do not have a chrome lined barrel, then you really do need to clean it out as soon as you get home. In fact, I know it might be hard to do, but actually get that water started on the stove about 5 minutes before you get home. Don't ask me how to accomplish that but I am sure it can be done, I might have seen it in a movie with bad continuity one time...

[Cowboy T]

To reinforce Stilly's point, yes, cleaning should begin as soon as you get home. Don't wait, even if you've got a chrome-lined barrel, because the gas-piston area probably isn't chrome-lined.

This is the nice thing about bolt-actions. Get the rifle out of the stock, pull the bolt, and pour, baby, pour. About as easy as you can get short of a single-shot.

[I Swan]

Corrosive and magnetic. Make sure to clean if you use. If you are interested in selling it I'd buy some but would have to be shipped. It is accurate in one of my guns.