Dirty Surplus Ammo

[Badmusic]

Any tips on cleaning up a load of dirty ammo? I don't mean unburnt fouling powder residue after firing I mean brass feels like it was coated with light oil 30 years ago, dumped in a pile of dirt, and wiped off with a sweaty rag before being packed loose in a wet steel can. Some of the copper jackets are even getting spots of green!

I know I shouldn't use petroleum based solvent as that can leech into the primer and charge ruining the round, but seems to me where oil can go,do can water.

Would I be ok with a clean cloth rag very slightly dampened with warm slightly soapy water?

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!

[gunboat]

If you have a tumbler, chuck them in there for a while -
If you have to do by hand, a rag moistened with mineral spirits will do -
I doubt even chucking them in a pan of solvent would hurt - at least if you don't leave them overnite -- or they have split necks -
I presume it is GI ammo of some sort --
I have fired old ammo salvaged from a river bed with only a few duds.
my tuppence

[Badmusic]

Ok, thank you. It is mil surp 30-06 from Korea, and I usually have great results from this distributer, but a messy batch this time. :-(

[Corona762]

Ok, thank you. It is mil surp 30-06 from Korea, and I usually have great results from this distributer, but a messy batch this time. :-(

Not to malign the business....but can ya tell us which distributer it was? I've seen Wideners, Midway and Brownell's stocking it. I was looking to pick up some of that -'06 Korean, now I'm wondering. Green spots ain't good.

[Badmusic]

Not to malign the business....but can ya tell us which distributer it was? I've seen Wideners, Midway and Brownell's stocking it. I was looking to pick up some of that -'06 Korean, now I'm wondering. Green spots ain't good.

Ammoman.com. I have no complaints with over 5k rounds ordered to date. In fact everything before this was better than expected, and the lowest prices I was able to find consistently. Just wasn't expecting the quality of this batch. I have about twenty dented rounds in the first can, and it was a mixed lot as well. about thirty steel core and the rest non magnetic. Some of it had rust as well, which I think may have been from the links for belt fed? One round actually had a steel remnant still clipped to the neck of the case.

Really, please understand this is abnormal for ammoman. I like and will continue to use their products.

[Badmusic]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/19/3006sprgfromammoman.jpg/

Here's a few of the worst.

[fremont lapua]

Last time I saw ammo like that I pulled and saved all the bullets, lit the gunpowder in a metal can and watched it burn and recycled the brass. I think I would only shoot the two on the far right, the dents will come out when fired. Is the 3rd one to the left cracked. What is on the neck on the first one, it will not chamber how it looks.

[fremont lapua]

I would not put loaded ammo in a tumbler, it would be nice to see a pole of who would though.

[wtkaiser]

Count me as one who would not. No real reason, I just don't trust it.

[gunboat]

" I would not put loaded ammo in a tumbler"
How do you suppose the manufacturer gets the ammo clean at the factory?
If you think the vibration is bad for the ammo, take an hours ride in a M113.

That lot of ammo is really poor, salvage of some sort, either sold as scrap by the military, or the dregs of ammoman's buy lot --
I would send ammoman a photo -- unless of course, you got what was described in the ad --
my tuppence

[Badmusic]

Last time I saw ammo like that I pulled and saved all the bullets, lit the gunpowder in a metal can and watched it burn and recycled the brass. I think I would only shoot the two on the far right, the dents will come out when fired. Is the 3rd one to the left cracked. What is on the neck on the first one, it will not chamber how it looks.

The thing on the neck of the first one, is the remnants of the belt, I think. It is probably machine gun salvage. The corrosion on the next two is similar to what is under the 'thing' on the first, which is what i suspect caused the corrosion. The fourth is not cracked, just mystery gunk, the fifth and sixth dented beyond what i would think is safe to fire.

So, two no's and a yes to tumbling? The majority of the lot shows no or very small dents, but covered in mystery gunk.

[NoHeavyHitter]

I would not put loaded ammo in a tumbler, it would be nice to see a pole of who would though.

I would and have tumbled a few cases of ugly surp - but stuff like in this photo, I pull-down for components. That stuff should never been sold as "ammo" to actually fire in that condition.

When I do tumble live ammo, I set the tumbler out in the middle of a concret patio just in case, but nothing's ever happened.

[glassparman]

Whenever I have pulled down ammo that looked like that, it had some green corrosion on the inside and the powder was clumped (bad powder). I just pull it down for components or scrap because shooting it was dangerous. Some of them even broke at the neck when I used the inertia puller.

As for tumbling, it takes a great deal of force to make a primer go off. I tumble live ammo all the time without any problems.

I purchase a great deal of .303 British from Gunbroker and I always tumble it with polish before I shoot it; unless it is older than 1950 then I save it for collector value.

Sometimes if there is some staining, I scrub it in a special "Brass and Copper Cleaner" stuff I got online, then I tumble it with polish.

[17+1]

" I would not put loaded ammo in a tumbler"
How do you suppose the manufacturer gets the ammo clean at the factory?
If you think the vibration is bad for the ammo, take an hours ride in a M113.

I've tumbled a bunch of loaded ammo. Never had any problems.

[fremont lapua]

I thought the factory started with clean products before assembling. My grandfather once told me not to put loaded ammo in a tumbler but, after reading this I will reconsider. It was just the way I was once told, that is why I phrased it the way I did with a pole. Seeing all the people that do it and don't have an issue I would now say it would be ok.

Another question. Would you only tumble loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler or would you do it in a stainless steel media tumbler with the wash solution?