Proof your stockpiled ammo

Sanders · 04-23-2017, 03:45 PM

Remember when you could buy 7.62x51 surplus ammo at really good prices? Many of us stockpiled it deep when it was cheap. When was the last time you checked it out?

Went out this morning to get some recoil therapy using the M-14. I wanted to check out some .308 I reloaded last week or so, but had to empty some mags first.

Since the easiest way to empty a magazine is to pull the trigger, I settled in to a seated position up on the side of hill to shoot some rocks at 300-600 yards across the valley. Ammo was Santa Barbara (Spanish) with 1963 headstamp. It would fire all right, but felt anemic. Rounds were hitting way low at 300 yds. The brass would eject, but there wasn't enough force to drive it back far enough to strip the next round, so I had to cycle through manually. At first, I though I had the gas shut off, but it would not have been ejecting the brass.

The ammo has been stored in a temperature controlled environment with no moisture, inside a sealed ammo can. It used to cycle through the M14 just fine.

I figure it will work all right in the FAL, if I adjust the gas down. Didn't have the FAL with me, though.

My reloaded ammo (148 gr. surplus FMJ on top of Accurate 2520 w/ CCI large rifle primers) was tits-dead-on, and cycled the bolt just fine*. I wasn't shooting paper, but it was whacking the basketball sized rock at 400 yards as measured by the Mark-I eyeball.

*I had one dud primer in the lot of 50 I shot.

buzgun · 04-23-2017, 04:47 PM

I have some south african surplus brass cased 5.56 that was stored in my garage (HOT summer temps?)in ammo cans that seems to have degraded in its power......it doesnt cycle in all my AR's

Sanders · 04-24-2017, 12:50 PM

If I can't make it work in the FAL, then I'll pull the bullets and re-charge with new powder. They are Berdan primed, but it isn't the primers that aren't working, just degraded performance of the powder.

RetVet · 04-24-2017, 01:26 PM

Hmmm? I have some Portuguese and Australian 308. Haven't shot any of either in a long time. Guess I should pull an FAL out some time and check.

I still have a lot of Turkish 8mm, late 1930's dated. But that's bolt action ammo and plinker crap to boot.

dinkydow · 04-27-2017, 02:59 PM

Corrosive powder in Berdan primed cartridges has a shelf life... of just about forever. Smokeless powder has a, "best if used by date," after that it is retrograde. The FPS begins to drop.

I have fired 8mm that was loaded during WWI and it seemed like it had plenty of ginger left in it. It was corrosive.

Dannyboy · 04-30-2017, 10:53 AM

Several years back I fired some .30 FMJ ball that was date stamped 1943 through my Garand and they cycled fine. I was surprised to see them go through a Pine tree about 14-16 inches in diameter at approx. 40 yards.

That said a lot for quality control of Lake City back in those days!

10 Bears · 04-30-2017, 12:30 PM

I still have a box of .30-40 Craig blanks, milspec issue.

The oldest MilSpec .06 I've fired was a 1923 round.
It was almost a dud, burnt out in three places on the shoulder.
Bullet made it out the barrel, skipped across the ground 50' from the muzzle.
I was damned glad it was out of a bolt action.

Legion489 · 08-01-2017, 04:45 PM

There is no "corrosive smokeless powders", only corrosive primers. The primer mix has, well OK, I could list the compound, but let's make it easy here and say sodium, which is basically, but not quite, plain salt. Don't want to get up and look up the proper name of the sodium compound. Yes i know the military made us clean the rifles three days in a row to get rid of "Corrosive Compounds", but it was not the powder that made them rust.

The mercury primers are what makes the original black powder cartridges and WWI cases brittle when fired. With black powder there is so much powder being burned that the mercury didn't have much chance to wreck cases, but it never hurts to drop them in water to clean them anyway, although that does not keep the mercury from wrecking the cases (make the brass brittle), but they are far easier to clean later. If you don't think mercury doesn't hurt cases, just get some metal cleaner at the store that has mercury in it and clean a case, some back in a week and it is brittle.

baboon · 08-01-2017, 06:36 PM

Y'all seen the Malaysian 7.62 that's currently on the market? I got 2 cans coming tomorrow.

REDOAK · 08-01-2017, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baboon

Y'all seen the Malaysian 7.62 that's currently on the market? I got 2 cans coming tomorrow.

Is that in the .50 cans or the .30 cans?

baboon · 08-01-2017, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REDOAK

Is that in the .50 cans or the .30 cans?

http://www.sgammo.com/product/308-wi...-grain-bi-meta

Sanders · 08-02-2017, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baboon

Y'all seen the Malaysian 7.62 that's currently on the market? I got 2 cans coming tomorrow.

I saw AIM had some for sale.

It's always iffy with some of that 3rd world surplus. Remember when Indian .308 was hit or miss? The older stuff was actually the better stuff. The 80's manufactured (tar baby) was blowing people's rifles up.

REDOAK · 08-02-2017, 01:47 PM

The Malaysian 7.62 sold in the .50 cans appears to be in better condition than the stuff in the .30 cans. I'm neck deep in ammo right now, so I'm not buying any more.

baboon · 08-02-2017, 03:40 PM

I figured it's good ammo because my buddy has ran it in his M-60. He's got more money to loose in his M-60 then my G3K.

belt-fed · 08-15-2017, 10:39 PM

win I play with mg42 in 8mm I use 1953 yugo get duds off and on no big deal
win it was cheap got a shit load of it
win it's in 7.62 use wolf steel case she loves it then she's a fire breathing dragon

04-23-2017, 03:45 PM	#1
Sanders Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 66,435	Proof your stockpiled ammo Remember when you could buy 7.62x51 surplus ammo at really good prices? Many of us stockpiled it deep when it was cheap. When was the last time you checked it out? Went out this morning to get some recoil therapy using the M-14. I wanted to check out some .308 I reloaded last week or so, but had to empty some mags first. Since the easiest way to empty a magazine is to pull the trigger, I settled in to a seated position up on the side of hill to shoot some rocks at 300-600 yards across the valley. Ammo was Santa Barbara (Spanish) with 1963 headstamp. It would fire all right, but felt anemic. Rounds were hitting way low at 300 yds. The brass would eject, but there wasn't enough force to drive it back far enough to strip the next round, so I had to cycle through manually. At first, I though I had the gas shut off, but it would not have been ejecting the brass. The ammo has been stored in a temperature controlled environment with no moisture, inside a sealed ammo can. It used to cycle through the M14 just fine. I figure it will work all right in the FAL, if I adjust the gas down. Didn't have the FAL with me, though. My reloaded ammo (148 gr. surplus FMJ on top of Accurate 2520 w/ CCI large rifle primers) was tits-dead-on, and cycled the bolt just fine. I wasn't shooting paper, but it was whacking the basketball sized rock at 400 yards as measured by the Mark-I eyeball. I had one dud primer in the lot of 50 I shot. __________________ "The truly dangerous man dresses inconspicuously and is soft- spoken. He walks away from most confrontations. The only time you learn that the truly dangerous man is mad at you is a split second before you die, for he never fights. He only kills. The truly dangerous man knows that fighting is what children do and killing is what men do." - Charley Reese 1986 3

04-23-2017, 04:47 PM	#2
buzgun slug Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 25,638	I have some south african surplus brass cased 5.56 that was stored in my garage (HOT summer temps?)in ammo cans that seems to have degraded in its power......it doesnt cycle in all my AR's __________________ Better Dead than Red

04-24-2017, 01:26 PM	#4
RetVet Statistical Error Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Homeless Posts: 43,643	Hmmm? I have some Portuguese and Australian 308. Haven't shot any of either in a long time. Guess I should pull an FAL out some time and check. I still have a lot of Turkish 8mm, late 1930's dated. But that's bolt action ammo and plinker crap to boot. __________________ ^^^ For entertainment purposes. Use only as directed. ^^^ III

04-27-2017, 02:59 PM	#5
dinkydow Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: The Great White North Posts: 96,463	Corrosive powder in Berdan primed cartridges has a shelf life... of just about forever. Smokeless powder has a, "best if used by date," after that it is retrograde. The FPS begins to drop. I have fired 8mm that was loaded during WWI and it seemed like it had plenty of ginger left in it. It was corrosive. __________________ Our forefathers would have already been shooting...by now. "Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt." "Violence of action means the unrestricted use of speed,strength, surprise and aggression to achieve total dominance against your enemy...any fighting technique is useless unless you totally commit to violence of action." Burning huts in commy vills worldwide since 1968

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04-24-2017, 12:50 PM	#3
Sanders Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 66,435	If I can't make it work in the FAL, then I'll pull the bullets and re-charge with new powder. They are Berdan primed, but it isn't the primers that aren't working, just degraded performance of the powder.

04-30-2017, 10:53 AM	#6
Dannyboy Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Bell, Florida Posts: 55	Several years back I fired some .30 FMJ ball that was date stamped 1943 through my Garand and they cycled fine. I was surprised to see them go through a Pine tree about 14-16 inches in diameter at approx. 40 yards. That said a lot for quality control of Lake City back in those days!

04-30-2017, 12:30 PM	#7
10 Bears Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: E-Da-How Posts: 137,846	I still have a box of .30-40 Craig blanks, milspec issue. The oldest MilSpec .06 I've fired was a 1923 round. It was almost a dud, burnt out in three places on the shoulder. Bullet made it out the barrel, skipped across the ground 50' from the muzzle. I was damned glad it was out of a bolt action.

08-01-2017, 04:45 PM	#8
Legion489 Dud Join Date: Jul 2017 Posts: 472	There is no "corrosive smokeless powders", only corrosive primers. The primer mix has, well OK, I could list the compound, but let's make it easy here and say sodium, which is basically, but not quite, plain salt. Don't want to get up and look up the proper name of the sodium compound. Yes i know the military made us clean the rifles three days in a row to get rid of "Corrosive Compounds", but it was not the powder that made them rust. The mercury primers are what makes the original black powder cartridges and WWI cases brittle when fired. With black powder there is so much powder being burned that the mercury didn't have much chance to wreck cases, but it never hurts to drop them in water to clean them anyway, although that does not keep the mercury from wrecking the cases (make the brass brittle), but they are far easier to clean later. If you don't think mercury doesn't hurt cases, just get some metal cleaner at the store that has mercury in it and clean a case, some back in a week and it is brittle.

08-01-2017, 06:36 PM	#9
baboon slug Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Out by the lake in central Texas Posts: 18,305	Y'all seen the Malaysian 7.62 that's currently on the market? I got 2 cans coming tomorrow.

08-02-2017, 01:47 PM	#13
REDOAK Intelligent Posterior Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,711	The Malaysian 7.62 sold in the .50 cans appears to be in better condition than the stuff in the .30 cans. I'm neck deep in ammo right now, so I'm not buying any more.

08-02-2017, 03:40 PM	#14
baboon slug Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Out by the lake in central Texas Posts: 18,305	I figured it's good ammo because my buddy has ran it in his M-60. He's got more money to loose in his M-60 then my G3K.

08-15-2017, 10:39 PM	#15
belt-fed Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: land of browning Posts: 2,470	win I play with mg42 in 8mm I use 1953 yugo get duds off and on no big deal win it was cheap got a shit load of it win it's in 7.62 use wolf steel case she loves it then she's a fire breathing dragon