milsurp .303 ammunition

[archerynut]

say i bought a small quantity of berdan primed .303, is this ammo corrosive? its british marked stuff from the 40's if that makes any difference. thanks.

 

[tiriaq]

Yes.

 

[ilovepotatos]

Out of curiosity, what'd you pay?

 

[slicknick]

Where'd you get it? Gonna be in C-Town in a week or so

 

[The Queens Medalist 8687]

Back in 1992 LeBarons of Ottawa was selling bandoliers of .303 for $10 per 60 rounds. Those were the good ole days as our shootin team did have a lot of fun at Connaught.
Last winter a guy at the gun show was selling this same ammo at $10. My friend and I took all 8 bandoliers.

 

[John Sukey]

Git yourself a funnel and a kettle of boiling water if you are going to shoot that stuff. CLEAN THE SAME DAY YOU SHOOT IT.

 

[Sgt Striker]

Or you can do like the vets did on the front lines.... and just piss down the barrel....

 

[archerynut]

Git yourself a funnel and a kettle of boiling water if you are going to shoot that stuff. CLEAN THE SAME DAY YOU SHOOT IT.

i'll remember that. is it unheard of to cork the muzzle end of the barrel and let that hot water soak for a short time, then pull the plug?

 

[bearhunter]

the only thing "pissing down the barrel" did was add more salt. bearhunter

 

[ilovepotatos]

i'll remember that. is it unheard of to cork the muzzle end of the barrel and let that hot water soak for a short time, then pull the plug?

I just pour through. No problems.

 

[archerynut]

cool. btw i paid 80 dollars for 200 rounds. not sure if this is a great price, or even a good price. but i just got paid and wanted to try something different than canadian tire hunting ammunition. should be fun tho.

 

[slicknick]

not too bad a price but, where did you aquire it?

 

[archerynut]

right here on our own EE

 

[BBq_Woa!]

yeah pissing down the barrel doesn't clean out the salts.
the amonia in urine isnt in a high enough concentration to compensate the amount of salt in urine.
boiling water.

 

[slicknick]

right here on our own EE

Blast! Was hoping that Thing Military had a stash I could loot....

 

[Pete04]

I thought Windex with ammonia did the job?
Pete

 

[slicknick]

Windex has been cleaning my SKS for years without a blemish. It should work fine on an Enfield

 

[PerversPépère]

I thought Windex with ammonia did the job?
Pete

Ammonia DOESN'T neutralize the salts which are mainly potassium and sodium chloride.
It may have one good thing though: ammonia dissolves oil, grease, nitro powder residues and attacks some copper left in the bore.
In dissolving the fouling, it uncovers the corrosive salts which are very hygroscopic AND water soluble. That's why flushing with hot water is so effective.
Windex is only a good temporary range solution if applied ON A HOT RIFLE; you have to clean again once you're home, anyway.
PP.

 

[H Wally]

I've found a bath with boiling water will do wonders. It's amazing - after completely scrubbing the inside of the barrel, you pour boiling water down it and it runs out black. Another plus is that it melts any old cosmoline anywhere on the gun, and the metal will heat up and dry itself almost faster than you can. (I still dry mine though)

 

[John Sukey]

I have a Canadian armourers funnel that works a treat. Surprised that you folks haven't scooped them all up.
To repeat something most folks are tired of hearing by now,
ALL barrels have microscopic cracks in them. On firing, the primer salts are driven into those cracks. A kettle of boiling hot water expands the cracks, flushing out the salts. It also gets the barrel hot enough to evaporate the water. Then one can clean with the usual stuff.

This system has worked for the Army for almost a hundred years. If it didn't work, they would have gone to some other method.

Modern Non corrosive primers don't need the hot water treatment. The problem is that many gun owners today are too young to have used corrosive primed ammo and only get around to cleaning a day or two after shooting instead of the same day with predictable results.