corrosive ammo?

[ratherbefishin]

I have always wondered-why did they make corrosive ammunition in the first place?

 

[BattleRife]

What choice did they have? Once cartridge ammunition came into existence in the 1870's, mercuric priming became problematic and potassium chlorate was the only other Class A friction explosive compound known that was reliable, stable and safe.

 

[tiriaq]

It was not until the 1920s and 30s that non-corrosive priming mixtures became available. Much military ammunition retained so-called corrosive priming because of perceived performance or storage advantages. Corrosive primers remained in use in some target ammuntion for performance reasons. There were even 2 lots of US 7.62x51 NATO ammuntion made with the corrosive FA70 primer. Canadian WW2 .303 ball will be corrosive if it has a large 1/4" diameter Berdan primer. If it has a standaard .210" Boxer, its non-corrosive. Cdn. 9mm ball was non-corrosive.

 

[Dryzen]

What are the best ways to clean a rifle that has used corrosive ammunition?
What parts need to be cleaned?

 

[mardig88]

What are the best ways to clean a rifle that has used corrosive ammunition?
What parts need to be cleaned?

any part exposed to the gases should be cleaned (barrrel, gas system if semi auto, sometimes bolt and firing pin, bolt carrier, receiver)
the best way would be dissolving the salts (better if you loosen the salt residue by running a brass brush first in the barrel) in hot water then doing the regular oil cleaning

 

[CanAm]

Corrosive ammo stores longer and is seen as more reliable in cold weather. The Russians still use it in their military ammo.

 

[mosquito99]

and what the best way to clean a chamber thats been left, the barrel is chrome lined and the rifle functions flawlessly, there are no pits in the chamber it is a rust colour residue, ive tried wd40 and steel wool on the end of the rod, some of it came off but the chamber is not totally clean