Help identify Chinese 7.62x39...

C

copeland

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Mainly interested in trying to figure out if a crate I bought is corrosive or non corrosive. I'm sure it's Chinese, I know it's copper washed, and the head stamp says 61 at the 12 o'clock and 69 at the 6 o'clock

I've read the 61 is the Chinese factory and 69 is year of manufacture. The projectile looks slight off color compared to the casing (maybe steel core?). The bullet looks very similar to my Canada ammo non corrosive. The primer is sealed with red. Leverarms carries 1440rd 7.62x39 non corrosive but their crates are green and cleary stamped. My crate was unnginished and the stamping was all blurred. The rounds are wrapped in paper and the spam cans have the opener which makes 'U' shape on the top.

I'm hoping I bought 1969 Chinese 1440rd non corrosive
 
First and foremost, if its non-corrosive, you will pay more for it and you will know you paid more for it. There is a huge premium to pay if you want non corrosive, nobody is giving the sh*t away for the same price. Secondly, the above quotation concerning corrosive ammo before 1990 has few exceptions. Thirdly, learn to spend 2 extra minutes to clean the corrosive ammo and shoot for half price.
 
Don't let price alone fool you. Lever is selling 1972 production Chinese as "non-corrosive" for $375 a crate. The crates have clearly been repainted and remarked at some time, too.

leverarms.com/ammo/rifle/chinese-military-surplus-7-62x39-fmj-non-corrosive.html
 
Well, they are going to be popular when a lot of guns get ruined by this stuff.
And it wont be cheap SKS's that get fed expensive "premium" ammo, either.
 
Im absolutely furious. I just opened up my XCR that i religiously clean and care for to rust all over my gas piston/op rod. Needless to say I'm ready to do anything to ensure this gets rectified, if it does not you will hear about it along with the rest of the internet haha. Why are they knowingly sell corrosive as non corrosive, its false advertising.
 
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Ace604 said:
Im absolutely furious. I just opened up my XCR that i religiously clean and care for to rust all over my gas piston. Needless to say I'm ready to do anything to ensure they get the same headache back that Ive now been given. You guys have effectively right messed up my most expensive single firearm. Im reporting lever arms to the BBB.
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"You guys?"

No offense, but there's no way you "religiously clean and care for" you XCR if your chrome plated piston ended up with rust on it.
 
You guys referencing lever arms.

Say what you will. I know how well I care for it and you do not bottom line. Im already documenting it all in case of future pursuance. The xcr should damn well be able to sit in water for 2 weeks without rust. The other xcr I have in my posession is 2 years without rust with LESS maintenance and care on it, so dont give me the attitude, there is no need for it.
 
Just checked my sks, its full of rust to after switching from corrosive surplus 7.62x39 to the lever arms 1440 chinese "NON-CORROSIVE" 7.62x39. I was windexing and fully cleaning it after corrosive ammo.. had I known this was corrosive to i would have been able to prevent it with the same methods. This just double confirms its the ammo at fault, I spoil the crap out of my sks care wise.
 
Ace604 said:
You guys referencing lever arms.

Say what you will. I know how well I care for it and you do not bottom line. Im already documenting it all in case of future pursuance. The xcr should damn well be able to sit in water for 2 weeks without rust. The other xcr I have in my posession is 2 years without rust with LESS maintenance and care on it, so dont give me the attitude, there is no need for it.
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So, I posted that Lever's advertising was suspect and it's my fault your gun rusted? Who has the attitude here?

If you shoot corrosive ammo, you need to clean accordingly. If you shoot surplus ammo, you need to educate yourself to ensure you know exactly what it is.

Lever Arms is guilty of false advertising as were other dealers who previously advertised this ammo as NC.
 
Lol stevo your getting me wrong here buddy, im not saying its your fault or any of you guys, when i said you guys I meant lever arms and their false advertising. Please lets stop the side banter as we are on the same team here ;)

I agree you do need to clean accordingly, and if they sell non corrosive I clean according to that, not according to the corrosive it actually is. I trusted a reputable business to have done the research when advertising it as non corrosive that it would be indeed as advertised. I am not a vet at buying ammunition and am fairly new in this aspect and should be able to trust a business' advertising. This as we all now know is not the case unfortunately(too late for me). Fault lies on them for this rust and I am hoping they own up and make up for it in my inquire to them.
 
Gotcha. Gotta love misunderstandings on the net.

Yes, you should be able to trust a dealer. Unfortunately, corrosive advertised as NC is not uncommon in Canada. Most times I believe the dealers are repeating what the distributor or importer have told them. In which case, the dealer is not really responsible.

In this case Lever is the importer and dealer. So, were they lied to by their source in China? Are they feeding us a line of BS? Does it matter which? I don't think it does. If a bunch of regular guys on CGN have the knowledge to determine it's corrosive, the importer should, too.
 
Alright update:

Lever arms gave me the expected f*** yourself response as is typical of their reputation, why do people shop at this place with liars behind the desk, damaging our hard earned firearms.

Replies :

"All of the Chinese military surplus ammo we sell is non corrosive. It has been subjected to extensive testing with conclusive results. Chinese surplus is very dirty and does need diligent care after use. It does not contain a corrosive element.
It is regrettable that your rifle is experiencing issues, however we assume no liability in this matter.
Best Regards"

And when I requested replacements I got this: "My gas tube for my xcr is also absolutely caked in rust as ive video documented. Ill also be requiring a new one of those."

Reply: "Why are you telling us this? We do not sell the XCR."

So I ask you guys, is the extended community who understands this ammo is corrosive and not just "dirty" a bunch of liars? Or are they the ones feeding us bull and turning a profit? I ask where is this evidence of such testing, wheres the data, the videos, the write ups, anything. Lever arms trying to tell us the chinese QC was excellent at this time? Because thats a bunch of crap. I know im redirecting every single sale I can to other shops as no one wants to be taken advantage of like this. Absolute skid mark on the firearms community in BC and the lower mainland for duping people making purchases at their companies establishment.

Hope future buyers see this before it's too late and they don't fall into the trap.


Hope everyone had a good weekend of shooting.
 
"All of the Chinese military surplus ammo we sell is non corrosive. It has been subjected to extensive testing with conclusive results. Chinese surplus is very dirty and does need diligent care after use. It does not contain a corrosive element.
It is regrettable that your rifle is experiencing issues, however we assume no liability in this matter.
Best Regards"
Click to expand...

This is an interesting quote because it's accurate, yet completely disingenuous.

There is nothing "corrosive" about "corrosively primed" ammo, if you go by the dictionary definition of corrosive. The salts contained in the priming compound attract water, and it's the water that is the cause of the rust.

Unfortunately, it looks like you're on your own. At least the gas tube isn't a vital part of the gun. Clean the rust out and drive on.
 
What were they selling it for for a crate?

Trade-Ex had the exact same ammo, same factory, same year production. They sold it for $220 with free shipping.

They advertised it as corrosive.

I bought a crate of it myself.

As a rule of thumb, if I'm getting thousands of rounds of old tin can communist ammo from the cold war era for $200 bucks it's definitely corrosive lol Even if someone told me it wasn't, I know better.

That being said, if they were advertising it as non-corrosive to specifically try and push sales (which is obviously not true in this case) then they are liars and it is false advertising and you have a right to pursue reimbursement I would say.

Learn a lesson from this at least if they don't honour your complaint.

Very bad business indeed.
 
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