Non corrosive 7.62x39 ?

[bp2626]

Because it is 2016... It isour choice if I want to shoot Non corrosive and we don't have to justify it's use to you, but if you must know I live on the Wet West Coast where it is high humidity and rains all the time. Even SKS's that are cleaned to perfection still have problems here with rusting. So I shoot Non corrosive and don't have to worry. I will await the Canada Ammo new production stuff they will be getting in soon (and is supposed to be very cost effective) to restock my ammo reserve.

I live in the literal rain forest part of BC and I shoot mostly corrosive ammo and have never had rust on one of my SKS that was from corrosive ammo. I have had spotting on various rifles where my sweaty hand touched, however (d'oh).

Non-corrosive is quite useful for times when you don't have time to clean after though. Keep your eyes out for the new stuff from Canada Ammo.

 

[Mumbles Marble Mouth]

Yea. Corrosive ammo is bad. Ship all the corrosive ammo you have to me so I can dispose of it for you. Free of charge.

 

[CanadianBaconPancakes]

Their is no issue with corrosive ammo.

 

[Slamfyre]

I'd love to know for sure once and for all!!! Prove the nay Sayers wrong .... Us your sks ....100 rounds...don't clean for 2 weeks then show us the barrel.

This is probably the 5th or 6th time I post this same report in different cgn threads...

Lever arms surplus Chinese did turn out non corrosive for me. I've had about 600 rounds of it through my CZ858 and there's no trace of any corrosion anywhere. And I've left it dirty, marinating in the burnt residue of this surplus for many days and on several occasions. I even documented it with pictures on another thread.

Here's said report:
While non-corrosive, this ammo did leave, IMO, more than the usual amount fine soot that got everywhere. For lubrication I usually use a heavier, more viscous oil. When the soot is mixed with this oil, it forms a black grease like substance - see image of piston at the base where the spring would go. I don't think this is detrimental to function. It just looks nasty. From now on, I'll only use G96 for lubrication on the CZ 858.

After the 275 round session, the piston face that receives the full direct brunt of gases had a rough surface. I lightly scratched a little bit of that roughness to find out what kind of residue it was made of. It looks like it is made of leftovers from the copper wash. The scratches revealed reddish bright metallic color tone of copper. The opposing side on the gas cylinder didn't show any signs of this metallic copper residue.

Did not do any grouping on paper to test the accuracy, but I can say I was consistently ringing a 9"x9" gong standing offhand at 100m. I did find some cartridges that had some small dents somewhere in the case. I also found some split necks. In spite of these, all fired reliably except for one: there was one case of a failure to feed that was quickly fixed with a forward assist. Later on, as I was reloading the stripper clips I found a cartridge that had a longitudinally bent case. I suspect that the one failure to feed was also due to a longitudinally bent case.

All in all, I'm happy with the results. Please excuse the defective focusing prowess of my camera phone for macro close ups. I also tried to get good pictures of the inside of the barrel, but I was disappointed. Suffice to say that after 96 hours the barrel looked very clean giving out a very slightly dull shine. Now here are the photos of the dirty rifle after 96 hours:

 

[Slamfyre]

Lever arms says in their website that their non corrosive Chinese surplus is 1980s production. I might be wrong, but I understand that the two numbers stamped on the case represent the production plant number and the year it was produced. Based on this, the crates that I've gotten seem to be produced in 2007 and 2008 in plant #61. See for yourselves:

 

[ljones]

I live in the literal rain forest part of BC and I shoot mostly corrosive ammo and have never had rust on one of my SKS that was from corrosive ammo. I have had spotting on various rifles where my sweaty hand touched, however (d'oh).

Non-corrosive is quite useful for times when you don't have time to clean after though. Keep your eyes out for the new stuff from Canada Ammo.

I haven't had rust either. But a few guys here have. I just got a Kodiak Defense modified SKS that takes the AK mags. With the money I have into it I would just rather run non corrosive through it. Here on the North Coast we have lots of rain with many days especially in the winter being 90 to 100% humidity. It is even worse than down where you reside. I use the Golden Rods in my safes but as I said for the $ I have into that one i would rather run non corrosive.

 

[05RAV]

This is probably the 5th or 6th time I post this same report in different cgn threads...

Lever arms surplus Chinese did turn out non corrosive for me. I've had about 600 rounds of it through my CZ858 and there's no trace of any corrosion anywhere. And I've left it dirty, marinating in the burnt residue of this surplus for many days and on several occasions. I even documented it with pictures on another thread.

Here's said report:
While non-corrosive, this ammo did leave, IMO, more than the usual amount fine soot that got everywhere. For lubrication I usually use a heavier, more viscous oil. When the soot is mixed with this oil, it forms a black grease like substance - see image of piston at the base where the spring would go. I don't think this is detrimental to function. It just looks nasty. From now on, I'll only use G96 for lubrication on the CZ 858.

After the 275 round session, the piston face that receives the full direct brunt of gases had a rough surface. I lightly scratched a little bit of that roughness to find out what kind of residue it was made of. It looks like it is made of leftovers from the copper wash. The scratches revealed reddish bright metallic color tone of copper. The opposing side on the gas cylinder didn't show any signs of this metallic copper residue.

Did not do any grouping on paper to test the accuracy, but I can say I was consistently ringing a 9"x9" gong standing offhand at 100m. I did find some cartridges that had some small dents somewhere in the case. I also found some split necks. In spite of these, all fired reliably except for one: there was one case of a failure to feed that was quickly fixed with a forward assist. Later on, as I was reloading the stripper clips I found a cartridge that had a longitudinally bent case. I suspect that the one failure to feed was also due to a longitudinally bent case.

All in all, I'm happy with the results. Please excuse the defective focusing prowess of my camera phone for macro close ups. I also tried to get good pictures of the inside of the barrel, but I was disappointed. Suffice to say that after 96 hours the barrel looked very clean giving out a very slightly dull shine. Now here are the photos of the dirty rifle after 96 hours:

Like I mentioned in my previous post I’ve been shooting the Lever Arms non corrosive ammo in my SKS since February 2016. I also shoot a Chinese corrosive ammo from Marstar.
Regarding the quantities of soot my experience is completely opposite to yours. The non-corrosive ammo leaves much less soot than the corrosive one. After shooting 100 rounds usually it takes me much less time to clean the gun after Lever Arms surplus than after Marstar corrosive surplus. Fact of the matter is that I ONLY use BALLISTOL for cleaning and lubrication. No other oil substance except Hoppe’s 9 for the barrel swap just after shooting. I trust Ballistol. After all, Ballistol was invented by a good Dr. Helmut Klever in 1904 for the Imperial German Army when, at that time, the primers were all corrosive.
Regarding accuracy, it’s so-so. At 100 yards for a 10 shot string most of the shots are grouped within the central 8” black ring (on a 100 yrd target) but quite often, there are one or two fliers. Obviously, I only use iron sights. With the original SKS stock the LOP was only 12” so I added a 2” rubber extension to the stock. It’s much better now. In my Zastava M85 that Lever Arms surplus shoots very well. At 25 yards with iron sights I can put 5 rounds in nearly one hole shooting from a bench rest. I haven’t shot the M85 at 100 yards yet, so I’ll see how it goes. Unfortunately, at my club the range has only 25 and 100 yard sections. No 50 yards.
The Lever Arms surplus ammo cartridges which I have, show two numbers: 61 and 08 which are exactly the same as reported above. I agree that the year of production is most likely 2008. If, indeed, this is 2008 I doubt that the ammo could be corrosive. Correct me if I’m wrong but corrosive primers have not been used for at least the past 20 years or so.

 

[warrenlikesboats]

You can still buy 2014 7.62x54r ammo that is still corrosive.......

 

[05RAV]

You can still buy 2014 7.62x54r ammo that is still corrosive.......

Just pure curiosity, which one is that? Meaning 2014?

 

[warrenlikesboats]

Canada ammo at one point had 2014 norinco production.

 

[canmic]

I really cant figure out why some people are obsessed with shooting non corrosive. I get that sometimes its nice to come home from a day of shooting and just throw the guns in a cabinet and not worry about cleaning it until a later date. That being said,its a 15 minute operation . is there something I am missing , or do you non corrosive shooters like throwing money away?

If I'm gonna have "a day of shooting" with one of my rifles I always clean the heck out of it afterwards, even if it's just a 10/22.

BUT what I would love to get a case of non-corrosive for are those times when I'm just bringing along a rifle to check the zero. Especially if I shot the heck out of it last time and then took it apart to clean it and I want to make sure the zero is still good and/or adjust it a tiny bit to get it back in place. Obviously I do not want to have to take it all apart again afterwards because then I'd throw off the zero all over again!

So, when I'm just going to shoot 5 or 10 rounds out of a gun at the range, I don't wanna have to clean it afterwards. If I'm putting 100-200 rounds through, yep I'll clean the heck out of it after whether I shot corrosive or not.

 

[EL34/6L6]

Yup, machine gun ball ammo. I bought a bunch of crates of it.

 

[05RAV]

Canada ammo at one point had 2014 norinco production.

That was 2011 production:

DESCRIPTION
Corrosive
150gr
Copperwashed
Bi-Metal jacket
Steel core
2011 Production Date
SPECIFICATIONS
SKU
NORC762X54
MAKE
Norinco
CALIBRE
7.62x54R
PROJECTILE TYPE
FMJ
PROJECTILE WEIGHT
150gr
CASE TYPE
Copper Wash Steel

I bought a crate of that ammo. It's actually a very nice ammo. Pretty clean. Doesn't leave too much soot after shooting my Mosin.
I was actually thinking about 7.62x39 whether it's still produced with corrosive primers. CanadaAmmo promises a new supply of non-corrosive 7.62x39 in June-July so I assumed that they never produce corrosive x39 anymore.

 

[warrenlikesboats]

Weather it was x39, or 54R , im fairly sure they had 2014 at some point as well, cus I looked at buying some. I bought a bunch of the 2011 54r too, back when they advertised it a "non corrosive". they soon changed the label to "corrosive" when people started complaining. I agree the stuff seems clean; But after shooting it through my Dragunov clone which I have soo much passion and work invested in, i dont DARE risk not cleaning it to find out of the ammo is indeed "non corrosive".

 

[bp2626]

I haven't had rust either. But a few guys here have. I just got a Kodiak Defense modified SKS that takes the AK mags. With the money I have into it I would just rather run non corrosive through it. Here on the North Coast we have lots of rain with many days especially in the winter being 90 to 100% humidity. It is even worse than down where you reside. I use the Golden Rods in my safes but as I said for the $ I have into that one i would rather run non corrosive.

That is terrifying.

 

[Airborn_69]

Assuming you're not referring to the Dominion non corrosive (Norinco?) from Canam, any feedback from that stuff would be appreciated.

 

[ljones]

That is terrifying.

Yeah there are lots of days in the winter and spring we get 30-50mm of rain. 10-15mm is really common. It gives no allowance for being lazy. Buddy of mine forgot to clean his Norinco 103 7.62X39 for a day and rust was all over it in no time. Sometimes you just want to relax after shooting. Here rust can show in a few hours even.

 

[warrenlikesboats]

Assuming you're not referring to the Dominion non corrosive (Norinco?) from Canam, any feedback from that stuff would be appreciated.

I dont understand this question ......

 

[Robert Nicholson]

Assuming you're not referring to the Dominion non corrosive (Norinco?) from Canam, any feedback from that stuff would be appreciated.

I dont understand this question ......

The Dominion Arms non-corrosive (gray lacquered case) and the Norinco non-corrosive (copper washed) from CanAm, are both out of stock and
I believe will be replaced by the newly sourced stuff that will be available in June-July (I also believe it will be labeled Dominon Arms - for importing?).

Both of those out of stock ammos were good: clean, consistent and definetly non-corrosive. If a case pops up, grab it!

Note: All my comments above are in regards to X39

 

[Slamfyre]

Yeah there are lots of days in the winter and spring we get 30-50mm of rain. 10-15mm is really common. It gives no allowance for being lazy. Buddy forgot to clean his Norinco 103 7.62X39 for a day and rust was all over it in no time. Sometimes you just want to relax after shooting. Here rust can show in a few hours even.

I've never poured water inside a rifle barrel and I'm not lookin forward to start doing it. For me, most times I just want to relax after shooting. I won't usually wait two weeks before cleaning it, but a week is very common for me.

Like 05Rav, I was thinking that ammo manufactured in this new millennium is more likely to be non corrosive. I guess it may not necessarily be true, based on what you guys found out about the 54R. A conclusive final answer would probably involve a chemical analysis to find out whether the primers have potassium fulminate or lead styphnate.

If you do not have access to gas chromatography mass spectrometry, there are more practical, empiric ways to find out. There's the nail test. In addition to the nail test, I kept close and frequent observation of the state of my rifle for 96 hours after firing 275 rounds. Nothing changed. No rust appeared under Langley, BC humidity and winter temperature conditions.

Since then I've fired about 600 rounds of this ammo and the results have been predictably the same after leaving it for a week or more sitting in its own filth. The seller says it's non corrosive. Nail test said it's non corrosive. ###y dirty CZ858 says it's non corrosive. It looks like it's manufactured this millennium... So no, I do not have final conclusive evidence on whether it uses potassium fulminate or lead styphnate. But if it predictably quacks like a duck time and again...