silver bear ammo - corrosive ?

chuwee81 · Post by **chuwee81** » July 17th, 2009, 4:31 pm

HI there. Just received 7 boxes of FMJ and HP from JG yesterday. I was just wondering if they are corrosive or not since (IIRC) they have berdan primers. I do the windex first and WD-40 with my mosin and was just wondering if this is necessary with the silver bear brand. Thanks

stover · Post by **stover** » July 17th, 2009, 7:44 pm

It there is Mercury in a primer then the primer is corrosive Berdan or Boxer style. Did J&G list the ammo as corrosive or not? I would take there word on it.

wsps1990 · Post by **wsps1990** » July 17th, 2009, 9:43 pm

Sure is. Read this link:
http://www.geocities.com/gunversation/r ... n_ammo.htm.
I ran a 100 rounds of 9X18 Makarov today. First and last time. I kind of like the way sparks fly out of my P-64. Like poor man's tracers.

stover · Post by **stover** » July 18th, 2009, 12:48 am

That link is dead and your comment don't make any sense. If your going to shoot anything other than 9x18 ammo out of your p-64 please make sure your alone on the range.

Not all russian or berdan primed ammo is corrosive. It depends on the chemical composition of the primers. Modern eastern block ammo is generally non-corrosive.

conscript47 · Post by **conscript47** » July 18th, 2009, 1:06 am

No, it is not corrosive. All currently produced Russian commercial ammo uses lead fulminate (non corrosive) instead of potassium fulminate (corrosive, potassium is a salt and likes to attract water into the pores of metal, causing rust). Mercury fulminate hasn't been used in primers since the 30's (well... except in poor countries, like India, which used it until the 50's).

Berdan priming is just a type, just like 9x18. Berdan primed ammo is not corrosive just because it is berdan, just like 9x18 is not a "corrosive round" just because of the name... it all depends on what is inside the primer itself. Silver Bear isn't corrosive, though.

stover · Post by **stover** » July 18th, 2009, 2:11 am

Thanks for the correction on Primer compounds. I just finish a case of .45 acp from the 30s btw.
Checked J&G they list the silver bear as non-corrosive. They are reputable. A while back several sites were selling 70 or 80s surplus 7.62x39 (brass cased /boxer primed yugo I think) ammo. J&G was one of the only sites to list it as corrosive, which it was. One popular site listed it as mildly corrosive, most listed it as non. Probably because it was brass they just figured.
Of course, a little windex wont hurt if your not sure.

Post by **normsutton** » July 18th, 2009, 7:43 pm

stover

this is where that 7.62 x 39 ammo came from and they list it as corrosive too
http://www.samcoglobal.com/Ammunition.html

NORM

conscript47 · Post by **conscript47** » July 18th, 2009, 11:51 pm

stover wrote:Thanks for the correction on Primer compounds. I just finish a case of .45 acp from the 30s btw.
Checked J&G they list the silver bear as non-corrosive. They are reputable. A while back several sites were selling 70 or 80s surplus 7.62x39 (brass cased /boxer primed yugo I think) ammo. J&G was one of the only sites to list it as corrosive, which it was. One popular site listed it as mildly corrosive, most listed it as non. Probably because it was brass they just figured.
Of course, a little windex wont hurt if your not sure.

Actually, it might... if you use Windex "D" formula, with ammonia, it can damage the chrome lining of your barrel if left in too long. For non chrome lined guns, I have used ammonia (in my Mosin), but I switched to just Hoppes solvent- no reason to use anything else. The corrosive salts are mixed in with the powder fouling, if you use something that breaks up the fouling, you remove the salts along with it. Just think, the Polish/Russians/Hungarians never issued Windex alongside these pistols (P64, Makarov, PA-63), and you don't see any rust (save for the ones that were never cleaned).

Who made the ammo from the 30's? Is it the old U.S.G.I. stuff packed in 600 round tins? I used to see that around all over the place, but didn't own a .45 at the time so I passed it up... D'OH! ::)

stover · Post by **stover** » July 19th, 2009, 12:29 am

Norm,
Yep thats the stuff. I've never bought from Samco -- directly at least. I bought some locally and looked on-line at the time to see if it was corrosive or not. Wanted to sight in my PK-AS scoped AK and the indoor range wouldn't let me shoot wolf.
A web site with the word Cheaper in it's name was the one that called it mildly corrosive.

Conscript,
Not sure on the source of the .45 acp. Traded a buddy some 9mm I had laying around for the remains of a can. I don't own a 9mm and he has more .45 than he can shoot. Assume it was USGI. He bought it in Canada before immigrating to the US about 10 years ago. Well travelled stuff.

I personally use soap and water and/or M-Pro 7 and CLP to clean my guns. Use pretty much the same routine for Black Powder or surplus ammo. I never put up dirty guns -- Marine thing. Used to take our M-16s in the showers with us at PI to wash the carbon out of the barrels after blanks and thousands of patches of CLP they would bleed the stuff. It was against the rules but worked well.

daytonaknight · Post by **daytonaknight** » July 19th, 2009, 8:00 am

wsps1990's link works. It just has an extra period at the end. The site is comparing various Russian 7.62 rounds. The 'corrosive' mentioned on the site is in reference to a case corrosion test in which Silver Bear casings lost their protective coating and corroded badly when put in standing water for 3 days.

gunneyrabbit · Post by **gunneyrabbit** » July 20th, 2009, 10:24 am

Been shooting it for years with no problems.
G.R.

chuwee81 · Post by **chuwee81** » July 22nd, 2009, 2:48 pm

thanks guys

blinddog · Post by **blinddog** » July 22nd, 2009, 6:32 pm

GR, Answer me this if you can. I have some Wolf 7.62X39 122 GR HP
Steel Case Non-corrosive Berdan Primed Made in Mother Russia what it says it is? Non- corrosive? And what is your opinion on the primer for a rifle? Just opinion, I ain't gonna pin you down.
Thanks GR.
blinddog

blinddog · Post by **blinddog** » July 22nd, 2009, 11:15 pm

Its just that I have heard some conflicting info about Wolf and a rifle. Just would like to find out the straight skinny. Thought you might know.
Doug

conscript47 · Post by **conscript47** » July 23rd, 2009, 2:51 pm

If you want me to chime in...

No, it is not corrosive. The primer? It is not reloadable with American primers (boxer), but if you can find berdan primers you can reload it even though it is steel cased. Not much else to say. It can have a funny smell to it, and leaves more fouling than say Brown Bear, but that is because of the flash suppressant (nothing dangerous to your firearm). The hollow point is not very useful- it does not expand like the Military Classic stuff does (8M3 bullet in those, but not in Wolf).

It works for target shooting if your rifle feeds HPs, and I haven't had any functioning problems with it. Don't know what kind of opinions you are looking for. It isn't the most or the least accurate, it functions fine, etc. My one complaint with Wolf is that the "polymer coated" cases don't protect against rust anywhere near as well as lacquer... they are more likely to rust if you live in humid areas.

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