Cleaning old ammo

[Pops]

A friend of mine gave me some M2 ball ammo with a headstamp of 1954 .
The enblocs are rusty and the ammo itself is kinda grungy . What can I use to clean it up ? I would like to salvage what I can .

 

[dmiculek]

I cleaned some in a vibratory case cleaner before w/no ill effects. Tossed in some brasso with the corn cob and they came out looking damn near new.

Your probaly aware that '54 ammo is almost certainly corrosive. IIRC they switched to non corrosive priming somewhere in the mid 50's.

 

[Pops]

According to this , I should be OK on the corrosive issue .

http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/30-06intro/ammo-nctable.htm

 

[GBob01]

If the cases are just a little green or tarnished and you don't mind sitting down for awhile, you can dip a rag in vinegar and just wipe the casings and bullets clean. I cleaned alot of .303 Brit that way when I got 600rds of the green stuff in a shipment.
It still shoots good, and looks alot nicer now. With the clips, some Birchwood casey rust remover and fine steel wool should get them done.

 

[Pops]

I tried a Scotch - brite pad and it worked pretty good . I have nearly 200 rds to clean so that's not my first choice . I like the idea of the vibrating tumbler . The enblocs look like they are too rusty to save . Hell , those things are cheap anyway .

 

[dmiculek]

Pops,
Thanks for link on the ammo. Just didn't want you to get a nasty suprise.

 

[dmiculek]

Lsp,
Here's pop quiz. Why was 30 carbine ammo non corrosive from the get go?

 

[CajunTim]

If you didn't it was enough BS to make me a believer.

 

[dzelenka]

I cleaned some in a vibratory case cleaner before w/no ill effects. Tossed in some brasso with the corn cob and they came out looking damn near new.

Your probaly aware that '54 ammo is almost certainly corrosive. IIRC they switched to non corrosive priming somewhere in the mid 50's.

Doesn't Brasso have ammonia in it? If so, it would not do the brass cases any good.

 

[dmiculek]

I've been using it for over 30 yrs w/ no problems. It's not like it's soaking in the stuff.
Just dropped a 223 case into a can of brasso. I'll pull it out every couple of weeks to see what it does to it.

 

[dantheman]

Brasso is advertised as a metal polish , including brass . Now , soaking in it might be another thing . Should be interesting .

 

[Request Dust Off]

Doesn't Brasso have ammonia in it? If so, it would not do the brass cases any good.

Brasso is supposed to be bad in most reloaders opinion.

Vinegar can be also. If your brass starts looking pink that is not a good thing. It is a sign the Brass is losing zinc & turning more into copper.

 

[artabr]

Brass is an alloy of copper & zink. Ammonia (Brasso) dissolves copper. Watch your bronze bore brush or a cleaning patch when you use an ammonia based cleaner like Sweets or CR-10. The blue is dissolved copper (brass).

Scroll to the last paragraph of both links.

http://www.hghouston.com/coppers/brass77.htm

http://yarchive.net/gun/ammo/cartridge_brass.html

If you're not going to shoot your brass you can clean with Brasso but Brasso will cause your brass to tarnish faster. I hope this helps.

Art

 

[dmiculek]

In over 30 yrs, I have not had any unusual case failures of any kind. Some of the 45 acp and 38 super is so well used that you can hardly read the head stamp.
I am certainly not one to throw caution into the wind, especially when reloading. But I am convinced that the small amount of ammonia that the brass is subjected to during the cleaning process is harmless or I would have certainly seen the effects of it.
YMMV

 

[Pops]

I went ahead and bought a tumbler off of EBAY yesterday . Where can I get the media in B.R. ? Does Bass Pro carry it ? What about that reloading place on Siegen ?

 

[LACamper]

I'm not a reloader (though I may get into it at these ammo prices!) but I thought if you popped out a fired primer there was a difference in the flash holes between corrosive and noncorrosive ammo.

 

[dzelenka]

There is a difference in the flash holes of Boxer and Berdan primers. Ether type can be corrosive or non-corrosive. Swiss 7.5 x 55mm is Berdan, non-corrosive. Most com-bloc ammo is Berdan, corrosive. Older US military ammo is likely Boxer, corrosive.

I hope this helps.

Dan

 

[Request Dust Off]

I went ahead and bought a tumbler off of EBAY yesterday . Where can I get the media in B.R. ? Does Bass Pro carry it ? What about that reloading place on Siegen ?

I like the guys on Siegen / LA reloading. It wouldn't hurt to check with them.

You can use a few different things in the tumbler.
Crushed walnut is available at pet supply stores. It is used as bird litter. Kaytee is one of the names. about a $1 a pound.
Ground corncob is a second media. finer than walnut. There is some big corncob that will jam into the cases & not want to come out on fired brass.
Rice will work. takes longer but will do the job & is easy to see how dirty it is.
Some guys mix the media & use additives.

Some other things may work too just not any cheaper or why reinvent the wheel.

Cabelas has some media i think. I got the tumbler they sell.
Harbor freight or sandblast supplier may have the media also.

You have to play with the ratio of brass to media & how full the tumblers is for optimal results in tumble time.
Set up the tumbler outside if you have a place & make sure it wont slide of a any surface.

 

[Pops]

Thanks

 

[dmiculek]

LSP, Sorry I missed your reply. It was due to the fact the gas piston was not readily removeable in the field by G.I.'s for cleaning. Which makes sense to me.


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