Russian .223 Ammo

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Loaned my AR to a cousin . He and his son in law wanted to take the grand sons to the range .

Cousin said they shot some Russian ammo through the AR . Said they cleaned the AR .

Got to thinking , is the current crop of Russian .223 ammo corrosive ? If it it , I need to clean the bore again . I use a copper remover bore cleaner that smells of ammonia . Then Hopies to neutralize the ammonia .

Thanks , :)
 
Speaking only from my past experience with Tula and Wolf steel cased ammo... not corrosive, just dirtier than most other ammo. Can you find out what brand it was?
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Got to thinking , is the current crop of Russian .223 ammo corrosive ?


While it is advertised as "non corrosive", it is wise to treat it as though it is corrosive to be on the safe side. Russians aren't the most trustworthy bunch. Especially when they're shipping what they make over here to be sold. You see a lot of Russian ammo being sold as, "mildly corrosive". Which of course is total nonsense. It's either corrosive, (Mercuric priming), or it isn't. Ammo can't be, "mildly corrosive", anymore than a woman can be, "a little bit pregnant".

Russians like long storage life in their ammunition. Which is why they still use corrosive priming in a large amount of it. It's a proven fact that ammunition manufactured with corrosive priming has a much longer shelf life, than non corrosive primed ammo of the same type. It's why you can find 8 MM Mauser ammo today from W.W. II that still shoots fine. I only use Russian ammo, (Wolf, Tula, Herters), in my AK-47's. And when I get them home I clean them in the same manner as I do if I had used corrosive ammo. That way I'm not trusting my weapons to what some Rooski had printed on the box.
 
I have several " foreign " rifles that I shoot " foreign " military surplus ammo . Clean with a copper cleaner solvent that smells of ammonia . You can even swab the bore with Windex with ammonia . Then switch to Hoppies . Folowed by gun oil .

Just needed a little affirmation . Thanks :)
 
Steel cased will void any warranty if it's a store bought gun. (i.e. not self built)

Also, the wolf stuff did not work well in my Bushmaster XM, frequent malfunctions. Traded it to a guy two for one for some of his reloads.
 
This is a great idea. Borrow someones AR and run cheap ammo through it.
laugh.gif


Do you know if it was steel or brass?
 
If that AR can't handle steel cased ammo then it's not military grade. Alot of military ammo from other countries is steel cased.
My son who shoots alot said you have to clean the bore with soapy water after shooting corrosive ammo, bore cleaners and solvents will not work they don't break down the salts.
 
The only issue that Ive had issue with Russian ammo, is the primers can be very Hard, so if you have a weapon with light hammer pull, misfires can result.
 
Kit gun I assembled . Guess it shot OK .

Have heard of steel case ammo being hard on the extractor . Also , if the case are lacquer covered , the lacquer sticking to the chamber . Neither of which scare me that much .

All of the USGI ammo used during WWII was corrosive , except M1 Carbine . The GI bore cleaner of that time period seemed to work OK . Probably have a can around here some where .

I normally use Shooters Choice Copper Cleaner , that smells of ammonia . Always worked well . Then Hoppies , then oil .

Thanks , :)
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Kit gun I assembled . Guess it shot OK .

Have heard of steel case ammo being hard on the extractor . Also , if the case are lacquer covered , the lacquer sticking to the chamber . Neither of which scare me that much .

All of the USGI ammo used during WWII was corrosive , except M1 Carbine . The GI bore cleaner of that time period seemed to work OK . Probably have a can around here some where .

I normally use Shooters Choice Copper Cleaner , that smells of ammonia . Always worked well . Then Hoppies , then oil .

Thanks , :)


Think the lacquer issue actually happened to my Bushmaster. Shell casing was stuck in the chamber, not even a partial extraction. Rather than muck it around, took it to friend who is a gunsmith at a local range & retail FFL shop and he got it out. He was the person who advised not to shoot Wolf steel case anymore and that it would void the Bushmaster warranty. Or voided it, I guess. Another guy at work who reloads is who I traded the Wolf off with. Two wolfs's per one of his reloads.
 
Wolf Gold AR-15 ammo is good stuff. Don't know if that's what was used but I have no worries with that stuff. I don't shoot steel case in anything.
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Have heard of steel case ammo being hard on the extractor . Also , if the case are lacquer covered , the lacquer sticking to the chamber .


I shoot only Wolf "Poly coat", no lacquer. It runs well. It's truly non-corrosive.

Only my CZ-52 shoots corrosive ammo, I just use windex.
 
Its not corrosive. If they cleaned it, then they cleaned it. I doubt they had the proper AR15 chamber brush to clean the chamber. Most people just run a .22 caliber brush down the barrel, which completely misses the chamber and does not clean it.
 
I used Tula steel once. It seemed a tad dirtier, cleaned right away so didn't even think about corrosion.My two AR's have only jammed the one time I tried Tula steel case. With Federal $33+ for 100 rounds at my local Walmart..That is cheap enough for me (non mail order) on a decent quality range product.
 
99% if what I shoot , are my own reloads . The exception are the calibers that I shoot military surplus . And a lot of those , I bought for $ .10 a pop .
 
I've fired thousands of rounds of the various Russian ammo in .223, none of it has been corrosive. Frequently dirty and weak, but not corrosive.

I've also never had to replace an extractor.

That said, the steel cases can allow for more carbon build up in the chamber, and when firing brass afterwards, the carbon can stick the case to the chamber and require a rod for removal. I haven't had that happen to me yet, and I normally shoot brass case ammo to check zero after shooting steel case for close range practice.

For me, the $0.10 or so I save by shooting steel case is worth it, given my current ammo consumption.

BSW
 
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