What are corroded bullets?

Question

What are corroded bullets?

One of my gun barrels is rusted and a friend of my thinks it is because I was shooting corroded bullets what are corroded bullest? How can you fix corroded bullets?

Answer 1

Alice (RN) pretty much aced this one.  Pitted means the barrel is ruined as that can only be fixed by replacing the barrel or having a competent gunsmith re-line it.  Either way, it is going to cost.  Pitted means that the corrosion has actually eroded pits on the inside of your gun barrel and the accuracy will go awry as it progresses.  Sometimes people only think a gun bore is pitted but all it needs is to be properly cleaned.  Run a rod with a patch soaked in something like Hoppe's #9 bore cleaning solution several times, then run clean patches through the bore until they come out relatively clean.  Look through the bore of you gun.  If it is smooth, clean and shiny it was just dirty, not pitted.

Good luck.

H

Answer 2

As mentioned most likely "corrosive" bullets.

I don't have any problems shooting corrosive 303 British through an older Enfield rifle. I just use the water clean up method. I have an old Australian chamber funnel to flush the barrel with hot water. The hot is used to heat up the metal and once the water is poured out the hot metal evaporated the water. Then proceed with normal cleaning procedures. Plus a light film of oil in the barrel to prevent air/humidity from contacting the bore. Dry patch before shooting.

Answer 3

corrosive is what your fishing for. Older mil surp ammo is made with corrosive stuff in the primers. Older european mil surp ammo is often times corrosive... I have some older M2 US 30-06 thats corrosive too

Not a problem for the military as they clean weapons almost daily

the  corrosive residue will draw and hold moisture if left uncleaned in the firearme and pitting-rust will result.

Cleaning is a MUST if you shoot any corrosive ammo.

The commercial trade names of any solvents for corrosive excape me but at gun shows sometimes you can find US surplus solvent for corrosive ammo... it' very toxic and getting hard to find.

The US Army feild Manual says you can clean your bore with HOT soapy water and that will do the trick. After I strip the the rifle I make up a bucket of hot (really hot) water sudsy with diswashing soap.

Using a rod and patched I stick the barrel in the bucket and mop away.

The hot water evaporates ... after all the metal parts are clean wipe them down make sure they dry and oil as customary.

Pits mean your metal has small rust spots. If its bad you will loose accuracy. If the pitting is light you may be ok... clean up the bore with a brass brush and good solvent. Sometmes a gunsmith can lapp (polish) a pitted bore and restore it to some degree.

You dont mention the make of your gun... many Ak and AR's are chrome lined to reduce pitting.

Answer 4

Corrosive ammunition. Salts in the primer if not washed out by water or water based cleaner of all things as soon as possible it will eat away the steel. Pitting it badly. This destroys barrels. I'm sorry but you can scrub the rust off and check the rifling but I'm pretty sure you gun is ruined. Sorry for the bad news.

Corrosive ammunition is usually old military surplus. Not really a problem if you know it's corrosive and you know how to properly remove the salts. Hot water down the bore with a turkey baster a few times is my method.

Answer 5

Your friend probably means "corrosive". Some older ammunition used primer that had potassium chlorate in then. Once fired the chlorate turned to potassium chloride,a type of salt. During the firing it got on the steel of your barrel. Salt attracts water, as in the humidity in the air, and then reacts with the steel to form rust. If you live somewhere with higher humidity it can happen before you even get home from the gun range.

The idea is to use some ammonia on a patch and wipe down the barrel when you are done shooting because the ammonia gets rid of the corrosive salts. Then use normal cleaning patches, oil patches, etc. Don't leave ammonia on your barrel for long, especially if it is somewhat concentrated as it can react with the steel as well.

Some shooters like to use hot soapy water to wash away the corrosive salts and supposedly it works just fine but I really never liked to put water in my guns. I use Sweet's 7.62 cleaning solution because it is ammonia based, then follow up like a normal cleaning.

There is nothing wrong or dangerous with using "corrosive" ammo, you just have to be good about cleaning right away. Some guys even bring some patches to the range so that they can neutralize the salts before they even put the gun away for the ride home.