philbert001
Expert
So, my dad gave me a sporterized Enfield in .303 the other day, along with a bunch of old mil-surp ammo. Mixed headstamps, with the oldest appearing to be dated 1918, and the newest dated 1954. A fair amount of the ammo had a good amount of corrosion, so I sorted out all the rounds with even a hint of corrosion, and started pulling.
After this thread, I hope that those of you that ask if corroded ammo is safe to shoot think twice before taking the advice of, "Tumble it and shoot it!"
The majority of the heavily corroded rounds looked like this.
As you can see, some of the powder had enough moisture and corrosion in it, that I couldn't tap out ANY of the powder.
...I'm pretty sure this shouldn't be shot!...
There were a few that seemed to have corrosion on the case, but none around the neck. Those ones came out clean, and the powder looked shootable. (I kept all those projectiles for later reloading!)
I then came across a handful with this headstamp.
These appear to be manufactured in 8 of 54, and I assume the 7 stands for MKVII, as most of the ammo is stamped VII on the head.
I broke one down, and discovered what appeared to be wadding. I picked it out, and when the powder wouldn't exit the case, I assumed it too was stuck in the case. I was a bit confused when I couldn't get even a grain to come out, so I took my tubing cutter, and cut the case in half.
Here is what I found!
THAT, folks, is cordite! I was kinda shocked to find it in cases stamped 1954 though! I thought they stopped using it in small arms during WWI or WWII. I ended up finding about 10 more, with the same headstamp, and another 4, with a different headstamp, also with a "7", instead of VII. (K50 7) These also contained a wad and a cordite charge!
I thought I'd share, for 1. the corrosion lesson, and 2. for the cordite chunk of history!
I HAD to burn some cordite, so I could possibly be one of the younger people to quote Patton, saying, "I love the smell of cordite in the morning!", and know what he meant!
The rest of the ammo, while old, and probably corrosive, appeared to be fine after breaking down a few of each headstamp, to see what I had, and I'll likely shoot them, unless someone can tell me why I shouldn't. Most was stamped "K1931 VII", "FNM 50", or "PS VII 1950".
After I do a little more research on the Enfield, (As in, weather it's an Enfield, or an Ishapore), I'll start a long gun thread, so the INGO SMELLEE guys can educate a youngster!
After this thread, I hope that those of you that ask if corroded ammo is safe to shoot think twice before taking the advice of, "Tumble it and shoot it!"
The majority of the heavily corroded rounds looked like this.
As you can see, some of the powder had enough moisture and corrosion in it, that I couldn't tap out ANY of the powder.
...I'm pretty sure this shouldn't be shot!...
There were a few that seemed to have corrosion on the case, but none around the neck. Those ones came out clean, and the powder looked shootable. (I kept all those projectiles for later reloading!)
I then came across a handful with this headstamp.
These appear to be manufactured in 8 of 54, and I assume the 7 stands for MKVII, as most of the ammo is stamped VII on the head.
I broke one down, and discovered what appeared to be wadding. I picked it out, and when the powder wouldn't exit the case, I assumed it too was stuck in the case. I was a bit confused when I couldn't get even a grain to come out, so I took my tubing cutter, and cut the case in half.
Here is what I found!
THAT, folks, is cordite! I was kinda shocked to find it in cases stamped 1954 though! I thought they stopped using it in small arms during WWI or WWII. I ended up finding about 10 more, with the same headstamp, and another 4, with a different headstamp, also with a "7", instead of VII. (K50 7) These also contained a wad and a cordite charge!
I thought I'd share, for 1. the corrosion lesson, and 2. for the cordite chunk of history!
I HAD to burn some cordite, so I could possibly be one of the younger people to quote Patton, saying, "I love the smell of cordite in the morning!", and know what he meant!
The rest of the ammo, while old, and probably corrosive, appeared to be fine after breaking down a few of each headstamp, to see what I had, and I'll likely shoot them, unless someone can tell me why I shouldn't. Most was stamped "K1931 VII", "FNM 50", or "PS VII 1950".
After I do a little more research on the Enfield, (As in, weather it's an Enfield, or an Ishapore), I'll start a long gun thread, so the INGO SMELLEE guys can educate a youngster!