FN 1952 .30Ball (30-06) corrosive ?

[umwminer]

Would any of you know when FN switched from corrosive priming to non corrosive in the manufacture of their .30 Ball ammo ? Appreciate any help .
Thanks
Bob

[Outpost75]

FN52 is corrosive and their primer mix of that era was not stable, so depending upon conditions of storage you can expect some frequency of misfires and hangfires. If you haven't bought any yet, don't. Same caution goes for .303 Brit. 7.9x57, 9mm and .45 ACP FN of that era prior to about 1970.

[umwminer]

OK Ed , thank You .
Bought 700 rds of this stuff 25 yrs ago for use in a BAR that I never got . Figgured it was about time I shot it up .
Looks like hot soapy ( simple green ) water wash and rinse for 3days afterwards .

[Gtek]

A little work and 700 new primers and you win!

[MUSTANG]

A little work and 700 new primers and you win!

Keep those old primers if you decide to disassemble and reassemble rounds with new primers. Given these Interesting Times we live in; one might want those corrosive primers in a couple of years if this shortage persists.

[Outpost75]

That FN ammo has Berdan primers.

[lead collector]

I pulled several from the 50's down and reloading them into modern cases, and new primers. The powder looked like it was brand new, so I reused it. I kept it separate, from case to case, and did not dump it all into a container and then re-measure it out... Just in case it may have been different brands or lots.
I have shot some of them in my Garand, and it shoots well. A shot of WD40 into the old cases killed the primers. One of these days, I will toss them into the wet tumbler and clean them up. The primers should be safe to drive out then.
Its a bit of work, but was worth it to me.

[Gtek]

Corrosive Berdan, okay, just means you clean a little at the range and all the way through back at the house with checks on guts for a couple days after.
Shoot-em!

[umwminer]

I must have lucked out on this lot . No slow ignition or misfires & accurate in my 03’s .

[nicholst55]

I stumbled onto a single bandoleer of FN 1951 .303 British probably 25 years ago while traveling on business. It was all sure-fire, and reasonably accurate. Maybe I got lucky. Of course, it was 25 years newer then, too.

[dale2242]

I was gifted a couple of hundred 30cal ball ammo from WW2.
42-43 head stamps.
I know these are corrosive.
I have some surplus military gun cleaning solvent.
I assume it will prevent corrosion if I clean my rifle with it after shooting this ammo.

[Uncle Grinch]

Here are some links to 30-06 and other USGI ammo status....


https://www.ammogarand.com/usamprgu.html

http://www.ashlandlakegunclub.org/docs/CorrosivePrimerRedux.pdf

http://www.odcmp.org/1101/USGI.pdf

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I was gifted a couple of hundred 30cal ball ammo from WW2.
42-43 head stamps.
I know these are corrosive.
I have some surplus military gun cleaning solvent.
I assume it will prevent corrosion if I clean my rifle with it after shooting this ammo.

It will. That is assuming it is the correct vintage solvent. The solvent made during WW II and Korea was a water base specifically made for corrosive ammo. Viet Nam and later era solvent has a different composition as the ammo was no longer corrosively primed. If your military solvent was manufactured in the 1960s or later you'd do better to go with the hot, soapy water. Don't forget to clean the bolt face as well as the bore.

DG

[uscra112]

That FN ammo has Berdan primers.

When did FN switch from corrosive primers? Memory is that 1952 was the first year of non-corrosive, but ???

[savagetactical]

I stumbled onto a single bandoleer of FN 1951 .303 British probably 25 years ago while traveling on business. It was all sure-fire, and reasonably accurate. Maybe I got lucky. Of course, it was 25 years newer then, too.


I bought a lot of this to shoot in the 1990's along with some French M2 ball from Paragon Sales in shotgun news .

I recently shot the last 80 rounds of of the ammo at the range with quite a few hangfires the priming compound has become unstable folks plan accordingly if you buy

[Outpost75]

When did FN switch from corrosive primers? Memory is that 1952 was the first year of non-corrosive, but ???

US started transition to noncorrosive primers in 1952, but the change over was not fully completed until 1955 when remaining stocks of corrosive primers were used up.

FN production of 7.62mm NATO was all noncorrosive from 1958 on, but FN 9mm, 7.9x57, .303 British, .45 ACP and .50 BMG remained corrosive into the mid 1960s.

[Alferd Packer]

I pulled several from the 50's down and reloading them into modern cases, and new primers. The powder looked like it was brand new, so I reused it. I kept it separate, from case to case, and did not dump it all into a container and then re-measure it out... Just in case it may have been different brands or lots.
I have shot some of them in my Garand, and it shoots well. A shot of WD40 into the old cases killed the primers. One of these days, I will toss them into the wet tumbler and clean them up. The primers should be safe to drive out then.
Its a bit of work, but was worth it to me.












A friend shot some primers with WD40
and they soaked in it in an ammo can for some years till the smell of the spray had long since evaporated.
His kids played with the shells as dummies, running them thru a sawed off rifle with so called dummy bullets seated, but no powder of any kind added to the shells.
There were still some that popped and blew out the dummy bullets.
So, never count those killed primers out till you need one to fire a shell in an emergency.
Then it will show as a dud for sure!
Always be careful and then verify to be sure.
I suppose burning them in a hot fire after "killing " them is the only way to be sure.
Never trust that they are all dead till they sre buried! and not dug up again.
Old rusted ordnance from WW2 is still being dug up in europe and blown in place if possible.
In Downtown StLouis, MO. some years back during excavation for renovation, a cache of Civil War shrapnel shells rusty and corroded were dug up found in a buried and collapsed old tunnel.
The bullets and powder that some were loaded with was still able to be recognizable and had been submerged for years in water seepage.
They were treated as live ordnance and disposed of elsewhere.
The powder in some submerged and rusted casings would still pop when dried.
Just a word to the wise

[Nick Adams]

US started transition to noncorrosive primers in 1952, but the change over was not fully completed until 1955 when remaining stocks of corrosive primers were used up.

FN production of 7.62mm NATO was all noncorrosive from 1958 on, but FN 9mm, 7.9x57, .303 British, .45 ACP and .50 BMG remained corrosive into the mid 1960s.

Supposedly 1957 was the date FN switched from using corrosive to non-corrosive primers in 30-06 ball ammo. I'm sitting on what's left of a 1K-rd case of it that I got years ago.

The production date on the crate, and on the individual brown boxes containing the cartridges, puts it right on the border line, so I presume it's corrosive until proven otherwise.

[Mk42gunner]

That's the safest way to go Nick. Sure would be an unpleasant surprise to find out you guessed wrong.

I'm reminded of the supposedly non-corrosive Chinese 7.62x39 and 5.56 ammo that was sold retail for less than $3/box in the late 80's. It said non-corrosive on the box, but it sure needed a lot of cleaning if it really was.

Robert