Question on how to clean up corroded ammo............

orchidman

Was up at the range yesterday with Bloodhound doing some load workup for the 204's.

A mutual friend arrived later to sight in his Tikka T3 Lite (223) and before he left, he gave me 3 1/2 packets of Remington brand factory 270cal ammo.

Some of the cartridges have corrosion on them...............




What is the best way to clean them up?

By hand..............
Throw them in the case tumbler............
Use a grinder.................
CLR..............( Thanks for the tip cpj)

Farm Boy Deuce

I would use the tumbler. Then throw the brass away when you shoot the corroded ones.

USUFB

It's a 270. Just throw it away. Or throw it at the game. It'll have the same effect.

ETA: Ok, seriously... are all the rounds corroded? It looks like the front box and a half are. Can't tell on the back two boxes. If not, just toss the corroded ones and keep the rest.

Buford

Maybe try scotchbrite if the corrosion isn't to deep. I wouldn't tumble them I don't know the effects of tumbling loaded ammo has on the powder. Take them apart and recover the bullet, is it really worth the risk?

orchidman

Buford wrote: »

Maybe try scotchbrite if the corrosion isn't to deep. I wouldn't tumble them I don't know the effects of tumbling loaded ammo has on the powder. Take them apart and recover the bullet, is it really worth the risk?

I was thinking along the same lines..................throw away the really corroded ones and clean the rest up by hand. 2 packets are as they came out of the factory..........the others vary from mild to bad.

Bigslug

Farm Boy Deuce wrote: »

I would use the tumbler. Then throw the brass away when you shoot the corroded ones.

I would emphatically NOT do this!

In so doing, you may be breaking down the powder granules into something that will KABOOM rather than propel.

71 rounds, not all of them gross? Steel wool them while watching the tube.

Jayhawker

:agree:

Farm Boy Deuce

Bigslug wrote: »

I would emphatically NOT do this!

In so doing, you may be breaking down the powder granules into something that will KABOOM rather than propel.

71 rounds, not all of them gross? Steel wool them while watching the tube.

I am no expert. I am rather well known in my family for always coming up with A way to get the job done. Not always a GOOD way.

CHIRO1989

I have used a 3M Scotchbrite pad on shotgun brass to good effect, I suspect the ammo might not chamber if it is not going to clean up well, I had to toss some of the shotgunn shells.

bhl2506

Scotch brite with a dab of lemon juice. keep the bullet pointed down as not to let any moisture in the case. I've done this to a few cases and works pretty good. rmmv.

p.s. the brass I did wasn't as bad as some of yours but might be worth a try.


now for the smart arse answer: who cares it's only .270 rounds! :jester:

Jermanator

They put coatings and different stuff on the powders to **** the burn rate. Hypothetically, a vibratory tumbler could shake that stuff off and make that slow burning powder burn fast-- creating a kaboom situation.

Personally, whatever corroded it could have been an acid. The acid will make the brass brittle. Unless the corrosion is very light, I would pull the bullets to salvage them and chuck the rest.

KENFU1911

cpj wrote: »

Steel wool.

0000 steel wool

snake284

Jermanator wrote: »

They put coatings and different stuff on the powders to **** the burn rate. Hypothetically, a vibratory tumbler could shake that stuff off and make that slow burning powder burn fast-- creating a kaboom situation.

Personally, whatever corroded it could have been an acid. The acid will make the brass brittle. Unless the corrosion is very light, I would pull the bullets to salvage them and chuck the rest.

agree with Jerm but I would say if it looks like it weakened the brass then pull bullets and chunk it. The .270 jokes aside, remember that it's a 65,000 psi (SAAMI) Cartridge and if it's a hot loaded round that is near this limit, it could blow a case if it's severely corroded.

orchidman

Thanks for the replies guys.

Considering that these will be fired in the pre 64 custom stocked 270 ( when I get around to scoping it) I wont be taking any chances. Will clean up the least corroded ones by hand and if there is any doubt I will pull the bullets and discard them.

Thanks again.

KENFU1911

were any of those carried for a time in a leather ammo belt or pouch???

orchidman

KENFU1911 wrote: »

were any of those carried for a time in a leather ammo belt or pouch???

Don't know the history of them...............however 2 of the packets are perfect with no discolouration on the inside or outside of the boxes.. I am picking that the ones that are corroded are those that were stuffed into a pack/leather belt etc and then put back in the packet later.

KENFU1911

Could just be Verdigris.....give it a a wipe down with a course towel and see how they look..............

tennmike

The dark maroon (coarse) Scotchbrite pads and Hoppe's #9 will take the corrosion off. Stand the corroded cartridges bullet down in a plastic loading block and swab them down with the Hoppe's #9 and let them sit for a while to let the Hoppe's soak in. Then start on them with the Scotchbrite pad. A stainless steel pot scrubber will work, too. If the pitting is deep on the worst cases, pull the bullets for loading. A deeply pitted case is liable to split and cause problems. Shoot the others and toss the cases.

BigDanS

My bet is stored in the garage near the water. Mike is, as usual, most correct in my opinion.

D

Big Al1

I wouldn't shoot it!!. I had some .284 (nadda270) that had the same kind of corrosion. Since .284 brass is impossible to find, I decided to try shooting it. The first shot was a bulls eye, but I felt a warm breeze hit my face. The case came out, thank god, in three pieces, separating at the neck. I pulled the bullets and had several more cases come apart when I pulled the bullet. Also, the powder had turned into a lump of coal.
I would just start with pulling the bullets, .270 brass is not rare!!

Teach

Use a slow-speed drill press chucked onto the case head and some steel wool. Spinning the case for a few seconds won't compromise the powder, and it will be much faster than scrubbing by hand. If any of the cases have enough corrosion to have pits in the brass, don't fire those rounds!
Jerry

HAWKEN

Alec, If you have a grinder with a wire brush, I would try that first. I have had some success doing that, in the past. Most of the green corrosion, I have seen, similar to your photos, have been caused by being stored in leather belt loops. If you are not comfortable shooting them, pack them up and send them to me, as I admit to having two .270's, LOL. BTW, if you dissect them, save the powder, along with the bullets, it makes good fertilizer Keep yer powder dry...........Robin

orchidman

Well.....................I decided to go hitech and connected up the glass bead blaster to the compressor.

Here is how the first test round looked before being bead blasted...............



After bead blasting....



After bead blasting I gave it a quick scrub using one of those synthetic scrub pads .........sorta like steel wool but a bit more aggressive IMV........then gave it a polish with some rubbing compound

here is the result....



As you can see, the corrosion has pitted the case.......................so I wont bother with the rest of them.......Pull the bullets, recycle what I can and take the primed case on the next fishing charter...

Big Al1

Good plan!! I wouldn't be surprised if a case or two separates when you pull the bullets!! The brass also becomes brittle from the corrosion.

snake284

orchidman wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys.

Considering that these will be fired in the pre 64 custom stocked 270 ( when I get around to scoping it) I wont be taking any chances. Will clean up the least corroded ones by hand and if there is any doubt I will pull the bullets and discard them.

Thanks again.

Wise thinking Alec, you don't want to chance ruining a Pre 64, even if it is just a .270, :jester:

snake284

When you get ready to make some really good rounds for it, find you some new brass and load it with some 130 grain SGKS and some IMR 4831. Start out at about 55.5 grains working up toward a max load of 57 grains. However, when you hit 56.5 slow down to no more than .2 grains at a time as you work up. My Post 63 showed really high pressure at 57. But that was a big lesson for me because I was increasing at a rate of .5 grains, which looking back is a bit insane. Every rifle is different. and you can go from a load that feels perfectly safe and seems miles away from over pressure, to a very High pressure load in your particular rifle in a flash, no pun intended. You can all joke with me about things I say, but I tell you, I've been there, done that. And there's no warning. Believe me when I say, going slow is prudent when nearing max loads.

knitepoet

Alec, sounds like you're following the best plan :up:
HOWEVER, concerning tumbling breaking down the powder, some of you may remember the test and pics I did a few years ago. Took a fired 30-06 cases, neck sized them without decapping, filled the cases 1/2-3/4 full with either H4895 or Varget (has been a few years) ran them through my vibratory "tumbler" for 6 hours. Pulled the bullets, poured the powder out next to some fresh from the can, took max magnification macro pics and couldn't detect the slightest difference.

snake284

One thing I have read and seems to pass muster in my limited experience is that If yosplit or blow a case up toward the shoulder, it isn't as big of a deal or dangerous as if it would be to blow the the case down toward the head because if you blow it further up, there's usually plenty of brass left in front of the head end to seal the chamber from the backward rushing hot high pressure gas, where if you blow the case down around the head close to the rim, there is not as much case left to seal this hot, high pressure gas from blowing through the firing pin hole and/or going around the bolt and possibly into the shooters face, which could burn and/or blind him/her. Considering this, I don't see a big problem if the corrosion is limited to the bullet end of the case. I have split several cases up in the neck and also around the case half way or so up toward the neck with no damage or evidence of any real problems.

orchidman

knitepoet wrote: »

Alec, sounds like you're following the best plan :up:
HOWEVER, concerning tumbling breaking down the powder, some of you may remember the test and pics I did a few years ago. Took a fired 30-06 cases, neck sized them without decapping, filled the cases 1/2-3/4 full with either H4895 or Varget (has been a few years) ran them through my vibratory "tumbler" for 6 hours. Pulled the bullets, poured the powder out next to some fresh from the can, took max magnification macro pics and couldn't detect the slightest difference.

I did remember the test you carried out Paul....................went searching in the now restored archives but couldn't find it!

(Ooops, wasn't supposed to let that out of the 'bag' until tomorrow damnit............never mind, hopefully it will pass under the radar cos you guys will be too busy reading my ads on the classified section that I spent all last night posting up)

tennmike

Good idea to just pull the bullets.
Pop the primers and remove them. Take a good stainless steel hook on a piece of wire leader about 2 feet long and pass the wire from case mouth through the primer flash hole. Then make an eye on that end of the wire. Fish are like wimmins; they like shiny stuff. Good lure in FL for spanish mackerel. The flat face of the case head makes it wiggle when you retrieve it. If you want to get fancy, tie some feathers or deer hair on the hook.

SirGeorgeKillian

Loaded rounds are sometimes tumbled at the factory. It would take a loooooong time to break down the powder in a tumbler.