Are old projectiles corrosive in any way?

**Rural Ruger** · June 6th, 2023, 07:30 PM

Ok, little deeper than that. Corrosive ammo is corrosive in regards to the primers...not necessarily the powder or projectiles, right?

But let's say you had a bunch of bullets (literally bullets, not loaded ammo) that had been pulled and were known to be from a time when corrosive ammo was in use. Would those projectiles be at risk of being "tainted"/need to be cleaned before being reloaded?

Time period is WW2 era, give it take a few years. Likelihood of original rounds being corrosive is probably 50 / 50.

**raxar** · June 6th, 2023, 07:32 PM

No, its just the primers. If the bullets were corrosive they'd already be corroded away to nothing.

**Rural Ruger** · June 6th, 2023, 08:41 PM

Thanks. I hadn't thought of that actually, but good point. These are clear of green or any pitting

**Hammerdown** · June 6th, 2023, 09:54 PM

The corrosive primer compound is in a solid state before firing so it would never get in the casing to get on the bullet.
Corrosive primer residue needs to be exposed to water to rust. The humidity in the air takes care of that.

**Noah_Zark** · June 6th, 2023, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Hammerdown

The corrosive primer compound is in a solid state before firing so it would never get in the casing to get on the bullet.
Corrosive primer residue needs to be exposed to water to rust. The humidity in the air takes care of that.

^^^THIS.

Noah

**Rural Ruger** · June 7th, 2023, 08:11 PM

Thanks all. Appreciate it. Confirms what I was thinking, but didnt want to assume

**bogey1** · June 7th, 2023, 09:20 PM

Reminds me of the tracer's wear your barrel out thread.

**GeneCC** · June 19th, 2023, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Rural Ruger

Ok, little deeper than that. Corrosive ammo is corrosive in regards to the primers...not necessarily the powder or projectiles, right?

The primers themselves are not corrosive, it's when the potassium chlorate is reduced to potassium chloride. That salt attracts moisture and starts corrosion. The old chlorate primers were very reliable and would work in cold weather.

Some of the old school tracer was corrosive. The salts used to display trajectory would oxidize into corrosive salts. I don't know about the newer tracers. I don't mess with tracers.

I'd be more worried about improper diameter of the round causing pressure issues than about corrosion.