Ball M2 primers?

[jon_norstog]

When we were kids growing up my brothers and I had a couple 03-A3s that we would shoot like mad with surplus ball M2 ammo or our own reloads. (Yes kids, you could reload ammo for pretty much the same cost as surplus - about $.07 per round.)

I got shouted down on Quorum the other day for disputing that Ball M2 used corrosive primers. Man, we shot up a LOT of that stuff with no bore problems - we thought it was non-corrosive so we weren't on top of cleaning after shooting either, not like we were with the Mausers and the mystery ammo we fired in them. Or the black powder guns.

So are they right, Ball M2 had corrosive primers? Turkey trots to water, the world wants to know!

jn

[Johnny P]

Just because the ammo has "corrosive" primers doesn't mean the bore will rust before you get home. With the humidity below 50% you probably won't get any corrosion/rust. As the humidity exceeds 50% the chances of getting corrosion goes up if the bore is not cleaned.

The corrosive priming was more stable than the early non-corrosive, and the military continued to use it up into the early 1950's if I remember correctly. Likewise we shot a lot of the surplus M2 that went back into the 1940's with no corrosion problems with corrosion using minimum cleaning technique.

[lyman]

there are a few stickies on CSP about the subject

and

https://www.armscollectors.com/corrosive_primer_dates.pdf

[jon_norstog]

there are a few stickies on CSP about the subject

and

https://www.armscollectors.com/corrosive_primer_dates.pdf

Thanks! I never knew! Well, those '06es are long gone .... and I'm coming to the end of my circle, but still learning.

jn

[JohnMOhio]

Back in the 60's the head stamp DEN 42 was an AP round and known for being corrosive. Also very accurate. The ammo was plentiful and cheap and often made available for match shooting at the club I belonged to at the time. Corrective measure at that time was to remove the action from the stock and run real hot water through the bore. I had a small hose that I inserted directly into the chamber for about 15 or 20 minutes. This heated the barrel hot enough that it pretty much dried by itself. Then as a final step, ran a oil rag through the barrel several times.

[jon_norstog]

Back in the 60's the head stamp DEN 42 was an AP round and known for being corrosive. Also very accurate. The ammo was plentiful and cheap and often made available for match shooting at the club I belonged to at the time. Corrective measure at that time was to remove the action from the stock and run real hot water through the bore. I had a small hose that I inserted directly into the chamber for about 15 or 20 minutes. This heated the barrel hot enough that it pretty much dried by itself. Then as a final step, ran a oil rag through the barrel several times.

Yeah we shot up a LOT of that AP ammo. We didn't notice any great accuracy, but we were shooting with iron sights.

jn

[Former Cav]

I think it was 1952 for corrosive stuff in the 06 rounds.