chinese '52 LC corrosive M1 carbine componant reuse

[DaveL]

I have a few boxes of '52 LC M1 carbine ammo. I pulled a bullet from one and yup, they are the berdan primed Chinese corrosive ones. DANG! I'm going to pull the bullets from them and reuse them. I am sure the cases and primers are trash but can I reuse the powder? Or is that corrosive also?

[Tuna]

The powder is not corrosive and can be used again as can the bullets.

[Old Guns]

I would suggest that the first thing to do is to test the ammo to see if it is in fact corrosive. Just pull the bullet on one case and fire the primer against a mild polished steel plate using a propane torch and vise grips. Be sure the primer which will back out has a proper backstop. As a control you may fire a known non-corrosive primer in similar fashion. I have used thousands of rounds of this ammo and contrary to what others say, I have never seen any sign of corossive primers.

[budster]

Some .30 carbine ammunition marked LC 52, made by the Chinese, or .30-06 marked B N 4 40 made in the U.S., both probably intended to arm allies while hiding their source of supplies. Sometimes the headstamp only indicates the maker of the cartridge case, or distributor of the loaded cartridge, or the using activity, not the actual "manufacturer" of a loaded cartridge.

[raymeketa]

budster

The Cal .30 cartridges with the B N 4 40 headstamp were made by St. Louis Ordnance Plant in 1953. The other "clandestine" headstamps were A N (Twin Cities) and C N (Lake City). The current Internet rumor is that these were made for the Bay of Pigs fiasco but there is no evidence to support that, and no evidence that any of them ever made it to Cuba, or to any other clandestine operation. All 250 million rounds were declassified in 1962 and many of them were sent to Central and South America and the Far East for use by various militaries.

Ray

[Tuna]

The fake LC-52 ammo is made in China and is considered to be Berdan corrosive primed. It is in plain boxes marked with a rubber stamp 7.62. This was imported in the early 80's and there is still a lot of it around. It and a lot of the French 30 carbine are not good to use in the carbine because of the compounds used in the primers.

[DaveL]

Thanks Tuna. That's just what I wanted to know.

[DaveL]

Thanks Old Guns, but I think I will pull them down anyway. I have enough real Lake City brass to use.

[M2Phil]

I would suggest that the first thing to do is to test the ammo to see if it is in fact corrosive. Just pull the bullet on one case and fire the primer against a mild polished steel plate using a propane torch and vise grips. Be sure the primer which will back out has a proper backstop. As a control you may fire a known non-corrosive primer in similar fashion. I have used thousands of rounds of this ammo and contrary to what others say, I have never seen any sign of corossive primers.

I have to agree. Years ago when I got my first carbine ($139 Korean return IBM, still have it), I also got about 500rds of the fake "LC-52" Berdan primed stuff. As has been noted, it came in 100rd white boxes stamped with only LC-52 in a fairly tall, thin font style. I have fired all of it in over the past 20 years. None of it was corrosive. And it really didn't shoot any better or worse than any other surplus .30 Carbine ammo. Maybe some of the production was corrosive, so it would be wise to test.

[Tuna]

I have never seen the fake LC-52 in anything but 50 round white cardboard boxes stamped with only 7.62 on them and I have seen lots of these boxes.

[M2Phil]

Tuna,
I stand, or rather slouch, corrected. It was "7.62mm" wasn't it, and they were 50rd boxes.

[John Kepler]

I would suggest that the first thing to do is to test the ammo to see if it is in fact corrosive. Just pull the bullet on one case and fire the primer against a mild polished steel plate using a propane torch and vise grips. Be sure the primer which will back out has a proper backstop. As a control you may fire a known non-corrosive primer in similar fashion. I have used thousands of rounds of this ammo and contrary to what others say, I have never seen any sign of corrosive primers.

Sir, this ammo is a known quantity, it's definitively and unequivocally corrosive, and you are advocating re-invention of the wheel to "prove" a well established fact! From the CMP Forum archive: http://forums.thecmp.org/archive/index.php/t-93648.html

[emmagee1917]

You have to remember that the corrosive residue , in and of itself , does no harm. It has to be exposed to the right amount of moisture to start to corrode. If you live in the dry desert , like me , it could take years for the right conditions to occur . But those salts can lie dormant for years , too. Don't be fooled.
Chris

[M2Phil]

I live in Northeast Ohio. The humidity can be miserable (this week, for example). No hygroscopic salts are going to lie dormant here. Those little molecules get busy, and stay busy.
Not wishing to argue on and on, but the Chinese Berdan primed "LC-52" is not all corrosive. I know that from personal experience with it. Others have found that theirs was corrosive. I will not say they're full of it just because their findings differed from mine. Who knows how many zillions of rounds of fake "LC-52" they cranked out, whenever they did it, and for whatever reason.

[John Sukey]

Well, if you are going to use the stuff, it would be a good idea to pick up a piston nut wrench because you are eventualy going to NEED it.