ammunition, cleaningEspecially in the context of military surplus and imported ammunition, rounds may be marked either “corrosive” or “non-corrosive”.
What is the difference between the two, and why does it matter (presuming you take appropriate precautions and clean your firearms on a routine basis)?
The corrosive part of corrosive ammunition is actually the primer. When fired, the primer produces highly corrosive salts that can cause rust if not cleaned promptly. Corrosive primers are often found in military surplus ammunition.
Shooting corrosive ammunition is not a problem if the barrel and gas system are cleaned promptly. However, cleaning after shooting corrosive ammunition is a bit of a different process than your standard cleaning. Different people advocate different methods or products for cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo, but basically you want to use copious amounts of water to wash out all the corrosive salts before they have a chance to cause rust. After this is done then you can perform the normal sort of cleaning to remove any remaining carbon, copper, and lead.
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