Mosen Nagant chow

ras_oscar · Oct 3, 2018

A relative recently purchased a mosen nagant carbine chambered in 7.62x54R. I am looking for inexpensive ammo to gift him for the holidays. A lot of the chow I see is WW2 surplus, berdan primed and corrosive. I have always shied away from corrosive primers because, well,... they're corrosive.

I find it difficult to believe that the Russians would send troops to battle with ammo that was expected to permanently damage their weapons. What is the real risk to a vintage rifle in good condition? should I plan to advise him to clean the rifle after every range trip? Treat it post range with something to neutralize the corrosive properties? both? something else?

Bertfish · Oct 3, 2018

If you clean promptly after each trip it is perfectly fine to shoot corrosive ammo. Read google on how to neutralize the corrosive salts with ammonia

engineerbrian · Oct 3, 2018

All of my Mosin ammo is corrsive and I dont worry about it a bit.

When I'm done shooting it squirt some Windex down the barrel followed by a patch, and then give it a normal cleaning

LGood48 · Oct 3, 2018

PRVI PARTIZAN makes 7.62x54R. Not very expensive, boxer primed and non-corrosive. Reloadable brass.

Try Graf & Sons for in stock.

buellsfurn · Oct 3, 2018

engineerbrian said:
All of my Mosin ammo is corrsive and I dont worry about it a bit.

When I'm done shooting it squirt some Windex down the barrel followed by a patch, and then give it a normal cleaning

Really thanks for the Windex tip. I love this place I mean forum

buellsfurn · Oct 3, 2018

Check the classifieds and follow engineer Brians tip

bbrown · Oct 3, 2018

It's been said that the Russians would p*ss down the barrels to remove the corrosive salts. Ammonia dontcha know.

Sirex · Oct 3, 2018

Walmart usually has non corrosive ammo for sale around $11 I think for a box of 20.

tallen702 · Oct 3, 2018

Wolf, Brown Bear, Silver Bear, Red Army Standard, PPU, and S&B all make non-corrosive modern ammo.

FWIW, the surplus Mosin food isn't WWII surplus, but usually 70's or 80's surplus. The Soviets kept these things in their arsenal for some time to arm insurgents, use for pioneer training, and as a hedge against another massive war which might leave them wanting for weapons if they had to mobilize the entire union. What's more, the round is used in many of the marksman and sniper rifles as well as the vast majority of the light and heavy machine guns, so production is still ongoing. That said, the 70's and 80's surplus is still corrosive. Soap and hot water are your friend for cleaning the mercuric salts out of the barrel and action followed by normal cleaning and dry patches with a thin coat of oil at the end.

IX-3 · Oct 3, 2018

Tula, Hornady, and Herter's (Cabela's brand if they actually ever have it in stock) also make non-corrosive.

Tula runs between $8.99 and $12.50 for a box of 20 depending on seller. The Herters is $16.99 but Cabela's seems to be out a lot. It can be backordered online. Hornady is available online and at Cabela's but it is over $1/round everywhere I've seen it.

Melnic · Oct 3, 2018

If it matters for you, I find that for purchased ammo, the surplus and the Wolf tend to be the most accurate. PPU the bullet diameter and jacket hardness seems to make it less accurate. I was gifted some PPU Mosin Match ammo and it was less accurate in my PU Sniper than the Wolf or even surplus. My reloads are the most accurate so I know I can shoot better than the PPU can group.
With the run of the mill Mosin, it may not matter though. Many of the mosins are so frosted in the bore that you can be there all day cleaning.
Hence the phrase, "its mosin clean"

ken792 · Oct 3, 2018

My M91/30 that I purchased back in 2011 has had thousands of rounds of corrosive ammo through it and the bore is still as shiny as the day I got it. I brush it thoroughly, clean with soap and water, and then clean it again for at least three more days. I haven't fired or cleaned it for four years, but there's no rust in there, so it looks like I got the salts out thoroughly.

The Americans, British, Italians, Germans, and Japanese also had their troops using corrosively primed ammo for the most part. The US had noncorrosive .30 Carbine exclusively and I believe the noncorrosive Canadian .30/06 was made under contract for the US. Some German ammo was also noncorrosive.

I believe the Swiss were using noncorrosive primers prior to WWI and the Swedes first used them in the 20s. If you read Hatcher's Notebook, he mentions that the US tested the Swiss primer in the 20s, but found that it was not suitable for the wide range of climates that American troops were expected to operate in. The commercially available noncorrosive primers of the 20s and 30s like Remington Kleenbore, Winchester Staynless, and RWS Sinoxid were not generally considered suitable for military use.

tallen702 said:
Wolf, Brown Bear, Silver Bear, Red Army Standard, PPU, and S&B all make non-corrosive modern ammo.

FWIW, the surplus Mosin food isn't WWII surplus, but usually 70's or 80's surplus. The Soviets kept these things in their arsenal for some time to arm insurgents, use for pioneer training, and as a hedge against another massive war which might leave them wanting for weapons if they had to mobilize the entire union. What's more, the round is used in many of the marksman and sniper rifles as well as the vast majority of the light and heavy machine guns, so production is still ongoing. That said, the 70's and 80's surplus is still corrosive. Soap and hot water are your friend for cleaning the mercuric salts out of the barrel and action followed by normal cleaning and dry patches with a thin coat of oil at the end.

Not mercuric salts, but potassium chloride salts. You're also supposed to clean on subsequent days to really get the salts out of the pores.

Bertfish said:
If you clean promptly after each trip it is perfectly fine to shoot corrosive ammo. Read google on how to neutralize the corrosive salts with ammonia

Windex and ammonia is a myth. You can't neutralize KCl salts and definitely not with ammonia. What does work is dissociating the ions with water so it all flushes out.

Pinecone · Oct 3, 2018

ras_oscar said:
I find it difficult to believe that the Russians would send troops to battle with ammo that was expected to permanently damage their weapons.

You mean like the US??

Which used corrosively primed .30-06 to win two world wars?

.30 Carbine is the first non-corrosive US military ammo.

A lot of it was, until the 40, non-corrosive primers were not reliable.

So which is worse, using ammo that you need to clean the rifle after firing. Or going into combat with ammo that did not go bang???

c4snipar · Oct 3, 2018

It shot in the 40s using surplus and I have been shooting it with surplus no problems. Another inexpensive way is to get steel case 54r for about .35pr and slightly better accuracy imo.

OLM-Medic · Oct 3, 2018

I always squirt Windex in and then flush with soap and water. Lube with oil to preserve barrel.

Windex may neutralize, but I trust physically flushing out the salts more than anything.

Never had a problem.

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