FN58 M2 Ball corrosive? Pierced primer

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  • lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Anyone know if FN 58 headstamped M2 Ball is corrosive? Or know how to check post shooting?

    Was at the range today and someone ran about 40rnds of it through their Garand and left all the cases. I plan to reload .30-06, so I picked them all up. It’ll be awhile till I reload. Just look to see if the brass has corroded in the few months it is going to sit? Some other test?

    Also one round of S&B I shot had a pierced primer. From what I can find, likely weak firing pin spring, bur on firing pin or sharp pin. Or possibly bad primer. First time it’s happened in 80rnds through the rifle. I was planning to check the FP tip and if it is fine, ignore and see if it happens again. If it does replace the FP spring and take a closer look at the FP with it out of the bolt to see if it needs to be cleaned up or replaced.

    Good troubleshooting steps?
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Also S&B shoots a lot better than PPU. Both groups at 50yds. Ignore the two low rounds, that was me for sure. All in dim heavy overcast conditions.

    I am guessing you can figure out which is which.

    Dang it, always rotated when I upload

    Edit also Patton was damn right about the Garand
     

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    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,176
    Sun City West, AZ
    FN 58 (1958) should be non-corrosive but since it's made offshore you can never tell for sure. US made GI ammunition changed to non-corrosive about the time of the Korean War. FN makes fine stuff and ammunition should be no different whether it's corrosive or non-corrosive. Unless you know for sure I would treat it as if it was and thoroughly clean your rifle appropriately following a shooting session.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    FN 58 (1958) should be non-corrosive but since it's made offshore you can never tell for sure. US made GI ammunition changed to non-corrosive about the time of the Korean War. FN makes fine stuff and ammunition should be no different whether it's corrosive or non-corrosive. Unless you know for sure I would treat it as if it was and thoroughly clean your rifle appropriately following a shooting session.

    Just thinking if I can reload the cases someone else shot without knowing if it was corrosive or not. Can they be rinsed, dried and tumbled?
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,176
    Sun City West, AZ
    I'm not a reloader so I can't answer that. If it's military ammo it probably has sealed primers which might complicate removal but it can be done...just an added step. It's possible it's Berdan primed which essentially is fire and forget beyond cleaning up the brass off the ground...not reloadable or at least not easily done.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Dang. Looks like 50s FN is all Berdan primed.

    I did find this, looks like NC with a 58 headstamp.

    Belgium: Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre has been a major producer of ammunition for years. Its typical marking is FN and date. Fabrique Nationale changed to noncorrosive priming exclusively on December 6, 1957. Thus all dated 1958 and later is noncorrosive. This includes all types in both U.S. and foreign military calibers. Most production before 1958 had primers that were both mercuric and corrosive."
     

    Art3

    Eqinsu Ocha
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2015
    13,267
    Harford County
    Sounds like you're good to go. Berdan primed...shoot it and let it fly.

    I think he's talking about already fired brass that he picked up. There are tools for Berdan primer removal. I'm pretty sure user Warpspasm does it with some of his oddball calibers.

    But...for 40 cases...I don't know that it's worth the trouble. It sounds like the OP is producing his own fresh PPU and SB once fired brass anyway. Personally, I'd stick with that.

    It's interesting that his Garand likes SB over PPU. Mine's the other way :shrug:
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Anyone know if FN 58 headstamped M2 Ball is corrosive? Or know how to check post shooting?

    Was at the range today and someone ran about 40rnds of it through their Garand and left all the cases. I plan to reload .30-06, so I picked them all up. It’ll be awhile till I reload. Just look to see if the brass has corroded in the few months it is going to sit? Some other test?

    Also one round of S&B I shot had a pierced primer. From what I can find, likely weak firing pin spring, bur on firing pin or sharp pin. Or possibly bad primer. First time it’s happened in 80rnds through the rifle. I was planning to check the FP tip and if it is fine, ignore and see if it happens again. If it does replace the FP spring and take a closer look at the FP with it out of the bolt to see if it needs to be cleaned up or replaced.

    Good troubleshooting steps?

    Something else you can do is inspect your firing pin for obvious signs of battering at the tang and ensure the port in the bolt is clear of debris-rust. The pin is free floating and doesn't have a spring to arrest movement. It shouldn't be greased or have to much oil on it either. With your rifle stripped you can observe how the receiver bridge interacts with bolt position and firing pin timing prior to full bolt lock up and FP retraction surfaces during the unlocking sequence. Inspecting both surfaces of the bridge for any sign of irregularity would be a good first step.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Something else you can do is inspect your firing pin for obvious signs of battering at the tang and ensure the port in the bolt is clear of debris-rust. The pin is free floating and doesn't have a spring to arrest movement. It shouldn't be greased or have to much oil on it either. With your rifle stripped you can observe how the receiver bridge interacts with bolt position and firing pin timing prior to full bolt lock up and FP retraction surfaces during the unlocking sequence. Inspecting both surfaces of the bridge for any sign of irregularity would be a good first step.

    Thanks!
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    I think he's talking about already fired brass that he picked up. There are tools for Berdan primer removal. I'm pretty sure user Warpspasm does it with some of his oddball calibers.

    But...for 40 cases...I don't know that it's worth the trouble. It sounds like the OP is producing his own fresh PPU and SB once fired brass anyway. Personally, I'd stick with that.

    It's interesting that his Garand likes SB over PPU. Mine's the other way :shrug:

    Correct. Sounds like I’ll toss them in my brass recycling bucket. Worth a chance I guess.

    I only shot 2 clips of S&B, but the one pictured did awesome and the other one did close to as good. I think right now my limitation has been the three times since I got it in May, every time I’ve shot it, it has been very heavy overcast and thus low contrast and dim. My eye sight is darned good, but still makes it hard to see the target well enough for highly repeatable sight picture.

    One of those things I’ve noticed is when I shoot a string and then look at my spotting scope, my groups tend to be better than shoot one, look, rinse and repeat. Much more noticeable on dim days with iron sights. Doesn’t happen with scoped rifles and I don’t notice much change on nice bright sunny days with iron sights (isn’t entirely unique to my Garand).

    Some of it could be a change in my cheek weld, but I think more just harder to have a repeatable sight picture when I can see the bull as well and breaking weld.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    If all that checks out really well and your comfortable with what your seeing, you can also check to make sure the extractor stem is good shape with no burrs and is not twisted or bent which can make the pin stop shoulder at the front cease rearward movement and that the FP hole is not overly enlarged with excessive clearance.

    Sometimes those pins can begin to stretch or will have excessive length due to other parts tolerance stacking/manufacturing differences. A good understanding of how the FP works with other rifle components is a huge safety issue in a Garand especially if you reload.
     

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