I inherited several boxes of FN 57 .30-06 Berdan primed military ammo. I can't find any reference regarding this ammo being corrosive or not ? Thanks in advance for your help.

Andre, unless someone here can tell you definatively if this ammo is non-corrosive, I'd treat it as corrosive.

Or..... you can test it yourself by pulling a bullet and powder and then "blank firing" the cartridge's primer at a piece of "in the white" unlubricated scrap steel from a distance of just one inch from the gun's muzzle. (If need be, clean the scrap first with a degreaser such as Chem Tool..) Then leave that piece of steel exposed to the air for 72 hours. For those of you that live in a very dry climate, pick a fairly damp place such as your home bathroom for the test. Of course immediately clean the barrel of the rifle that you used for the primer test. If after 72 hours the steel test plate still has as uniform color and the center of the late has no more corrosion than the balance of the plate surface, then the primer was indeed a non-corrosive type. But if instead their is a rusty smudge in the center on the plate where the bore gasses impinged upon it, then the primer was corrosive. (Corrosive primers leave a hydrophilic residue, that induces rust.)

OR...... (and this is the easiest solution) you can contact FN Herstal by e-mail at Info@FnHerstal.com.

Good luck and please tell us what you find out!

Don

Depending on how much ammo there is, shoot it and treat it like corrosive.
If there's not much, 50-60 rounds, trade it off and let it be some one elses problem.
Jim

I got a reply from FN ! In 1957, they still hadn't made the switch to non corrosive primers for their military ammo. Thanks fellows, I'm glad I followed your advice and erred on the safe side, having fired the ammo in the new .30-06 barrel of my Sauer 202.

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
I got a reply from FN ! In 1957, they still hadn't made the switch to non corrosive primers for their military ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
I got a reply from FN ! In 1957, they still hadn't made the switch to non corrosive primers for their military ammo.

quote:

qui audet adipiscitur

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
I got a reply from FN ! In 1957, they still hadn't made the switch to non corrosive primers for their military ammo. Thanks fellows, I'm glad I followed your advice and erred on the safe side, having fired the ammo in the new .30-06 barrel of my Sauer 202.

Andre. Thanks for the info. This is nice to know!