Overkill Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 What's wrong with this Indian surplus. Are the bullets, powder, primers, or brass not good....or is it just the care with which they're put together? I've been taking apart surplus and remanufacturing it. Sometimes I use all the original components and sometimes I replace the bullets. Is there anything wrong with this ammo that this process wont cure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 corrosive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overkill Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 We'll see. I bought 400 rounds of it today ($125 at a brick and mortar store). I took 10 rounds apart and measured all the specifications. Bullet Weight Average was 148 grains with a SD of 0.30 Grain Powder Weight Avg. was 42.3 grains with a SD of 0.31 Grain Case weight was 189.7, SD 1.33 OAL was 2.788, SD 0.002. I had to toss out two of the bullet and case weights. It turns out the powder was occasionally sticking the in the cases so the charge weight was low and the case weight was high. I realized this when I went to fire the primers (see below), so the case and charge weight info above is based on 8 rounds not 10. I'm thinking that the powder may have been sticking as a result of excess neck or primer sealant. Some of the bullets were lousy with sealant. The cases are boxer primed. They are tarnished and a little tacky to the touch. They should probably be tumbled. They were loaded 400 to a sealed can; in cloth bandoleers on 5 round stripper clips. The rubber gasket was firmly sealed; I had to use a hammer to pound the lid open. To check to see if they're corrosive I used a hammer and awl to discharge two of the primed cases against a piece of bare steel. I'll watch it for a few days and see if it corrodes before I shoot the thing in my rifle. On the plus side if it is corrosive, I'll just reload the cases with commercial primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear1142 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 When you think of the Worlds great military forces does India pop up? You would think with all their computer technology, software genuises, and nuclear knowhow that they could produce some quality ammo, but they don't. I would use Wolf ammunition before I used Indian. For some independent verification, go to http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=3&f=16 This thread has various discussions about surplus ammo. I'm sure you'll find a thread about Indian surplus. Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsimpso1 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Hmmm. If I was doing short range ammo for those bullet hose stages, I would just shoot it as is and commit to cleaning the bore, chamber, and gas system immediately after each shoot. If corrosive ammo gives you the willies, punch the primers, swage pockets, dunk the cases in lacquer thinner to get most of the sealant, and seat the large rifle primer of your choice. Some battle ammo has bullets of indifferent accuracy, others are quite capable. If you re-use the bullets, a quick dunk in lacquer thinner will get the sealant off. Billski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 FWIW, Winchester white box 140gr. (I think) ammo is on sale at Midway. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overkill Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 FWIW, Winchester white box 140gr. (I think) ammo is on sale at Midway.Rich $99 for 200 rounds. Still pretty pricy. Still no corrosion on the steel plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Yeah I know it's not the best deal on the planet, but good, if I was home, to break in my LR-308 and have a bunch of fire formed brass. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latewatch Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Bought some of this stuff a few years ago. Shooting it in my Armscorp M14 about once a magazine I'd get a round that had enough pressure to blow the op rod back far enough to pop out of the slot. Now the only thing I shoot this ammo out of is my Ishapore Enfield 2A. I read something on another forum that was amusing but also made sense. The poster stated " If I wouldn't drink the water while visiting the country, I won't buy their ammo" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear1142 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 " If I wouldn't drink the water while visiting the country, I won't buy their ammo" +1 Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew_Mink Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 (edited) I have read, but have no first hand knowledge, that the 70's Indian is ok to use. Its the late 80's and 90's that was loaded dangerously with bad components resulting in blown up rifles. I do have first hand knowledge with the later ammo, my good friend who shoots a lot of rifles says the ammo is crap, he only buys it to get the components and rebuilds it to shoot thru a Win Model 70. The best .308 Surplus I have ever had was the Aussie F4. We got 2.5 MOA out of an iron sighted FAL with it at 200 yards, plus got under 2 MOA at 200 yards with some bolt guns with good glass. Pretty decent for surplus 7.62. Its also really consistant, too bad we can't find it anymore. Edited February 8, 2007 by Matthew Mink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overkill Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 I read something on another forum that was amusing but also made sense. The poster stated " If I wouldn't drink the water while visiting the country, I won't buy their ammo" I thought the new saying was "If they know more about your computer than you do, why not shoot their ammo." BTW, day 3 and no corrosion evident on the steel plate that I fired the primers against. I'll try to post some before and after px later today. I think we're good to go for a live fire test next week if the weather breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 burn some of that powder on plate then wipe it off and see what you get in three days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overkill Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 That's the two spots where I popped the primer against the plate. Same spots 3 days latter with the residue wiped off. Pile of powder prior to burning. Residue left over from burnt powder. Powder burn spot immediately after with residue wiped off. Well see what it looks like in a couple days....but it was always my understanding that the corrosive element in corrosive ammo was associated with the primer compound not the powder....but WTH, burning powder is fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Yea, the "corrosive" in corrosive ammo is the primer. However, the standards for US primers as to being non-corrosive are quite stringent. You can pop primers that are deemed corrosive on steel, and not see any results. I did that a couple of decades ago and got tired of waiting for the steel to rust. So, some "corrosive" ammo isn't very. Then there was that Egyptian 9mm ammo brought in a couple of decades ago. That stuff would rust guns next to the ones you'd fired, it was so bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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