Thread: Is Norinco 7.62x39mm ammo corrosive?

I was told that Norinco 7.62x39 ammo is corrosive, and that it would eat out my Howa Mini action stainless barrel in time as they are not chrome lined.
Have shitloads left over from the good old SKS and Saiga days now gone, and got the Howa to help get rid of it.
Most is wrapped in 25 round brown paper bundles, the rest in the green Norinco boxes with some marked non-corrosive.
I always do a good clean after each shoot, so hopefully no problems?

green pack is supposed to be non corrosive, yellow pack is corrosive
i wouldnt trust the packaging and take precautions anyway, 5 minutes of cleaning is far cheaper than a new rifle

Chrome linings main purpose was to resist bore erosion from sustained fire, chromium does not loose tensile strength like steel at high temperatures. A spin off was improved corrosion resistance.
If in doubt pour a little hot water through the barrel patch day then oil same as you would with 303 corrosive ammunition.
My howa showed me how accurate that cartridge can be a far cry from "AK spray an pray"

The milsurp all bronze / copper coloured FMJ certainly is corrosive.

shoot the bloody ammo -then block off end off barrel boil the jug -make yaself a big cuppa 9your choice)and pour the remaining boiling water down the blocked bareel -leave the f...r for 10-15 mins-FFSdont touch with ya bare hands or its A&E for you.
right pull plug stand clear itll let go like a liquid babies naps but by time barrel dries youll need sunglasses to look down it .
I once removed a bloody stuck fast pullthrough from an SLR barrel in my army days after a knowalll S/SGT armourer reckoned i couldnt -cost wankbrain a 1/2 doz cans but serves him right for doubting a TF soldier.
AN old deerstalker i knew also reckoned a cup of boiling vinegar added also improved results but he also claimed if you drank it (Vinegar) it puts a hi gloss on ya turds -so make of that what ya will!

I have always considered the Chinese and Russian Comblock ammo as Corrosive. Its not the powder but is the Berdan primers they use. Just treat it like you would a SMLE 303 and CAC ammo, I pour a jug of boiling water down the barrel, leave the rifle to cool for a few minutes then clean as normal. I usually lube the barrel and action with Marine CRC. No issues at all and when you consider how many SMLE barrels are still shooting after a shit of a life . Been using the Norinco Yellow and Green box stuff for years. Stocked up back in the days when it was $25 /100rds and the Chinese stuff in the tin cans was 13c a round. Getting a bit low on it now though.

Yep boiling water down the barrel and lots of it. I found cleaning the copper and carbon out first better as there is nothing remaining for the corrosive salts to hide behind.

Cheers guys. I`ve also got a heap of TulAmmo which states non corrosive on the box.
Wonder if you could end the session with a mag or two of this to blow out the corrosive salts, then clean as usual.
I`ll let you know in a year or so ha, ha.

yellow box norinco .223 was the fastest .223 ammo I have used. Bonus was a donut muzzle flash nd was pretty accurate too in my now long gone deformed Back rifle

I have had both corrosive and non corrosive norinco ammo, including some that was marked as non corrosive but acutuuly was corrosive

its such a catch all brand name that sorces from so many factorys that I would treat it all as corrosive now- its not like boiling a jug to deal with it is hard

Originally Posted by mikee

yellow box norinco .223 was the fastest .223 ammo I have used. Bonus was a donut muzzle flash nd was pretty accurate too in my now long gone deformed Back rifle

I love that ammo

Originally Posted by mikee

yellow box norinco .223 was the fastest .223 ammo I have used. Bonus was a donut muzzle flash nd was pretty accurate too in my now long gone deformed Back rifle

Yeah my barnaul out of my 16 inch barrel was a bit of a scorcher. Epic flames and loud as F booms!

I see GC has the Yellow Norinco in stock as well as the soft point (Never grouped well for me) Its nice to see it back for sale in NZ. Could never figure why importers stopped bringing it in.