Norinco 7.62 X 39 ammo, corrosive?

[His lordship.]

In the early 90's I bought and shot alot of Norinco 7.62 X 39 rifle ammo, and the box for it said "non-corrosive".  I would clean the barrels of my 2 SKS's, and the receiver too, after each shooting session.  However, I would take the gas assembly apart and clean it once every 3 years, never saw any rust, just lots of soot.  Granted the gas piston heads on those rifles were chrome plated, but the housing and gas entry way was bare steel.

I have heard of some people saying that it is really corrosive.  I have been seeing some of the old Norinco ammo showing up at the gun shows and thought I might try a few boxes for shooting variety as it is not too badly priced.  During the mid-90's some Russian made 9 MM Makarov ammo came in that said "non-corrosive" on it, when in reality it was corrosive and the sellers had to magic mark out the "Non", I bought and shot some of that stuff, but because I used  Hoppes #9 immediately after shooting, my pistol barrel on my Russian made Mak did not rust.

Has anyone had an experience with the commercial boxed Norinco rifle ammo rusting their guns due to corrosive primers?

Thanks.

[S.S.]

I will tell you my rule of thumb with Communist (former or current)
and or Eastern European ammo "IT IS ALL MILDLY or SEVERLY CORROSIVE" !!!
This includes Barnaul, Wolf, Etc. I will go a step farther and say
that most ammo with a berdan primer that is more than 10
or 12 years old is at least mildly corrosive.
The Wolf brand will put a patina of rust in your bore
overnight depending on how humid of a climate you live in.
I know Georgia is humid enough!!!!!
For some reason (I am not a chemist and don't know why)
but corrosive ammo is supposed to have a longer shelf life than
Non-Corrosive, so it will go bang many decades after it's
creation. This is why I Bought a lot of that ammo you are referring to!
I shoot a "LOT" of muzzle loading weapons so I am used to cleaning
my guns very regularly so the though of Corrosive ammo does not
bother me.

[ajj]

I've shot a good bit of the Norinco without problems, but I'm pretty good about cleaning, too. I've not heard of it being revealed as corrosive. If you really care, pull a bullet and pop the primer with the muzzle about an inch away from a piece of mild steel. Let it sit around for a week and see what, if anything, happens.
I've seen it written somewhere that Hoppe's is a sufficient solvent for corrosive ammo. I have proved to myself that it's not. Always make a few passes with a water-based cleaner. 1/2 tapwater and 1/2 "sudsing ammonia" is about as good as anything and I hear Windex is fine.
I've also proved to myself that, as noted, some of the Russian "non-corrosive" is mislabeled. If I may respectfully take issue with a previous post, I doubt that there is any such thing as "mildly" corrosive primers. I've seen ammo so advertised but I think a primer either produces salt or it doesn't. When in doubt, swab the bore with the above mixture right there at the range, while it's still hot. Clean conventionally and oil when you get home. Re-oil and look for rust the next day and I bet you won't see any. Good luck and good shooting.

[S.S.]

There are differing amounts of salts produced by
different priming mixtures. Some are far more corrosive than others.
Corrosive is corrosive though, They all cause rust!

[ibfestus]

It came both ways.  If it is in boxes with English writing it probably is noncorrosive.  If it comes wrapped in paper and tied with a string it IS corrosive.  If it is on strippers and the strippers are parked, it IS corrosive, if the strippers are blued it MAY be noncorrosive.  Essentially if the ammo was made for the PLA it IS corrosive. If it was made for export to the U.S. it might be noncorrosive.  Hoppes is not designed for corrosive ammo.  The old smelly U.S. surplus from the Korean war is still available and cheap.  HTH