Garand Ammo PSA

[soloman02]

Since we have had A LOT of people pick up Garands for the first time lately (myself included) I though I would post this here.

I purchased a can of Korean 30.06 ammo from Rileys back in March. Rileys labeled it as non-corrosive. I recently saw it there again. I just tested this ammo myself and it is in fact CORROSIVE.

The headstamps are all KA. If you see KA stamped 30.06 brass it is corrosive. Out of a mosin or other bolt gun corrosive ammo isn't a big deal. With a Garand it is because you now have to clean the gas system and best practice is to remove the gas cylinder as little as possible since the splines become loose over time, destroying consistency accurate shots.

So for the TLR crowd: Korean ammo headstamped KA is corrosive.

A picture of the item I tested on is below.

 

[WallHack]

Personally I'd go back to Reiley's with your findings and ask them to make it right.

 

[soloman02]

Personally I'd go back to Reiley's with your findings and ask them to make it right.

Unfortunately that receipt is long gone. It is not that big a deal to me I can likely easily sell the ammo, even with it being corrosive. If I had a 1903 I'd shoot it out of that since it is easier to clean a bolt rifle of corrosive ammo.

The next time I go to Rileys if they have any of that stuff I will make it a point to tell them I tested it and it is corrosive. My response after that point will depend on their level of attitude.

 

[willbdavis]

Yet another reason to reload.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Sweeney]

During WWII all Garands fired corrosive ammo. It's really not that big of a deal to clean.

Here's a simple tutorial...
M1 Garand (Cleaning)

It's also very easy to peen the splines on the barrel to tighten the gas cylinder if needed or to improve accuracy.

 

[Stryker]

Thanks for the info

 

[swampthing]

I bought some as well and asked about it. More then two working at the shop said their distributor labeled it non corrosive but advised that with all surplus to clean it as if it were corrosive.

Btw nice job warning others.

 

[Chantry]

Treat ALL foreign military surplus as corrosive. I ran into the same problem with some Korean 30 carbine surplus and some Danish 30-06 surplus.

 

[Swamp_Yankee]

I believe the Iranian stuff is also corrosive and pretty crappy to boot. There is another Koran headstamp (maybe PR? Something like that) that is not supposed to be corrosive but I just shoot the Greek stuff or reload.

 

[dhuze]

KA is absolutely corrosive. Rileys should have known that. There are other suppliers who are selling it and claiming it is not corrosive, but should be treated as corrosive because their importer said it was. IT IS and THEY KNOW it.

PS is the other Korean 30-06 which is not corrosive.

I have some KA and I shoot it in my 1903 and 03A3 because it's easier to clean them. I bought it cheap so I didn't care.

 

[Gillham]

I knew Korean 30-06 was corrosive after extensive reading on the CMP forums; I'd chuckle every time I saw Korean 30-06 surplus advertised as non-corrosive. AFAIK the only surplus that can be had right now that is non-corrosive is the Greek HXP - Even then, if you're ordering from CMP, you get mixed headstamps so it's always good to check your ammo and sort out the dinged and odd ones.

^^ Good to know there's diff Korean 30-06, PS and KA

 

[JohnZ]

Some of that korean stuff is dangerous to shoot too. I seem to remember reading on the CMP website that the brass on some lots of the KA stuff is bad. The CMP site also has a thread about which surplus is corrosive and which is not - even down to lot numbers for the years when the manufacturers switched. Probably want to browse over there before you use any more of that stuff.