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mercury primed 30 06

dgacdgac Member Posts: 694 ✭✭✭✭
edited April 2008 in Ask the Experts
Does anyone know about mercury primed 30 06 rounds. From what I understand the mercury weakens the brass and cracks it. Is it rare? Is it a collectable round? Thanks for any info


dgac
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Comments

  • MIKE WISKEYMIKE WISKEY Member Posts: 10,046 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    most center fire primers until the 1930's used merury in the priming mix. once fired this amalgamated with the brass caseing and made it brittle. not particularly collectable but not shootable either (corrosive primers and scrap brass and a lot of 'hang' fires)
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  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    A few thoughts:

    -I believe most corrosive ammo uses (used) a potassium chlorate primer. This should not be confused with mercuric primers. I'm not sure what USGI issue was and when; I believe both were used at one time or another. I have seen the results of potassium chlorate primers; they will corrode the brass ONCE FIRED if the cases aren't rinsed with soapy hot water- over time mind you, not instantly- thus weakening the brass. What mercury did/does to brass is beyond my ken.

    "Not shootable"? "Not collectible?" Well..perhaps. Perhaps not. There certainly is a demand for collectible USGI ammo. Esp. if in original boxes, rare types/loadings, etc. We can't say offhand with the info given. As to whether shootable or not- if it was stored properly, it most certainly IS shootable- I and many others routinely fire military surplus ammo from the 30s through 70s without problem or issue; just make sure to clean your gun properly after.

    For more info on YOUR rounds though, please photograph or describe the headstamp, bullet color, etc.
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  • Hawk CarseHawk Carse Member Posts: 4,383 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The US Army quit using mercuric primers in 1898 when the Krag was still GI. Military primers contained potassium chlorate (corrosive) mix until up in the 1950s, although there had been non-corrosive, non-mercuric commercial ammo for some time. There were some early non-corrosive primers that contained mercury fulminate but no chlorate, but they did not last long. There was some Winchester Match ammunition with mercuric primers up until about 1960.

    What do you really have?
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  • dgacdgac Member Posts: 694 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I will post pics on another topic. They are in bandloeers


    thanks for the info
    DGAC
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  • Tailgunner1954Tailgunner1954 Member Posts: 7,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    What is the headstamp? Military ammo will have the plant code and manfacture date on it.
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