So... I got about 200rnds of 1943 SL 30-06 ammo - with corrosive primers.
It has that acrid smell, like something is not quite right.
Do I...
a. shoot it (and clean gun immediately following)
b. pull the bullets, clean, reprime & load with fresh powder
Well, I shot a few rounds, and it's basically JUNK!
OK, then, I assume stuff 'made back then has gotta be good - it was during WW2 - they wouldn't sacrifice quality control for our fighting men' Boy, was I wrong.
Pulling the bullets was the first clue, some were really tight (a dozen hits), others took 2-3 hits and popped out. Yep, the powder stinks!
Weigh the bullets ... Yeah... 163~168 grains... at this point I'm not expecting quality.
Punch the primers, and run the cases through the corn cob ... 5hrs, and still not clean.
Run the cases through the tumbler with "Barkeeper's Friend", Stainless & water for 1.5hrs - has that brilliant *new* look! Yeah, progress!
A closer examination of the primer pocket ... hmm, looks like sorta crimped, no matter, we just run them through the case prep tool, uniform primer pocket dies.
Now I see serious problems, some are loose, some are so tight, I gotta hold the case with a plyers to ream it out to spec!
From the other end, it's painfully obvious the neck is ... all over the place. a little disturbing for never-fired brass that my Dad would have used to take back those Pacific Islands from the Japanese! Since it's never been fire-formed to a 30-06 chamber, also noted it went really, really, easy through the full length sizing die... like it was an undersized case. Punched all the primers, without case lubing a single case.
That's 80 of them. Really disappointed in the Quality Control of WW2 era manufacturing. Would have expected that kind of variation in range brass, but never-fired ammunition...? This old stuff is JUNK!
