[Capona]

I picked up a 360 battle pack of Hirt 1983. The vendor notified me the noticed the battle pack was opened. I took it anyway with the intent to shoot it, not save it.

The boxes have a nasty moldy smell and some of the Ammo has green , I assume mold, on it.

Can I shoot it as is, or do I need to removed all the green it's scotch brite?

 

[wiz1997]

Run it through a gentle brass cleaning vibrator to get it clean. (If you have acess to one)

Few rounds at a time.

I've done it myself with no mishaps.

 

[unkola]

I picked up a 360 battle pack of Hirt 1983. The vendor notified me the noticed the battle pack was opened. I took it anyway with the intent to shoot it, not save it.

The boxes have a nasty moldy smell and some of the Ammo has green , I assume mold, on it.

Can I shoot it as is, or do I need to removed all the green it's scotch brite?

When I was in the service, we had Blitz Cloths to clean our brass insignia instead of Brasso when we were in a hurry. You might try that. -Lloyd BEERCHUG1

 

[stevegun 1]

WD40 on a paper towel, it will wipe off. Then remove the WD with a clean one. Go through it all now, it'll only get worse.

 

[jbrooks]

If it's not excessive you can shoot it as is.

I had a case of Port way back when that was almost all green. Shoot the case, only lost one case to a case head separation because it was completely corroded.

JWB

 

[Capona]

It's just small spots maybe an 1/8 size tops on some of the shell casings mainly although some of the bullets show sign as well.
Wd40 did take it off with rubbing but I think I'll just shoot them as is and forget about collecting the brass

Does it come from moisture in the cardboard boxes, if so I can dump the boxes.

 

[TheShooter]

Post pictures.


Who was the vendor?


I got 6k rounds of Hirt and none of it has corrosion.

 

[Capona]

Post pictures.


Who was the vendor?


I got 6k rounds of Hirt and none of it has corrosion.

My battle pack was opened and the supplier let me know that and gave me the option of not shipping it to me ( it was there last battle pack).
I told them to ship it and I accept that decision so I prefer not to give their name. I think they acted honestly in the transaction.

Most of the ammo shows no sign, not sure why some have it an others do not. The boxes themselves show no indications other than a smell of mildew.

The pick propbaby show the worse ones and as I look at them more, I'll shoot them as is.

 

[TheShooter]

My battle pack was opened and the supplier let me know that and gave me the option of not shipping it to me ( it was there last battle pack).
I told them to ship it and I accept that decision so I prefer not to give their name. I think they acted honestly in the transaction.

Most of the ammo shows no sign, not sure why some have it an others do not. The boxes themselves show no indications other than a smell of mildew.

The pick propbaby show the worse ones and as I look at them more, I'll shoot them as is.

I'd clean them with some 0000 steel wool. Then shoot them.

There was some talk awhile ago about 360 round hirt battle packs smelling moldy with out opening them. Well if you smell mold chances are the brass is going bad.


Here is a picture of my 360 round hirt battle packs. Clean with no odor.

 

[Orlando]

If its mold it would wipe off the brass. I suspect the cases are starting to corrode

 

[Capona]

I think it is corrosion.the green does wipe off with a scotch brite or paper towel with Wd40, but it does leave the brass finish unlike the untouch areas of the finish.

If its mold it would wipe off the brass. I suspect the cases are starting to corrode

 

[hardheaded]

The same thing happened to me , it is still good ammo
I removed the rounds from the cardboard , scrubbed the corrosion off with red scotch brite and kinda polished the brass with nu finish car polish during TV time
The lot of ammo now resides in a ammo can with no signs of corrosion re kindle

If you decide to tumble them , try one or two and pull them down to make sure the powder did not break down

 

[Capona]

Thanks to all!

 

[37489]

Probably corrosion

If there is enough moisture for mold there is enough for corrosion. The acid in the paper corrodes the brass and the cellulose feeds the mold.

 

[gearsource]

Verdigris

Isn't that green surface substance known as verdigris? The bane of brass items for millenia!

ver·di·gris
ˈvərdəˌɡrēs/
noun
noun: verdigris

a bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate.

Origin
Middle English: from Old French verte-gres, earlier vert de Grece ‘green of Greece.’
Translate verdigris to
Use over time for: verdigris

 

[M1AFL]

I must be getting lucky, which is highly unusual for me. I recently got some 1980 and 1976 Hirtenberger from two different vendors, all of the packaging had that moldy smell, but no corrosion on the cases or bullets.

It seemed strange that the cardboard boxes, eventhough they were sealed in plastic, did not keep the boxes from getting moldy. The smell was so bad that I ended up taking all the ammo out of the boxes and put it in ammo cans.

I could see no signs of water intrusion, so I can only imagine that it was condensation from storage issues that caused this.

 

[Capona]

I've gone thru about 150 rounds and they do clean up with wd40 and scotch brite. I'd say it's surface corrosion that I got to in time. Tedious work to clean them. Kind of defeats the purpose if you intend to Keep them for a rainy day in the far off future if they aren't in good condition as expected. I'll be shooting them anyway so not an issue for me.

 

[Eagle7840]

I believe it was in Brownells first edition of Gunsmith Kinks where he suggested using Turmeric as a brass cleaner. I've used it mixed with water and boiled some of my .357 deprimed brass in the solution and they came out sparkling clean. You could make the same type of solution and rub down the green brass with it with a damp solution rag or Scotch Brite pad. Brass will also get that green waxy build up if stored/carried in a leather cartridge belt for a long period of time. I know this from experience from leaving .357 ammo in my western holster rig for my single action.

 

[Eagle7840]

There was some talk awhile ago about 360 round hirt battle packs smelling moldy without opening them.

The 360 rd battle packs were stored and shipped in master wood crates. Wood absorbs moisture and will get moldy and pass that smell onto the sealed packs. Our very first surplus shipments were shipped in the wood crates and were broken down to the battle packs for sale. We had empty wooden crates that they wanted to pawn off to the retail store to sell for a buck or two. I refused to accept them and told them to trash them. Just some inside scoop.

 

[jbrooks]

The ammo is fine. Don't use WD40. Just shoot the stuff.

JWB