.22 Rimfire to non Corrosive Priming

[centershot]

Does anyone know when this took place? I restored my father in laws old Winchester pump that has a totally toasted barrel interior. Only thing I can figure is that he shot corrosive primers in it and never cleaned it.

 

[grauhanen]

According to Edward C. Crossman in his 1927 book Smallbore Rifle Shooting, in late 1926 Remington produced the first American rustless priming for .22LR cartridges with the name Kleanbore.

Of course corrosive primed .22LR ammo remained available for a time, but shooters increasingly came to appreciate the fact that .22LR bores no longer had to be cleaned after each use. No doubt this much-emphasized quality in .22LR ammo advertising contributed to the much-abused and incorrect notion that .22LR bores never need cleaning to maintain performance.

 

[mongo chicago]

IF rimfires were initially loaded with black powder, that would also corrode.

 

[dutch14]

The nitro source for smokeless powder was corrosive until around 1960. So clean bore priming only solved part of the problem.

 

[dellet]

Depends on the age of the rifle and how thrifty owner was when it came to buying ammo. Combined with his cleaning habits.

I have 22’s that survived blackpowder and corrosive primers and all other combinations from 150 years ago with little to no effect.
I know of a couple new pistols that shot Soviet 22 short Olympic ammo from the 1980’s that were ruined due to corrosive loads.

When non corrosive was available vs stopped being used is about a 75 year span.

 

[grauhanen]

The nitro source for smokeless powder was corrosive until around 1960. So clean bore priming only solved part of the problem.

The problem with corrosion in .22LR firearms was directly related to corrosive priming.

Ammo manufacturers using "rustless priming" emphasized that this made the difference when it camee to corrosion.

Below is some literature from Peters, an ammo maker that produced rustless .22LR ammo. It notes that it's the rustless priming that eliminates the risk of corrosion.