Hangfires and Milsurp Ammo

The grunge you are talking about is actually the corrisve primer eating thru the bullet is garbage once this happens. But I have had some(very few) that I had to hit twice with no grunge. Maybe one or two in 1,000rds. which isn't bad but they did go off on the second hit. Now the question is what do you do when it doesn't go off the first time. Stay holding the gun for a few minutes then I reset the bolt(firing pin) and set it off again. I have heard about primers not being set far enough in on some of this military stuff too. There is a disadvantage and an advantage to using old military stuff and one must be careful. At my local range there is 55 gallon steel drums most likely thats what they are there for if a round goes off after its out of the gun the case goes and the bullet stays just like in a fire and in a 55 gallon steel drum its most likely to stay in the drum not much energy. I never used it yet but its there if needed. Remember safety first and have a plan for sure when things go wrong.
Be safe!!!!!!!! BigBill

The primer cup in some Of the old Milsurp stuff also has a
high copper content in the material it is made of.
this will turn green also. I have seen entire lots
of .303 Brit., - .30 Cal U.S. Carbine and .30-06.
that were ruined due to copper primer cups being
corroded away.
Pull the Bullets for reloading and throw the rest away!
Thats about all they are good for!

P.s.
I got one of those *&%^%$ lots of .303 Brit. this weekend!!

The different colored 'Rings" around primers
serve a combination of purposes. The color
codes indicate what type of projectile the round has,
Tracer, Incendiary, Armor piercing etc.
Plus, the colored laquer acts as a sealer. There is normally
a ring around the bullet at the case mouth also.
I have seen red, black, green, and a dark purple.
the dark purple seems to be the most common.
It should be easy to tell the difference between
corrosion damage and the primer Anulus (Laquer).

And yes, the powder does deteriorate with age.
but normally not enough to tell in shooting it.
A chronograph will see it though. I have fired
.303 Brit. rounds with headstamp dates of 1909
(In Arabic) and the primer was the fault of the misfires,
not the powder (Cordite). They still shot with authority when they
did go off!
The Exception to this rule is old blackpowder rounds
(Which do show up from time to time)
Black powder actually becomes more powerful
(and unstable) with age!!!