Is ELEY Ammunition Corrosive?
No. ELEY ammunition is non-corrosive.
That is ELEY’s own statement and it applies across the range, so there is no corrosive-priming caveat to work around and no special post-shooting decontamination routine to follow. Clean your rifle on the schedule that suits your shooting, not on one dictated by the priming compound.
Behind that answer sits one of the most significant pieces of engineering in the company’s history.
ELEY prime
In 1979 ELEY introduced ELEY prime, the world’s first and only automated dry priming system. In 1988 its development was recognised with the Queen’s Award for Technology.
Priming takes place in an advanced air-conditioned priming facility. The result is a 75% improvement in the spread of primer weights compared to other manufacturers: a controlled, repeatable quantity of priming compound in the rim of every cartridge.
Why Primer Consistency Matters
In a rimfire cartridge the priming compound sits in the rim, and the firing pin crushes it there to ignite the propellant. The consistency of that ignition event feeds directly into velocity consistency, and therefore into vertical dispersion on the target.
Two ELEY specifications support it. Strike depth, the indent left by the firing pin, should ideally be 0.012 to 0.015 in, enough to transmit sufficient energy to the primer to cause ignition and ensure the cartridge does not misfire. Recommended headspace is 0.040 to 0.041 in. Both are measurable, and both are worth checking on a rifle producing unexplained vertical.
Clean for Accuracy, Not for Corrosion
Because the ammunition is non-corrosive, cleaning becomes purely a precision decision. Barrel condition is a variable in its own right, and it is why a barrel should be given fouling shots after cleaning before any group is judged. Every firearm is different, so establish a routine that keeps your own rifle shooting consistently and stick to it.
The Bottom Line
ELEY ammunition is non-corrosive. Its priming comes from ELEY prime, the world’s first and only automated dry priming system, introduced in 1979 and awarded the Queen’s Award for Technology in 1988, produced in an air-conditioned facility delivering a 75% improvement in the spread of primer weights compared to other manufacturers.
Clean and settle your barrel on a consistent routine for accuracy’s sake. To get the most from the ammunition, book a batch test at eley.co.uk/vip or open the free Lot Analyser at eleyxshot.com. The best ammunition is the production lot that performs best in your rifle.