.223 round under water...

[fstdraw]

Just thought I'd share. 3 months ago I dropped one of my reloaded .223 rounds in a bucket of water. I forgot to pluck it out until today while cleaning some paint brushes. It was in the H2O for at least three months. I couldn't very well fire it in town so I removed the bullet and presto, completely dry AND the primer went bang when inserted into an AR. RCBS hand priming tool and a very light Lee FCD crimp. For me it's good to know wet ammo can survive a bit of water, at least this one did. Anyone else have this result, or maybe the reverse?

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[DizzyJ]

Interesting.

 

[fstdraw]

I thought so. I wouldn't fire it in the regular fashion, I'd worry about hang fire or something similar. Maybe there is something to the guys in movies actually shooting guns under water... just think of the possibilities. Hey, it gives snorkeling a whole new meaning!

 

[titsonritz]

 

[RVTECH]

I once found a pile of very old primed 1911 brass in the woods.

It had been there a very long time as the headstamps were military and all had two digit numbers in the 'teens', and some were rotting away.

Well I brought them home and after wiping some off I put them in a 1911 and the primers went POP! now some were pretty light on the report but most fired.

This stuff had been outside i the rain, snow etc for a long time!

 

[808hondacrguy]

I have shot 22lr and 9mm rounds that went through the wash before, all went bang, and no noticeable difference in accuracy.

 

[Camelfilter]

Yah, I remember reading that if one wants to make loaded rounds inert is to soak them in some type of petroleum or such. As it "should" creep enough into the primer to make inert...

Water, from what I recall, won't creep. So you'd have to wait for oxidation to have enough affect to make large enough space for incursion.

Or some such...

 

[Certaindeaf]

..RCBS hand priming tool and a very light Lee FCD crimp..

Interesting but I'd only count on lacquer, both primers and necks.

 

[mhayd93]

I once shot steel cased 45ACP that had been sitting in a soaked paper bag on the leaky floorboard of my brother's car. The surfaces of the cases were completely rusted so I brushed them all off just to make sure the cases weren't corroded through; they all cleaned up well and fired as expected!

 

[DizzyJ]

View attachment 987775

Feeling froggy?

 

[Hemlock]

What's 1911 brass????

Oh.... You mean 45acp brass.

 

[TTSX]

With all the fat guys carrying appendix in the summer heat, there's a lot of proof wet ammo ensures confidence

 

[quneur]

I thought so. I wouldn't fire it in the regular fashion, I'd worry about hang fire or something similar. Maybe there is something to the guys in movies actually shooting guns under water... just think of the possibilities. Hey, it gives snorkeling a whole new meaning!

Not in saltwater. Hunting in Hawai'i and being the youngest, I usually had to oil the guns the night before. Once I missed a spot and it rusted overnight. The owner was quite angry. Leave ammo exposed and it will probably completely corrode within the month.

 

[Hornet Driver]

Years ago I worked in a gun shop that had 3 "stash guns" hidden behind the counter. They were Colt revolvers ( it was nearly 50 years ago) kept loaded at all times. There was a rash of gun store robberies in the area, some resulting in employees getting shot. We stayed open late on Friday's and just before closing two males walked in wearing long coats ( it was summertime). The 3 of us in the store each went to the stash guns, my heart was beating like crazy and the manager asked if they needed any help. They never said a word, looked at each other and left. The next day we told the owner what happened and that for the first time we may have needed those guns. No one could remember when they were last fired so we tested them. None of them went off! Turns out the oil we sprayed them down with had soaked into the primers, causing them to fail. It was a lesson I will never forget!

 

[The Heretic]

Yah, I remember reading that if one wants to make loaded rounds inert is to soak them in some type of petroleum or such. As it "should" creep enough into the primer to make inert...

Water, from what I recall, won't creep. So you'd have to wait for oxidation to have enough affect to make large enough space for incursion.

Or some such...

I pull the bullet, dump the powder where I want to fertilize plants or lawn, then I put/squirt some oil in the primer, let it sit for a while. I usually do this on ammo I want to destroy so I have not tried to decap or fire it, I then crush the case with pliers.

Most military ammo is sealed both at the primer and the case neck for obvious reasons. A lot of commercial ammo has at least a mechanical seal at both and will withstand at least occasional immersion in water.

 

[Member 34319]

Mistakenly had a few rounds of loaded 357 fall into the stainless steel tumbler and ran them in it for 2 hours. Came out nice and shiny! Looked fine, so as an experiment I brought them with me to the range and fired them. To my surprise, they all went bang.

Makes sense that they would be sealed off from elements, if you think about what is involved. You press fit a bullet into a smaller case. If the bullet had a lot of bearing surface, that's a lot of contact area under constricting force to prevent things like water and air to get in. Same for the primer, if you think about how much force is applied to seat a primer, and the form fitting nature, it makes sense that that would also create a seal against the elements.

 

[Ginocide]

What's 1911 brass????

Oh.... You mean 45acp brass.

To be fair, if they were headstamped early enough in the teens the 1911 would have been the only .45 acp gun to shoot them when they were made.

 

[The Heretic]

Reminds me of when someone says that ammo needs oxygen to fire, and therefore it will not fire in a vacuum or underwater.

Ditto with vacuum sealing or putting oxygen absorbers in with ammo - they say don't do it because it will suck all the oxygen out of the case and it will not shoot, that you will ruin the ammo.

Huh?

 

[TTSX]

Reminds me of when someone says that ammo needs oxygen to fire, and therefore it will not fire in a vacuum or underwater.

Ditto with vacuum sealing or putting oxygen absorbers in with ammo - they say don't do it because it will suck all the oxygen out of the case and it will not shoot, that you will ruin the ammo.

Huh?

Ask them to explain the load data where powder volume is greater than 100% case capacity, requiring a compressed load.

 

[The Heretic]

Ask them to explain the load data where powder volume is greater than 100% case capacity, requiring a compressed load.

Spaces between the powder. I think the explanation I heard was the air in the barrel. None of which makes any sense.