[slim 60]

just to see if they would handle it i left three rnds of fed soft pt in dish water with dawn detergent in it..it shot just fine the next day..
im not sayin its something id be sure of,, enough to store ammo under water .. but i ll let my experience ,doing this stand for itself..
could be ammo is not as subject to moisture deteriation,,as i had thought..just experimenting ,in my free time.. slim

 

[Tebsinar]

There were a few factors in play that kept your ammo functional.
The bullet to case mouth interface was such that the water did not migrate inside the case and contaminate the powder.
Similar for the primer and primer pocket.
If you look carefully at military ammo, you may see that there is a sealer around the preimiter of the bullet. You may also see the sealer around the primer.
If no sealer is used on a cartridge, then changing temperatures cause the ambient air pressure inside the cartridge to change very slightly. That change can result in water migrating into the case and contaminating the powder or primer.

 

[Tang]

Leave them in water for a month and try it again.

 

[hailstone]

Been there, done that with fifteen cases of shotgun trap loads for two months in 1997 when I had five feet of water in my basement following flooding. Been shooting them on trap lately having about 5% failure to fire. Occassionally you get a blooper but the rest perform as they should perform.

Also had about two hundred rounds of Winchester 270 that I pulled the bullets, dumped the powder and removed the primers. Lesson learned doing this was I wasted my time and components as the cartridges would have been fine for target shooting. None of these shells in either case had any type of sealants applied to the primers or bullets or crimped shells.

 

[PSG-1]

Good information to know.

I know that military primers have a crimp, and a lot of this ammo also has a primer sealant, as well as a sealant around the case mouth/bullet cannelure, to protect it from moisture infiltration. So, in other words, it is pretty tough against the elements.

I would have thought "civilian" ammo would be more susceptible to moisture, because of the lack of a primer crimp or sealant. But apparently not.

Still, it's not something I would not want to take a chance with, on the outside chance the powder gets wet, and only the force of the primer sends the bullet halfway down the barrel before it sticks.

BTW, if you want to REALLY protect ammo supplies from water, get some 6" diameter PVC pipe, PVC cement, and either thread-on, or solvent weld end caps.

Glue one end cap in place. Put the ammo in there, along with a pouch of dessicant, and then if you want to go a step further, purge it with inert gas such as nitrogen or argon right before you glue on the other cap.

The ammo can then be stored underwater, if so desired, without ANY ill effects, provided that you glued the end caps correctly, and made a good seal. Good information if you ever decide to cache some ammo in a swamp, or you're expecting a big flood.

 

[RaySendero]

just to see if they would handle it i left three rnds of fed soft pt in dish water with dawn detergent in it..it shot just fine the next day..
im not sayin its something id be sure of,, enough to store ammo under water .. but i ll let my experience ,doing this stand for itself..
could be ammo is not as subject to moisture deteriation,,as i had thought..just experimenting ,in my free time.. slim

Interesting! I would have guessed they would have absorbed enough moisture overnight to have caused problems!

slim, you didn't by chance shoot'em over a chrony?

 

[mattsbox99]

I recall a test with some handgun ammunition. A box of 50 rounds of 38 special was left in a foot of water for 10 weeks, with 5 rounds being removed each week and shot over a chronograph and tested for accuracy. After ten weeks the author concluded the results were the same for fresh ammo and ammo that was kept in ideal conditions.

High heat is about the only thing that will degrade ammunition in a short period of time.

 

[MikeG]

I ran a handful of .30-06 loads through the washing machine once. Handloads in new brass. Was surprised when they all fired. Dryer might have been a problem? Don't know and don't intend to try.

 

[slim 60]

don t have a chrony ,,but they hit the mark just like those that had not been wet..so i guess it was still pretty close to 2700 muzzle velocity an no change in balistics.... slim

 

[Combat Diver]

I seem to remember that military ammo without any additional preprations is good down to 3 Atmospheres of pressure (99feet) of sea water and can stay submereged for sereval days. Longest I had ammo was down to 20' for 1 hour on a subsurface swim. If submergered in salt water, rinse with fresh water as soon as you can (along with weapon and anyother equipment). On method of caching is submerssion and standard US ammo cans have a seal for a reason. Might be the cans that are good to 3 ATMs. I'll have to look that back up.

CD