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unclogum bill
09-23-2013, 01:12 PM
Once upon a time an old timer told me he waterproofed his hunting ammo by painting what ever nail polish he could borrow from his wife, across the primer and brass bullet seal. I never have but then I never got ammo wet enough to worry. I guess question is, good idea, if so what works, anyone ever have ammo so wet it refused to fire?.

DeanWinchester
09-23-2013, 01:16 PM
If you get ammo that wet, I would suggest you sit down and reevaluate your method of operation and/or storage.

Having said that, yes it will seal the primer just fine. I'd be hesitant to put it around the bullet/boolit for fear,of leaving that mess built up in the chamber. That may be an unwarranted fear but I'd worry nonetheless.

dbosman
09-23-2013, 01:21 PM
It works.
I suggest you purchase your own bottle of nail polish and trim the brush down to just a few bristles or at a sharp angle. That allows you to get just a tiny drop which will wick into the areas you want to seal.

Djones
09-23-2013, 03:44 PM
I have read somewhere people use locktite.

I keep mine dry in the magazine tube of my leverguns!

unclogum bill
09-23-2013, 05:17 PM
Did a little internet snooping since I posed the question. Some say your ammo will never get that wet, One fellow said he lost a lot of ammo due to a flood, he recommends sealing ammo in plastic bags. Nail polish is universally recommended if your going to do it. Some stores carry a sealant, expensive and smells like nail polish. Been said that the military seals cartridge's expected to see water. No where did anyone suggest it was harmful. So if your headed out to rain country or ever slipped in a creek, might not help, but wont hurt either.

jmort
09-23-2013, 05:56 PM
It cannot hurt to seal your reloads. Many reports of ammunition going through wash and no problem.

303Guy
09-23-2013, 07:49 PM
It would be beneficial in high humidity where moisture could breath its way in. I would think the boolit would self seal with the lube in the groove acting as a sealing ring but the primer could be suspect. I've heard of military 303 Brit ammo being submerged in sea water still being usable (couldn't have been submerged all that long). 303 Brit was sealed with lacquer on the primer and bitumen around and under the bullet.

Wadestep
09-26-2013, 10:34 AM
I've gone SCUBA diving down to over 100' with .223 factory rounds (for my bang stick). I do seal them up with colored nail polish (so you can see where you've applied it). However, I've never lost a round through 20-30 dives, either. They are a lot more waterproof than we give them credit for. Handloaded cast boolits will probably vary greatly depending on how you load them.

Wayne Smith
09-26-2013, 10:57 AM
I tell this story from memory having read it several years ago. Back in the 1890's Remington was literally shipping boatloads of ammo to the Russians. A sailing barque so loaded foundered in the North Atlantic. It was decks awash for over two weeks before it was found. It was pumped out and towed back to Boston. Remington salvaged the ammo. The failure rate was miniscule. I don't remember the actual numbers.

I have personally twice dropped loaded 44-40 rounds in my ceramic media with soapy water and left them, one for hours, one overnight, in the vibrating water/soap/media/brass. At my next trip to the range both of them fired. They were loaded with the Holy Black and with a Lee taper crimp die. I no longer worry about crimped rounds.

carolina556
09-28-2013, 01:22 AM
I've run several pieces of ammo through the stainless tumbler on a two hour cycle, pulled them out and the powder was dry as a bone :) I would think sizing wax might do the same thing as nail polish if not better for keeping water out if you had to do it...

Lead Fred
09-28-2013, 02:10 AM
terrorist talk, tisk tisk

303carbine
10-07-2013, 01:35 PM
I have used a small candle and rubbed it over the primer and bullet seal on the brass, remove the excess wax. The 243 ammo I did this way over 10 years ago still goes bang nicely. I'm not sure if it is necessary, but for a small measure of insurance, why not.[smilie=s:

Smoke4320
10-07-2013, 02:27 PM
once I soaked a primer loaded case for a week in water .. then put in rifle and it fired .. Now this was only one but I was totally surprised when it fired

jhalcott
10-07-2013, 06:48 PM
I remember a black substance on the bullets when my grandfather pulled some surplus ammo apart for the components. There was another color around the primers. Gramps said they were sealants to prevent water ruining the powder/primers. I had to shove the bullets into the case about 1/8th" before I could pull the bullets undamaged. The ONLY ammo I have dismantled with any water damage, was some 38 Special ammo that was in a flooded basement for 3 weeks. A one pound coffee can full to over flow, had 3 to 5 bad powder cases. I fired the empty cases to get rid of the primers and had about 6 or 8 not go bang. This was NOT once fired ammo, but reloaded several times. The pulled bullets were of many styles (RN, SWC and HP cast a few Jacketed also). The powder was certainly NOT of one kind! Those LEAKING cases seemed to be either out of round or damaged in some way.