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Thread: Vacuum sealed ammo?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    I don't see how.
    Exposure to the air is a problem.
    Look at all the artifacts they recover and they start deteriorating as soon as they come into contact with fresh air.
    I'm sure I am over thinking this. In my (limited) experience with air conditioning systems, you pull a vacuum on the sealed system. This causes any moisture in the system to boil/evaporate out before adding Freon. I didn't know if the vacuum would affect any solvents left in the powder the same way.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimlj View Post
    I didn't know if the vacuum would affect any solvents left in the powder the same way.
    Oh yeah. It'd be the same effect, but just at different temps than water.

    Just like an AC system: Air/Oxygen & moisture is what causes problems, not the lack of it.
    Last edited by Winger Ed.; 01-24-2021 at 01:26 PM.
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  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tripplebeards View Post
    . The others stayed vacuumed for a couple of days and then let loose.

    I also watched people use zip lock bags in their vacuum sealer to save money.
    For the ones that look like they lost their seal, Ya might try putting one in a sink of water and squeeze it.
    That'll tell ya if it leaks, or it has gas inside the ammo generated itself.

    I'd get the good name brand freezer bags to vac.
    I'd think the el cheapo ones would burn though at the seal unless the heater temp was perfect for them.
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  4. #24
    Boolit Master
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    What about molds with desiccant packs added?

    Three44s
    Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207

    “There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”

  5. #25
    Boolit Master flyingmonkey35's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimlj View Post
    I'm sure I am over thinking this. In my (limited) experience with air conditioning systems, you pull a vacuum on the sealed system. This causes any moisture in the system to boil/evaporate out before adding Freon. I didn't know if the vacuum would affect any solvents left in the powder the same way.
    Those food saver never get that high of a vacuum to boil.

    I use mine for meat and rice.

    As I live in a high desert humidity is not a issue. But I have thought of it for my hunting ammo.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

  6. #26
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    Food saver bags leak oxygen over time. They are NOT designed for long term storage. The plastic used is not an oxygen barrier. You need a mylar bag like these https://www.amazon.com/SteelPak-Text...1522798&sr=8-4 to be O2 proof. Even then I would toss in an oxygen absorber. You can buy the O2 absorbers in single sized sealed pouches. Once you open the pouch the absorbers activate so if you can find the single absorber per bag type you are better off for low volume use.

  7. #27
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    Purge the bag with something dry...
    Airgas will sell you a bottle of dry nitrogen, and a cheap regulator. If you have a wire feed, Argon works, too. Not politically correct to use refrigerant, but "canned air" would work. I used N2 to leak check A/C. Doesn't take much N2 to purge a gallon bag. Push dry N2 through a bag, seal it, forever is a long time. I was concerned with bringing boolits in from the cold, riding around in the truck, they would frost and stay wet. Tools would frost and rust. I learned to live and work in cold. How cold was it? The stopper on my half gallon thermos would freeze stuck. Turn the hot tea upside down to melt the stopper. Tea was too hot to drink, top of thermos frozen. And that's in the front seat. How about a jug of R-22 at zero pressure, pour a teacup full of freon. That's the back of the truck, dark dead of winter in Fairbanks.

  8. #28
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    I have to believe vacuum packing has to be better than storing in boxes. I have stuff that is decades old that still works and just stored on shelves.
    Don Verna


  9. #29
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    I have never vacuum sealed ammo, but I do store in zip lock bags. 50 per bag, 10 bags in a plastic coffee can, lid marked with load data and date. Ammo looks like new in the bags. I do have a vacuum pump for servicing refrigerator systems but Have never used it for drawing out air, but did use a drinking straw before sealing. Baggies didn't leak. I stopped drawing out the air and found no difference between bags of cartridges drawn out or just rolled over before sealing.

    I don't want to say how many coffee containers I have filled in 38, 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP. I also make WWII style fold boxes for some ammo, and those get placed into coffee cans, or just boxed up and taped shut. Properly stored in the garage the rounds look and shoot just fine. I also put 130 rounds of .223/5.56 on stripper clips in plain white 2 3/4" 12 ga shotshell boxes, they store just fine boxed and taped shut. Most of the time, I print labels with load data and date. I also started using fold type boxes I made, just to fit 40 rounds on stripper clips, a good day at the range. Neat, orderly, ammo stores and shoots just fine, especially through a single shot with a 1 - 12" twist and a fixed 4x long eye relief scope. It is heck on tin cans.
    Common sense Gun Safety . . .

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  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Three44s View Post
    What about molds with desiccant packs added?

    Three44s
    My concern would be isolating the desiccant packs from the mold so as to make sure there was no chemical contact if something went amiss. I'd also want to grease the mold and wrap it to protect the bag from petroleum. I've just shifted to ammo cans and desiccant packs for molds and lesser used dies and the like. Works for me since I don't have the storage space for enough loaded ammo to keep from breaking into the tools every few months. It's easier to inspect and address problems that way too.

  11. #31
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    Gotta correct a idea.
    Don't use canned air- difluoromethane- or any chloro-fluoro-freon. The stuff absorbs water and gets acidic. Same with CO2, also goes acidic when wet. Hydrocarbons soak up moisture, but go gas go boom. Museums use a tight case purged with N2, cheap and easy. Sealing a coffee can seals water in, as much as there was, I have been to Florida to see it rain indoors. AZ is famous for not evacuating A/C, just push R22 through it, let the drier catch whatever, and it's so dry in the sun, it works. They were in a hurry...
    My frozen ziplock bags would still condense water, so I flushed them with N2.
    A frozen 1911, now there's a problem...
    Superredhawk just didn't care, -60 to +116.
    Frosty boolits and frosty fingers, frosty 44.
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  12. #32
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    After trying it a couple of times, I think it's a waste of time and money. The bags all leaked after a pretty short period of time and the odd shapes made storage inefficient.

    Here's my current three step plan for ammo storage:
    1) Place ammo boxes in ammo can
    2) Close lid
    3) Profit!

  13. #33
    Boolit Master
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    Fourth step
    4) Bury ammo can in backyard, after midnight.

  14. #34
    Boolit Buddy
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    Yeah, that step's gonna be an important one in the near future!

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by .429&H110 View Post
    Fourth step
    4) Bury ammo can in backyard, after midnight.
    Ya also need to seed the yard with lots of nuts, bolts, and metal shavings to frustrate the metal detectors.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
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    EVERYONE!
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  16. #36
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    OK, I'm a fan of military ammo cans simply because they work. And while there will be oxygen inside the can when you close the lid, there will not be a lot if the can is completely full. The casings may tarnish a bit but unless there was a lot of moisture in there when you sealed it, it should OK. New paint cans may also be an option (steel, tin plated, removable lid).

    I've never been a "prepper" but I've always thought a canning machine may have some value for things you really want to keep dry. (and maybe disguised). There's some expense for the new cans, lids and the canning machine is very pricey, but it does result in a pretty good seal. A number 10 steel can will hold a lot. In fact it will hold a Glock 19 if you take the slide off the frame......so I've been told
    Last edited by Petrol & Powder; 01-26-2021 at 07:41 PM.

  17. #37
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    I live in a rain forest according to people who come up with such nomenclature. The forest, just about all old growth spruce and hemlock, is damp year-round. And the house is only about 100 feet from salt water at a 20 foot tide. But I have never seen a need to vacuum seal ammo. I do vacuum seal socks and usually have an example in any daypack I take into the woods. If I step out of a skiff and the bottom is deeper than I thought then it's always worthwhile to put on dry socks before beginning a day in the woods (if the water was over the top of my boots). Interestingly I have sometimes picked up shotgun ammo, now usually with steel shot, that someone has dropped days earlier to be washed twice a day in salt water, taken that ammo apart out of curiosity, and contrary to what some literature says the shot is always fine and not rusty.

  18. #38
    Boolit Master slim1836's Avatar
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    Has anyone tried to store items in rice? They say it works for cell phones. Might have to layer it to separate the rice but y'all catch my drift of what I'm trying to say.

    Slim
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  19. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by slim1836 View Post
    Has anyone tried to store items in rice?
    Oh yeah,,, that's red neck desiccant.

    In the old days, when people had salt shakers on the table, you'd see a few grains of rice in there
    to keep the salt from absorbing moisture and clumping.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


    OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
    This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
    EVERYONE!
    Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.

  20. #40
    Boolit Master slim1836's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    Oh yeah,,, that's red neck desiccant.

    In the old days, when people had salt shakers on the table, you'd see a few grains of rice in there
    to keep the salt from absorbing moisture and clumping.
    I represent those old days, just can't remember them now a days.

    Slim
    JUST GOTTA LOVE THIS JOINT.

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