Ammo Damage from Mathew.

[garym1a2]

My brothers house is on St. Johns river 800 ft from where I live. His house took 2 feet of water in Mathew, all 3 of his plastic ammo cans took on water, even the orange one from the walmart fishing section. All 5 of his GI cans stayed dry. I wonder if Tula Ammo can handle water. Also wet was several cases of shotgun ammo and a can of brass case 308 I made him.

178447Can I tell if any of it is good?

[OS OK]

Looks as though you'll have to disassemble a few to get a general idea. A couple feet of water doesn't represent a great deal of pressure...as if they came from deep submersion for a lengthy amount of time.

Here's hoping they are all just fine!

This also tells you something about the poser-GI cans huh? Never spent a nickel on one, never will...If it ain't GI then it don't fly!

[OptimusPanda]

You could take a couple examples, pull the bullets and look inside.

[leadman]

Look at the Tula for sealant on the primer and around the bullet where it meets the case neck. IIRC they are sealed.

[dverna]

My son had .22 ammunition under 4' of water. A year later it fired fine. One dud out of 50 but that is not that uncommon with cheap .22's.

i would not trust ammunition that has been through a flood for defensive, hunting or SHTF, but good to go for blasting ammo.

[garym1a2]

I am going to put them in the sun to dry. I will pull a bunch to check them and just help him burn it up if they look decent.Maybe use some for pisteol matches. He keeps his HD stuff upstairs.

My son had .22 ammunition under 4' of water. A year later it fired fine. One dud out of 50 but that is not that uncommon with cheap .22's.

i would not trust ammunition that has been through a flood for defensive, hunting or SHTF, but good to go for blasting ammo.

[Wayne Smith]

FYI - I reload 44-40 with BP and cast boolits. I don't seal primers. On two occasions I have left a loaded round in my clothes and put them through the washer with soap, of course. Both times I took them to the range and they went "BANG" just like the ones that did not go through the washer. I use the Lee crimper on these, btw.

I wouldn't worry.

[funnyjim014]

Only one way to find out. Either pull a few random samples and blast the rest or just give me them the bang test. Would I trust my life with it...he77 no. Would I blast away as any other surplus ammo...YEP

[jonp]

Look at the Tula for sealant on the primer and around the bullet where it meets the case neck. IIRC they are sealed.

I think they are laquered. Some Tula I have are and should be alright. Unless the ammo was submerged for quite some time they should be ok.

[garym1a2]

They where in Water once the water flow into the can for about 36 hours. The Tula seems to have a bit of surface rust.

I think they are laquered. Some Tula I have are and should be alright. Unless the ammo was submerged for quite some time they should be ok.

[garym1a2]

If the rounds sit in the Floirda sun for a day does anyone think it would be safe as range practice ammo?

[fatnhappy]

dry off the ammo and have at it. I'll bet you heavy coin the only thing damaged is the boxes.

[jonp]

They where in Water once the water flow into the can for about 36 hours. The Tula seems to have a bit of surface rust.

Clean off the surface rust and try test firing a few. If they go bang clean off the rest. Some of my Wolf do not have a lacquer coat and will rust if let sit too long. They seem to work fine and when I see the rust I clean and shoot them. If you get a great deal on the Russian stuff, and I did, you can always coat them yourself. Buy the stuff at Brownells or elsewhere.

If they don't go bang, pull the bullets for reloading and save the cases for recycling.

[garym1a2]

I wonder if these bullets after pulled can be resized to 308?

Clean off the surface rust and try test firing a few. If they go bang clean off the rest. Some of my Wolf do not have a lacquer coat and will rust if let sit too long. They seem to work fine and when I see the rust I clean and shoot them. If you get a great deal on the Russian stuff, and I did, you can always coat them yourself. Buy the stuff at Brownells or elsewhere.

If they don't go bang, pull the bullets for reloading and save the cases for recycling.

[Hickory]

I have an acquaintance who reloads and is an experimter. 30 some years ago he wanted to see how long it took for water to deterate ammo.
He put 20 rounds of factory ammo in a Mason jar full of water. Then he put 20 rounds of reloads in a Mason jar full of water. And lastly 20 rounds of reloads with primer sealant on the primer and the bullet.

After one month he shot five of each with no failure to fire.
One week later, the same test was repeated with no failure to fire.
This is 6 weeks in water!
On the seventh week he had 4 failure to fire on the untreated reloads. And one of the factory rounds.
The last five rounds from each group showed that sealing your ammo against water damage works.

[garym1a2]

His case of shotgun shells did the worse. Seems like water got in them. Waiting on insurance adjuster before messing with this.

[Omega]

I once found quite a few 30-06 in enbloc clips out in a lake while I was fishing. I separated the ones that had a bunch of corrosion and put them out on the porch a few days to dry off. I ended up shooting them all, which was nearly 100 of them including the ones with corrosion, I just used some steel wool and a brass brush to clean them up first. I am sure they will be fine, just make sure none of the projectiles are loose and let them sit for a few days.

[higgins]

If saltwater was involved it would be a good idea to first rinse it off with freshwater before you do anything else.

[ole 5 hole group]

dry off the ammo and have at it. I'll bet you heavy coin the only thing damaged is the boxes.


Totally agree - My father had his basement flooded twice - both times about 80 boxes of 38 Special and 45 ACP - some commercial, some reloaded were underwater for maybe 12 hours - he dried them off and they ALL fired as good as those not under water. Boxes were a mess and discarded.