Flood damaged primers & powder

[LeadPoisonTX]

Disclaimer: This is probably not the best place to post this, but I figure I would get really good responses/recommendations from you guys here...

My beloved stash of primers & powder were victims of hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas. Here are my questions:

• Does muddy water turn primers inert?
• What precautions do I need to take in disposing of these primers?
• Powder was in original new & sealed containers. Do you think it is ruined? I have not looked at it, but I will tomorrow morning.
• I know I can dispose of powder in my yard as fertilizer. What other ways of making good use of this loss do you recommend?

Please do not ask me what the total number of primer & powder it was - it hurts too much to think about it.
However, I know how lucky I am. My heart goes out to those families who lost so much more.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Houston & Texas Strong!

[Digital Dan]

Water does not render primers inert. I would be inclined to dry them out and use them. Your powder is either wet or dry. If dry.....use it.

[tazman]

Water doesn't render primers inert. This from experience of a basement full of water for several days. Let them dry out and shoot them up.
If the powder in the bottles didn't get wet, you have no issues. If it has the factory seal, it didn't get wet. Probably floated unless tied down somehow.

[codgerville@zianet.com]

It is entirely possible that you have lost nothing. Primers are very hard to kill, I have done quite a bit of experimenting with them. I have soaked them in oil, solvent, water, and they would still fire. As to the powder, if it was stored in well sealed containers it may still be good. This is only my experience, others may disagree.

[RED333]

I have zero experience with this, 3 others have posted. Sounds like the primers and powder will be OK. Learned me something today, good day.

[Texas by God]

Friend, our prayers are with you. I'm still using 1970's Rem 9-1/2M's with water stained sleeves. We were given 5000 each of the standard & magnum because the owner thought them no good. The standards were gone decades ago. I have 2000 left and not one has been a dud.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[DerekP Houston]

That sucks man, hope you get them all dried out and have no issues. I was worried for my stock pile too. I imagine the powder jugs were sealed enough to just float.

[wistlepig1]

I am sorry to hear about your problem and hope it all works out. I don't know about wet primer or powder, so no help here but from what the other guys have said try them.

[LeadPoisonTX]

You guys are great. I really appreciate your responses and sharing your knowledge and experience with me and others. I will begin the clean up tomorrow morning and will let you know what I find. Thank you for the words of encouragement.

Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

[runfiverun]

primer compound is a putty when it is placed in the cups and then is allowed to dry before being tested and shipped.

I can attest to ATK not liking it when you make little clay animals out of their primer compound and placing them in ummm 'positions' on the rim of the vats.

[Pipefitter]

I can attest to ATK not liking it when you make little clay animals out of their primer compound and placing them in ummm 'positions' on the rim of the vats.


Visions of Bill Murray in Caddyshack are running through my head right now.......

[HATCH]

if the powder was in sealed containers it should still be dry on the inside.
All my powder is in plastic factory containers. Airtight.

[tazman]

I had a slight issue when I dried out my primers. The cardboard tried to stick to some of the primers, making them difficult to load properly. You may want to get the trays out of the boxes before they dry so the can dry without interference.
This was years ago, probably decades ago(old memory, can't place the exact years). The packaging may have improved but I won't test it to find out.
They all went bang though.

[GhostHawk]

I'm with Taz.

Pull the little plastic tray out set in the sun. Let cardboard dry then reassemble.

[bedbugbilly]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune and all of you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Others have answered. My only comment would be to be wary of containers if any of the water they were in was contaminated with sewage, etc. and to use caution in handling it. Even after dried out you can pick up some pretty nasty ailments as a result and you should use caution when handling it - not to mention the same precautions when tearing out building materials, carpet, etc. With major flooding, it's usually a given that sewage, dead animals, etc. will be present and the water will be contaminated and everything it touches will be as well. They are warning about that and it can't be stressed enough.

Good luck to you and hopefully things will soon be back to normal or you. Hang in there!

[mold maker]

Make sure the labels stay intact on both the powder and primers. Generally, the moisture will not be a problem, but if the labels are lost they will be worthless.

[Huvius]

I can attest to the water resistance of primers.
Just the other day, I somehow got a primed case in with my batch of 500ne in the wet tumbler.
Set them in the sun to dry and then deprimed them. I use a pin and a mallet for this.
All was going just fine until BANG!!
That primer went off even after a stint in the tumbler! Never would have thought that it would survive!

[Rooster]

St. Marks ball powder production is done under water if that gives you any idea as to the effects it will have.

[runfiverun]

they have been storing original lots of red-dot, bulls-eye, and unique under water since their inception 100 sumthin years ago.
they take some out and dry it and test it from time to time to confirm the new stuff is still comparable.

[David2011]

I've read that the US Navy stored bagged powder for their big guns underwater. Works fine once dried.

I hope primers and power are your only loss. My entire family is in the Houston area.