Powder that has gotten wet.

[Finster101]

A friend was given a bunch of .223 that has apparently been submerged. I'm breaking it down trying to scrounge some components for him. Some are fine and I can dump out what appears to be Varget and all those weigh a consistent 25.2 grns. My problem is the ones that are wet. Is there a safe way to dry them out to at least make getting the powder out of the cases so they can be deprimed and tumbled? I think the primers may still be good as he had tried to shoot a couple before he realized what happened so I may try and save those for him if I can. We are talking several hundred rounds so if I can make it work it would be worth it.

[uscra112]

Pull the bullets, then a warm dry place and be patient. Days, not hours.

[Winger Ed.]

I'd pull the bullets and go from there.
If the powder didn't flow out like normal, set those aside and let them dry.
After awhile, you can probably poke at it with a tooth pick or something wood or plastic to make it fall out.
If it was me, I'd discard that bunch of powder.

The official redneck way would be to pull the bullets, and toss the cases in a camp fire.

[Bazoo]

Ammo doesn't cook off until something past 400°. Pull the bullets and put it in the oven on 200° for a few hours.

[Rickf1985]

Ammo doesn't cook off until something past 400°. Pull the bullets and put it in the oven on 200° for a few hours.

THAT sounds like really good advice.

[TurnipEaterDown]

Powders will acclimate to ambient humidity - and do after breaking the seal when the can is closed.
So, they normally contain a certain amount of water that is variable.

You make no mention of how much powder you hope to recover.
1/2 pound, save the work, and risk, and simply dump it (I am a penny pincher w/ powder, so that's what I would do in your case).
20 pounds, then maybe you have a different assessment to make - but that's not what is going on here.

If you want the risk -- pull the bullets (my choice would be collet), dump all the powder in a large flat CLEAN pan (like a cake pan) -- and use something like the aformentioned wood toothpick to loosen any in cases, cover it w/ a thin cloth like a piece of sheet, let it dry at ambient temperature in a Dry house for maybe a week, WEIGH a volumetrically Measured charge and compare the calculated density against the specified density for that powder from a source -- the LEE dipper tables will give you bulk density if I remember right, test ONE round for velocity as compared to record or book, make your determination if you're "good".

Note that many loads simply having been compressed will not dump all the powder from a casing. I have had to bang them on the benchtop many times in the past to loosen stick powder at the bottom of the case from compressed loads I have pulled.

BTW - you mention tumbling and decapping after dumping the powder -- this is risky w/ live primers, so don't do it.

Guess it isn't clear what you want to do -- save the primers too? Just let the empty cases (after dumping the powder) sit open to the atmosphere for a month or so -- you said your friend fired one, they are already a size that will chamber, correct?

All this involves some risk - so think it through and make your decision...

[Finster101]

Not really looking to save the powder. More concerned about possibly saving the primers. Just want to make the powder easier to remove. I would like to reload the cases and if the primers are functional that would be great. Trying to help a young man who is fresh out of the academy and just hired by a local PD.

TurnipEaterDown this was loaded ammo. Probably victim of our last hurricane. Just trying to salvage what I can. I am using a collet puller.

[ascast]

I would let them air dry, but I run a wood stove. It would take a day or two. I would forget about those primers. Not worth the trouble of a stuck bullet in the barrel.

[dverna]

The primers will probably be fine. I would use the primed cases for plinking loads in a bolt action.

I would dispose of the powder.

[Slugster]

The primers would be a write off for me. Dump the cases with wet powder into a bucket of hot water to see if the powder would dissolve. Shake out the wet powder and go from there. The bullets and cases are worth saving, powder and primers...not so much. What is the value to you of NOT having just one squib load?

[15meter]

Having recycled several thousand live primers including some from .243's that sat for an unknown amount of time in a flooded basement and have had probably 2 failure to fires, I would reuse the primers. And they were failure to fires, not squib loads. I never use the recycled primers in match/hunting ammo but certainly in practice/casual shooting.

I currently have a thousand plus primers of various sizes on the bench that will be used eventually. They all came out of a deceased buddy's ammo that I have no need for. It's all my reloads so I know exactly what's in them. The primers are getting reused, the powder will also be reused, all of the boolits went back into the pot to be reborn.

I've had 2-3 primers go off when depriming, all when using a punch and hammer when I first started reloading decades ago. Since I started using a universal de-priming die on a press I have not had a single primer detonation. The key is slow steady pressure. And safety glasses just in case.

Put the pulled primers in a primer tray and get them anvil side up, VERY infrequently you will have knocked the anvil out and it is readily apparent. I suspect my failure to fire occurrences were probably missing anvils. I had not started checking for missing anvils at that point.

I'm retired, I have the time for such silliness. YMMV.

[Wayne Smith]

For those who don't know, ball powders are MADE in water, and stabilized in water. Getting them wet will not harm them at all. Just let them dry out.

[Bazoo]

I've decapped 400+ live primers and not had any detonate.

[Rickf1985]

I have also decapped many live primers without incident but to add to that, they were crimped cases so the primers were damaged and the few I tried had about a 50% failure rate. Just had to push too hard on that anvil and destroyed it.

[uscra112]

Not just ball powders. The original mfgr of Bullseye(?) had a quantity they stored under water for years. Every so often they'd withdraw a sample, dry it out and test it to see if their current product matched the original. Talked about it in their ads. This was 60+ years ago.

[vernm]

I believe that ad was for Unique powder. It was a long time ago.

[uscra112]

It was. I only remember it because in the '90s I was obsessively collecting American Rifleman magazines, from #1 to about 1980. Now they're all online, of course.

[Tall]

Not just ball powders. The original mfgr of Bullseye(?) had a quantity they stored under water for years. Every so often they'd withdraw a sample, dry it out and test it to see if their current product matched the original. Talked about it in their ads. This was 60+ years ago.

That was likely fresh water and purified too. This ammo was subjected to dirty water, likely salty too. I would get rid of the powder and primers and salvage the brass only. Wear hearing protection and a face shield when punching out the primers.