Flooded Ammo

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Flooded Ammo

Post by Strangedog » 07 Mar 2022, 8:12 pm

I had a heap of 7.62 ex-mil ammo go under in the flood we had the last week. It was under for a couple of days. I wiped down ten and went and test fired them. They were all fine except one which had a slight delayed ignition but I think I remember having that happen sometimes before they went under.
What are peoples thoughts on weather they will be ok? Also what should I do to clean them up and stop them corroding in the future. I only ever use the stuff for plinking.
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Re: Flooded Ammo

Post by Oldbloke » 07 Mar 2022, 8:53 pm

Yep, drown them for a week. They will be OK. They are sealed water tight.

Try hand wash with warm soapy water.

Any oil will seal the air out. Remember to wipe off though before using.
Last edited by Oldbloke on 07 Mar 2022, 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Flooded Ammo

Post by Border_Bloke » 08 Mar 2022, 6:37 am

If it’s ex military ammo a few days under a meter or two of water won’t worry it, just dry it off and and clean it. Worst case scenario is one or two may misfire but that would be rare. Most military ammo has a heavy crimp and sealed primer pockets to keep water out.
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Re: Flooded Ammo

Post by gunnnie » 08 Mar 2022, 7:08 am

After seeing the state of some ammo recovered in Afghanistan, which was subsequently fired without fault; a couple days of water is not going to be an issue for milsurp ammo!
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Re: Flooded Ammo

Post by straightshooter » 08 Mar 2022, 10:16 am

Australian 7.62 military ammo has a tar mouth seal and the usual primer seal.
Many other makes of military ammo do the same but not necessarily all.
The seals provide a reasonable (but not necessarily perfect or permanent) barrier to the ingress of water.
If even any water gets inside a loaded round it will cause desensitisation of the primer and progressive breakdown of the powder releasing nitric acid as one of the breakdown components.
My advice is to use the ammo promptly and keep a watchful eye for any green stains around the case mouth which is evidence of powder break down.
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Re: Flooded Ammo

Post by Strangedog » 08 Mar 2022, 11:50 am

Thanks fellas. I can't see me using it promptly as I've had it for years and have a fair amount of it. Might only fire 40 rounds a year. It's Australian so I assume it will be good after a bit of a clean up. I'll obviously keep an eye on it for any corrosion. All my hunting ammo and handloads I put up high but the flood came up higher than expected and this stuff got wet. I got it off a bloke , there must be 500 rnds plus so I've got a bit of cleaning to do.
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