|
|
08-26-2015, 12:59 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 57
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
|
|
Sealing reloaded ammo
Hello members of the forum !
I want to seal reloaded ammo - so it will not be ruind by humidity .
Can i here your opinion abut it ?
Can you tell me how to do it ?
Thank you in advance
O.g.
|
08-26-2015, 01:09 AM
|
|
US Veteran
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Reno Nv
Posts: 13,406
Likes: 3,189
Liked 12,771 Times in 5,690 Posts
|
|
There are liquid and gel sealers from $7 to $24 on the market
that will do the job.
Try Hornady , Midway or other suppliers.
|
08-26-2015, 01:17 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Marion, Va
Posts: 562
Likes: 561
Liked 626 Times in 243 Posts
|
|
Hmmm, That's something I didn't think of although I think I've got that covered by using some new .30 cal. sealed ammo cans I bought at Sam's...
|
08-26-2015, 01:19 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Seattle
Posts: 1,947
Likes: 38
Liked 821 Times in 490 Posts
|
|
You can seal primers by placing a baggie over the case head before seating the primer. This will punch a little disc of plastic into the primer pocket and seal it against moisture attacking the primer.
Having relayed all this, I must admit I've never used this method. No need for it in my shooting methods and habits, but I've always remembered it as a "just in case".
Larry
|
08-26-2015, 08:04 AM
|
|
Absent Comrade
|
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Alabama
Posts: 4,091
Likes: 9,379
Liked 12,841 Times in 2,905 Posts
|
|
I recently have been shooting ammo that I reloaded about 30 years ago, .357, .38 spec, .44 mag, stored bullet down, with cast bullets. None of this ammo was "sealed," just stored in a cool dry place. No misfires, no problems with any of it.
|
The Following 3 Users Like Post:
|
|
08-26-2015, 08:46 AM
|
|
US Veteran
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 7,520
Likes: 19,278
Liked 32,372 Times in 5,476 Posts
|
|
Here in southern Colorado about the last thing we worry about is humidity. I have stored reloaded ammunition is factory boxes (cardboard with Styrofoam inserts), plastic ammo boxes, and zip-lock plastic bags for years with no problems.
The kitchen "seal-a-meal" vacuum sealers might be a good idea for long-term storage in humid areas.
Having purchased several cases of GI surplus ammunition over the years I know that the steel ammo cans are effective; when you first open them you can smell the gunpowder aroma that has been sealed inside since production.
If I were really concerned about it I would probably brush around the primers and case mouths with a light application of shellac or clear nail polish. This method was used for GI ammo for decades.
|
08-26-2015, 08:52 AM
|
SWCA Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 6,634
Likes: 638
Liked 6,872 Times in 2,546 Posts
|
|
I just dump them into GI ammo cans. The cans did smell a bit funky when I bought them. I wiped them down and aired them out before using them, but the funky smell is still there when I open the cans to dump more completed rounds in there. Just loose rounds. No styrofoam. I was gonna line the cans with heavy plastic but I figured that might be more moisture.
The HXP ammo I get from the CMP for my Garand comes in a 30 cal can, but the can is lined with plastic. This stuff has been in there for 40 years and it still works.
Last edited by kbm6893; 08-26-2015 at 08:55 AM.
|
08-26-2015, 09:06 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Michigan\'s Upper Peninsu
Posts: 3,337
Likes: 207
Liked 1,644 Times in 756 Posts
|
|
It can be overdone.
A few years back some shooters were sealing primers before heading
off to The National Matches at Camp Perry. (Humidity there was the reason.) They sealed things up so well that they were getting failures to
fire at the match.
I wouldn't have bothered. The ammo was going to be made one
week and fired the next after all. I have never sealed any of mine and even some rounds that got lost in the car trunk and rolled around there for months fired when retrieved.
|
08-26-2015, 11:06 AM
|
Absent Comrade
|
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Deer Park Texas
Posts: 450
Likes: 410
Liked 596 Times in 212 Posts
|
|
I buy sealer from Midway. I used it on rifle ammo I use for hunting. Never sealed any pistol ammo.
|
08-26-2015, 11:30 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: NC, Yadkin County
Posts: 6,221
Likes: 25,689
Liked 8,550 Times in 3,199 Posts
|
|
Many yrs. ago I put some primers in a container of water and the next day they went bang. I quit worrying about moisture killing primers. I have primers that were bought in the 60s and every once in a while I load a couple and they still go bang. Larry
|
08-26-2015, 11:38 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: IA
Posts: 1,729
Likes: 994
Liked 1,627 Times in 800 Posts
|
|
I wouldn't worry about it. I've accidentally dumped live rounds into a bucket of water when cleaning dirty cases. They were fully submerged. They still fired fine once dryed off.
You're more likely to over apply the sealant and cause problems.
|
08-26-2015, 12:00 PM
|
|
US Veteran
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Reno Nv
Posts: 13,406
Likes: 3,189
Liked 12,771 Times in 5,690 Posts
|
|
+1;
I don't waste sealer.
I just seal the loads going out into the snow or swamps, here in Nevada.
I may also put the ammo into a zip-lok baggy for a little more protection out in the field and remove when home again.
|
08-26-2015, 12:06 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2012
Location: S. Orygun
Posts: 2,461
Likes: 1,963
Liked 1,827 Times in 987 Posts
|
|
While I haven't had a need of sealing any of my ammo (I'm not a Navy Seal that often swims with full ammo packs and loaded guns) so I haven't tried. But I have stored my reloads in a tin shed that had a leaky roof and temps. between low 40s to 110 degrees. I now live in wet, rainy Oregon and use no special methods to keep my ammo hermetically sealed. I have some .44 Magnum rounds, 240 JSP over 2400 that I reloaded in '87 that I'll shoot once in a while (I loaded them for my Contender) and they still go bang with every trigger pull. I guess if I was trying to reload for the next Apocalypse in mebbe 50 years I might try sealing some ammo.
I've read of fellers using a drop of fingernail polish on a seated primer and a ring around the bullet/case junction, but again, I haven't tried that...
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
08-26-2015, 12:16 PM
|
SWCA Member
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Peoples Republic of Calif
Posts: 4,671
Likes: 1,236
Liked 6,043 Times in 2,153 Posts
|
|
I have accidentally washed live ammo in the pockets of pants. It actually fired about 80% of the time once I fished it out and dried it off. I have also used clear fingernail polish on rounds I knew were going into adverse conditions. Where I live now it isn't an issue.
|
08-26-2015, 12:22 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 22,088
Likes: 10,799
Liked 15,514 Times in 6,800 Posts
|
|
Old military stuff had a "tar" seal around the bullet and a sealer around the primer. As others mentioned fingernail polish in your choice of colors. For large amounts just put in a zip lock bag or ammo can,
__________________
Still Running Against the Wind
|
08-26-2015, 12:34 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 6,623
Likes: 3,399
Liked 9,288 Times in 3,488 Posts
|
|
Unless you plan on storing your ammo loose in a flooded basement, don't bother with sealing it. Storing it in plastic baggies or sealed ammo cans is more than enough to prevent a humidity problem. Even that is not necessary for ammo stored inside an a/c'd house.
|
The Following 3 Users Like Post:
|
|
08-26-2015, 02:20 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Baton Rouge, La.
Posts: 6,874
Likes: 7,481
Liked 8,135 Times in 3,678 Posts
|
|
The wife's clear finger nail polish works fine . It's really a lacquer paint , thin it a little with nail polish remover or lacquer thinner and save yourself a bunch of money.
Gary
Last edited by gwpercle; 08-26-2015 at 02:22 PM.
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
08-26-2015, 03:12 PM
|
US Veteran
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: NE Florida
Posts: 2,003
Likes: 217
Liked 693 Times in 462 Posts
|
|
I haven't sealed ammo since I used to make duck and goose 12ga loads in the 60s. My lab always made sure everything was good and wet. I use this stuff called Water Glass on the crimps and never worried about the primers. Paper cases always swelled petty bad when wet and I would bake then in a portable electric oven my mom had. Never had one go off.
__________________
USN Retired/VN VET
M&P X5
|
08-26-2015, 11:06 PM
|
Suspended
|
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sandy Utah
Posts: 8,747
Likes: 1,590
Liked 8,908 Times in 3,552 Posts
|
|
You wanted an opinion, here it is. Don't waste your time, or money!
Several times I have left cartridges in my clothes and my wife has run them through the washer. Some even got to the dryer! They were sure clean! Whenever this happens I just shoot them over my chronograph. I don't just want to know if they will go "bang", but check performance against prior chronograph data. Every time they have performed right where it would be expected from un-molested ammunition! If this isn't an extreme test I don't know what is.
FWIW, if you insist on doing this either use fingernail polish or Testor's model enamel, both are much cheaper than the commercially available sealers, and are just as good. Back in the late 1960s I got the bug to seal some carry loads for .44 Special. I used blue Testor's enamel. Since then the same cases have been re-loaded several times, and put through the polisher several times. Except for what came out on the primers when de-capped the first time what was on the case itself is still there some 45 years later! Yes, I am still shooting them, and cannot remember a single case failure! Some have been loaded easily 12+ times.
Last edited by Alk8944; 08-27-2015 at 12:10 AM.
|
08-26-2015, 11:29 PM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: On the Mississippi.
Posts: 380
Likes: 117
Liked 157 Times in 94 Posts
|
|
I've had Blazer aluminum ammo primers go bad from getting wet. I have some Markron primer sealant that I use sometimes on 'premium' handloads.
|
08-27-2015, 01:51 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Kalif. usa
Posts: 6,836
Likes: 2,665
Liked 3,927 Times in 2,366 Posts
|
|
Never had a round go bad from getting wet. Unless you are planning on long term storage under ground or water in a cloth sack, your ammo doesn't need sealant.
__________________
NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO
|
08-27-2015, 10:06 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6,628
Likes: 3,725
Liked 7,231 Times in 3,014 Posts
|
|
I put several rounds of a variety of factory handgun and rifle cartridges
in a bucket of water and left them there for a week. When I tried to
fire them they all went bang except for the aluminum cased Blazer
rounds.
|
|
Posting Rules
|
|
|
|
|