Unusual Coincidental Test

Ballistic147 · #1 07-02-2016, 09:29 PM

Well, a complete mistake on Thursday night turned into an unexpected test today. I was loading 5.56 and for some reason my crimp was causing issues. For whatever reason it was pushing the shoulder back. Anyway, I got all that sorted out but was left with 7 loaded rounds that were unusable so I chunked them in a cup and filled it with water assuming it would leave them completely useless. After 48 hours soaking in water I decided to pull the bullet and see the water soaked powder. I've already tried unloading 223/5.56 with a kinetic puller and after beating my brains out have decided it's not worth the effort. Anyway, I clamped the case in a vise and with a pair of pliers, pulled the bullet out. To my surprise, the powder in all 7 cases was completely dry! After finding this I decided to test the primer and see if they were still good and all 7 did indeed go off.

Maybe this is completely normal but I found it interesting that they were all still completely dry after 48 hours soaking in water. These were all loaded and I did nothing to "seal" the cases or primers. Obviously unsealed ammo is a lot more waterproof than I thought it would be. Anyone else ever run into anything like this?

TX-Dennis · #2 07-02-2016, 09:53 PM

The only experience I have with submerged ammuntion had a similar result. I did not disassemble the rounds. I fired them. They all went bang.

Mine was the result of inattention to detail. I took my son for a hiking trip to Big Bend National Park. Threw an ice chest full of sodas and water in the backseat. Forgot to check that the drain plug was closed. It wasn't. My vehicle has a recessed storage compartment in the floor under the passenger seat. There is where my Bersa Thunder loaded with Mag Tech hollow points road during the trip. When we got back home I was tired so left the ice chest (and the pistol) in the car. The next day when I unloaded the ice chest I was dismayed to find that the former ice, now water, had drained onto the reat seat and the floor of my car. I found the little Bersa completely submerged in its hidey hole. The Bersa was completely fine after it was dried out and relubed. I shot the ammo on my next range visit.

mtgianni · #3 07-02-2016, 11:59 PM

After a friend told me that WD-40 would not kill primers I soaked a few in empty 44 cases and shot them one week after dumping it out. All fired with enough sound to let me think they would ignite powder. Wet doesn't mean dead.

rwsmith · #4 07-03-2016, 04:14 AM

Most of today's primers have a membrane covering the priming compound that keeps oil and moisture away from the compound. Also, if neck tension is right, it should make a pretty good seal regardless of the crimp. Some military rounds used to have the bullet and primer sealed. I don't know if that is still done or not.

If you were pulling rounds apart it was advisable to push the bullet in slightly to break the seal first.

Because of this, dunking stuff into that drum of oil that Tom Swift always had handy probably wouldn't work too well now.

MichiganScott · #5 07-03-2016, 01:16 PM

I've run ammunition through a clothes washer before without any problems. Makes a terrific noise when a full magazine or a half dozen loose rounds tumble in a dryer. Glad I was paying attention to that.

moxie · #6 07-03-2016, 02:57 PM

Military and high end self defense ammo are still sealed on both ends.

BTW, you don't need to crimp 5.56mm or .223. Save yourself some grief!

Ballistic147 · #7 07-04-2016, 07:42 AM

I knew even unsealed ammo could survive a good dunking but never thought it would stand up to a long soaoking.

Quote:

BTW, you don't need to crimp 5.56mm or .223. Save yourself some grief!

That's what is odd. So far I've loaded about 1k rounds of 223/5.56 and used a crimp on all of it with no issues. The was some LC brass I bought trimmed to the exact same length and the crimp was causing all kinds of problems. The good news is I seem to learn something every time I sit down at the bench.

AveragEd · #8 07-04-2016, 08:34 AM

If you assemble any amount of handloaded ammunition, you will encounter other occasions when pulling a bullet is desired - maybe a better recipe is found for a rifle for which you have a lot of ammo loaded or perhaps you make a(nother) mistake. Regardless of the reason, a collet-type puller like Hornady's makes the job quick and easy with very minor or no damage at all to the bullet.

I haven't used my kinetic puller since buying the Hornady puller and the collets I need. It screws into your press like a die, you run the bullet to be pulled up into it, engage the collet onto the bullet with a lever on the tool and lower the case from the bullet.

Ed

Mike, SC Hunter · #9 07-04-2016, 10:33 AM

Easy way to pull any rifle bullet......Remove die from press. Put cartridge in shell holder.****n ram up....Grip bullet lightly with the "cutter" part of a pair of side cutters(dykes) lying flat on top of the press housing....Lower ram....Instant pulled bullet.

AveragEd · #10 07-04-2016, 06:38 PM

But usually instant damaged bullet too. The collets don't mar the bullet at all in most cases.

Ed

Ballistic147 · #11 07-05-2016, 04:59 PM

I made a mistake loading 9mm sometime back and unloaded 300+ with the kinetic puller. It was a little time consuming but worked well. Not so with the light bullets in 223. Since it was only a handful of cases (and the cases were already damaged due to the shoulder being smashed) it was no great loss just to pull them with the pliers. I might look into the collet style puller if/when I mess up another large batch.