Ammo Emergency!!!!

[reuben]

Today I discovered that a container of Wolf 7.62x39 ammo was compromised by water, up here at my cabin! We have had a lot of rain and flooding this year. My last inspection, a few months ago was good
The plastic pail, which contained two "plastic wrapped", (cardboard) cases of Steel Wolf ammo was soaking wet!
I am currently unable to get to town, due to river conditions......
The ammo looks corroded but most the gunk seems to be the varnish..
I have 500 rounds that needs to be salvaged!
Please don't say "shoot it up and buy more!!!"
I am a poor homesteader and I need to save this.
I have cleaning supplies but would like your input.. All I have at my disposal is this:
1) hoppes #9
2)misc gun slovent
3)Kerosene
4)Cotton patches and cloths
5)Rem-Oil
6)misc lube-oil
7)brillo pads (no soap)
8) S/S scrub pads....
9)foodsaver and bags
10) desicant packets (from bulk food storage)...

I'll try to post a pic, but my connection out here is slow....
I'd appreciate any advice or thoughts..... I dried the moisture off and will start salvaging tomorrow, first light...

Thanks y'all
reuben...

 

[yeti]

Unpack and mix the ammo into a bucket with some cat litter?
You could then wipe off and inspect all rounds in a day or two.

 

[W.E.G.]

Dry it off, and rub it with used motor oil, and then wipe off as much oil as you can.
Use the dull side of your knife blade to scrape off visible rust bloom that isn't removed by the motor oil.

Then inspect it daily and wipe some more.

Works for the Haj.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Sorry I have nothing to add except, Good Luck...

 

[Sebago Son]

Penetrating Oil will compromise the primers. Avoid WD-40 and the like. Let dry and then remove what rust you can mechanically.

I once bought a bunch of 7.62 x 54 Rimmed that had been salvaged from a ship sunk during the Russo-Finish War. I was told that it had been underwater for more than 50 years. Most of it fired just fine. Failures were less than 10%.

 

[alwslate]

I ran a few tests at home by submerging various rounds in a bucket
of water for a week a few years ago. The only FTFs came from CCI
aluminum case Blazer ammo and Russian 7.62x39 HP ammo. The HP
bullets in Russian ammo differ in construction depending on the head
stamp and some have only a nylon plug to seal the base of the open
rear end of the bullet jacket. The varnish seems to partially dissolve
in the water but the case has some sort of protective treatment
that remains. I would just make sure the rounds are dry and wipe a
thin coat of non penetrating oil on them and not worry about them.

 

[jrhoney]

Cat litter should pull most of the moisture off.

 

[SMSgt]

Are you willing to trust your survival to this "compromised" ammo? No matter what you do to it, you're taking your chances with it.

I wouldn't.

 

[s&wchad]

Politics- Fair Warning

 

[Arik]

Politics- Fair Warning

?????

You can use 0000 steel wool to rub out the rust. Small dot of motor oil or transmission fluid on the wool and rub as much off as possible. Cat litter is a good idea too, maybe before and after take the rust off. But either way the ammo has been compromised and i wouldnt depend in it as a long term ammo solution. I'd probably shoot it all within the next several months.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[s&wchad]

Politics- Fair Warning

?????

I'll be glad to explain it to you. I already had to deal with several replies to this thread because they violated our ban on political discussion. I don't want members to get in trouble by using the title as an excuse to go there.

 

[Hapworth]

If cat litter's not readily available, uncooked rice or a similar grain will also do the trick.

Good advice in this thread -- worth a try, at least. When done, I'd select about 10% of the ammo at random and test it. You'll have to decide for yourself how many failures (if any) means you think the ammo's a wash, but I think anything 1% or more I'm not staking my safety on, if it's that kind of ammo for you.

You might also want to look into one of those devices that vacuum packs items, too...

 

[Arik]

I'll be glad to explain it to you. I already had to deal with several replies to this thread because they violated our ban on political discussion. I don't want members to get in trouble by using the title as an excuse to go there.

Ah, gotcha! Guess those replies have ben deleted

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bobthegod]

I don't know what you do to save your ammo.

BUT, I do know you don't want it to happen again. I have about 10 metal and a couple plastic water tight containers with positive locks of various sizes. They are AIR/WATER TIGHT. If you're interested let me know. I can send photos also.

 

[reuben]

Thanks for all the advice..
Please note:
1)I am poor right now (unemployed/no benefits).. I can not replace this ammo, in the forseeable future.. I MUST SALVAGE IT IF I CAN....

2)I am ISOLATED at my cabin until the river freezes and we get enough snow to snowmobile in to town... What I have here is listed in the original post.

My observations: Most of the corrosion appears to be the varnish??
There appears to be NO pitting, just discoloration....

My attempts so far...
Buffing with fine steel wool dampened (very lightly) with oil... Then wiped dry...
Kinda slow, but one long (really long) day should do it....
Then I will random testfire a 30rd mag or two.....
I then fire up the generator and begin sealing ALL my ammo...
Thanks y'all..
keep the ideas coming...

 

[kraZman]

Uncooked white rice is the treatment of choice to dry out wet electronics like a cell phone. It should work well for your situation. Cat litter will leave a film of dried clay on your ammo. the rice leaves no residue.

Good luck
kraz

Sorry! We posted at the same time. I see you can't get to town to buy anything. If you don't have any rice on hand, then my suggestion is pretty stupid and should be ignored.

 

[125JHP]

One time I got an ammo can of 7.62x51 that had corrosion and blemishes (saying it nicely) all over 70% of the ammo. Like you, I used steel wool and a light coating of oil to scrub the cases. They didn't come out smooth as the corrosion had etched the case but they did fire (most of them).

Just in case, practice your failure drills.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Military type ammo is very tough because it's made to survive a war. A little surface corrosion won't destroy the ammo.

 

[moe l.]

As a couple folks have stated, uncooked white rice is a great moisture absorber. I'd totally recommend against anything like Hoppes, WD40 or oil that could penetrate the case and compromise the primer. Moisture is an ammo killer - sorry and good luck.