Corrosion

[cp1969]

I hesitate to post this before Hornady has had a chance to respond, but considering that someone my be relying on this ammo for self-protection, I will anyway.

Today, I pulled a couple of J-frame speedloaders loaded with Hornady Critical Defense ammo out of an Uncle Mikes synthetic pouch, where they've been stored for the last couple of months. Maybe storing speedloaders in pouches is a no-no that I should have been aware of, but at any rate, I was shocked at what I found.

I've forwarded this info to Hornady just to let them know what happens to their ammo in storage. I've never seen corrosion like this happen so quickly.

If you've got any of this ammo stored in pouches, you might want to take a look at it.

 

[BreakerDan]

I have heard of that happening with ammo in dump boxes
and leather speed loader cases but not in synthetic.
The green stuff I have heard called verdigris before.

Honestly, I would see what Hornady says but I would
not put those bullets in my gun. I have carried speed loaders
in both pleather and real leather for months on end and
never had a problem with Winchester or Corbon or Remington.

 

[one eye joe]

I have never carried Hornady ammo, and now i never will. That could possibly happen in the chambers of a weapon that's holstered most of the time. I saw that years ago in the BUG of a LEO I was partnered with. I doubt it was Hornady ammo that long ago.......

 

[xcop]

ammo

Thats just the copper oxidizing from moisture. Just clean them off and they will be fine. If you are in a humid area keeping guns or ammo inside a holster or pouch for an extended period of time can cause this. Unless it has been stored for a very long time in a bad environment it wont do anything to the jacket of the bullet.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

Thats just the copper oxidizing from moisture. Just clean them off and they will be fine. If you are in a humid area keeping guns or ammo inside a holster or pouch for an extended period of time can cause this. Unless it has been stored for a very long time in a bad environment it wont do anything to the jacket of the bullet.

I agree with xcop clean it and shoot it. Don

 

[duckloads]

your not shooting enough

 

[Culina]

if you are going to get a bad guy with it, the dirtier the better

 

[Iggy]

An old timer on the PD when I first started, saw me cleaning my gun one evening and asked if I would do his.

The cartridges in his gun were so encrusted with green verdigris that I had to drive them out of the cylinder with a wooden dowel.

He carried 12 spare rounds in a belt loop rig on his Sam Browne belt. He had coated them with clear nail polish to keep them from corroding.

They were too thick to go in the cylinder. He retired in about 6 months having never fired his gun in the 20 years he served the department.

 

[cp1969]

I had some Winchester .357 110 gr JHP's that spent a lot longer time in a leather pouch and weren't nearly as bad as these. I don't know if the synthetic pouch is the difference, or if it's the copper alloy of the Hornady Critical Defense FTX bullets. FWIW, these were not stored in a humid environment.

ducloads said I don't shoot enough. Boy, is he right!

 

[kev74]

I would guess that some of that corrosion might have been caused by whatever might have been on your hands when you put the ammo in the speed loader - sweat, salt, etc.

 

[uhittheuglytree]

I have heard that Hoppes #9 will slightly corrode some brass.

 

[cp1969]

It's been a week now and nary a word from Hornady. That's pretty disappointing.

 

[A10]

I would make sure the ammo is clean and dry (always good to keep your powder dry!), clean 'em up and inspect for areas of corrosion on the case. Hornaday may or may not respond (dissappointing if they don't) but they can't control how ammo is stored once it's out of the store. If I opened a new box and they looked like that I'd be very concerned. FYI, I've been choosing and shooting Hornaday for more years than I wish to admit, also using their reloading supplies. No complaints so far, always been dependable.

 

[Steve C]

Copper is pretty resistant to moisture corrosion from pure water but add salt like you find in perspiration or an acidic mixture and you will get the green verdigris. Read this article on Wiki for more info Verdigris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Thats just the copper oxidizing from moisture. Just clean them off and they will be fine. If you are in a humid area keeping guns or ammo inside a holster or pouch for an extended period of time can cause this. Unless it has been stored for a very long time in a bad environment it wont do anything to the jacket of the bullet.

+1 Above. Nothing wrong with Hornady ammo. Any will do it in the right enviroment.

 

[SMSgt]

Now you see why the better SD ammos are made with plated cases! Scotchbrite will clean it up. The synthetic holsters and ammo holders absorb sweat, which is probably the source of the problem. The BG on the receiving end can't tell the difference if the bullets are shiny or not.

 

[Chuck Jones]

Are the pouches leather? Sometimes residual tanning chemicals can corrode copper and brass like nobody's business. It's really best not to store ammo in a case for the same reason you shouldn't store your guns in their holster. Leather, and even synthetic fabrics, can hold moisture and or chemicals that cause corrosion.

As for the ammo, just clean it and shoot it.

/c

 

[cp1969]

Are the pouches leather? Sometimes residual tanning chemicals can corrode copper and brass like nobody's business. It's really best not to store ammo in a case for the same reason you shouldn't store your guns in their holster. Leather, and even synthetic fabrics, can hold moisture and or chemicals that cause corrosion.

As for the ammo, just clean it and shoot it.

/c

No, the pouches are synthetic and the rounds have been in there for less than six months, probably more like two or three. I've had rounds corrode in leather pouches and belt loops but none have ever corroded anywhere near this fast. I would hate to see what these rounds would do if in contact with leather.

 

[cp1969]

Now you see why the better SD ammos are made with plated cases! Scotchbrite will clean it up. The synthetic holsters and ammo holders absorb sweat, which is probably the source of the problem. The BG on the receiving end can't tell the difference if the bullets are shiny or not.

The cases ARE nickel plated.

I've never worn these. They were stored in the blue S&W plastic case, along with the gun.

 

[cp1969]

Got and email from Hornady today. They wanted to know if I still have the rounds (I do) and said this was the first time this problem had ever occurred. I sent them a picture.

 

[cp1969]

I've had several email exchanges with Hornady. Can't tell you with whom; the email is just from 'tech' and the person never signs a name to it.

To make a short story long, they are, for all intents an purposes, in denial. They say it couldn't have happened unless it was in contact with leather (it wasn't) or some corrosive agent, which unless there is something in Uncle Mike's synthetic speedloader pouch, it wasn't.

So, they are of the opinion that I caused somehow caused it. Which, I guess, is true--I put their ammo in a speedloader pouch.

They never even asked for it back to examine it.

 

[41 fan]

While not essentially your fault, the corrosion on some of your rounds would appear to be caused by moisture or a chemical. Much as the brass fittings of some holsters will corrode due to the chemicals in the leather. If the pouch is synthetic, there are plenty of chemicals present in them too. Are the remaining rounds in the factory box corroded? Are the rounds in your revolver chambers corroded? If not, I would be more likely to blame the pouch than the ammo. Dean

 

[firebirdude]

Next time you buy... a pair of shoes, a boxed shirt, or similar. Take the little desiccant bag and throw it with your ammo. Problem solved.

 

[cp1969]

While not essentially your fault, the corrosion on some of your rounds would appear to be caused by moisture or a chemical. Much as the brass fittings of some holsters will corrode due to the chemicals in the leather. If the pouch is synthetic, there are plenty of chemicals present in them too. Are the remaining rounds in the factory box corroded? Are the rounds in your revolver chambers corroded? If not, I would be more likely to blame the pouch than the ammo. Dean

What really surprises me is that they never asked for the rounds back to examine them.

I am no stranger to storing ammo--been doing it since about 1965, in all manner of storage, both good and bad. So I've seen some ammo corroded due to my negligence and have usually learned from such mistakes and not repeated them. This is, by far, the fastest and worst any ammo has ever corroded on me and the ammo was stored in far better conditions than a lot of my ammo has been.

There is something in those Uncle Mike's speedloader pouches that is much worse than contacting leather. Either that, or the copper alloy being used in the bullets is much more susceptible to corrosion than normal bullet jacket material.

At any rate, I'm through with them. I want nothing more to do with Hornady Critical Defense ammo. Or any Hornady ammo, for that matter.

 

[m1gunner]

I had a problem with Hornady Critical Defense ammo some years ago, but it wasn't corrosion. To this day I won't use their stuff because the way their tech folks handled the problen, mirrors your response.

As to your corrosion issue:

Synthetic materials have chemicals applied to them to aid in fabrication and other chemicals to give that "starched" look to the new product as it sits on the shelf.

These chemicals could contribute to what you saw.

If it were my gear, and ANYTHING I wore in the summer, then the problem would most definitely be from salt in sweat that penetrated the gear. I have pulled cash out of my wallet late in the day that was wringing wet with sweat on many a hot Georgia day.