Need your Help! I screwed up big time

[sel1005]

I live in FL, and we have had a very wet year. I got stupid and decided to add a couple of hanging desiccant bags in my safe after two pistols developed some rust, despite being what I thought was well oiled and using silica gel packs. My bad!

Opened the safe today after a couple of weeks, and the bags had leaked, soaking well over a thousand rounds. After initially freaking out, I started trying to remove what was left of the cardboard boxes, now soggy mush. I have some rounds with cardboard stuck to their sides or over the ends / primers, some with the bullet tips bright blue green from copper corrosion, and some that got wet enough that the actual brass cases have rough spots from the corrosion.

What do you recommend to get these back to a condition where they would at least be safe to fire? Best product to remove corrosion from copper and lead without destroying the rounds?

Thanks in advance, and NEVER use desiccant in your safe, even if you think the silica gel is not enough, buy more of it

 

[Rpg]

Since your ammo has only been soaking for a few weeks, l doubt any serious damage has been done, assuming it is all factory ammo.

I suspect you can clear the stuck on cardboard with your thumbnail.

If you have to remove corrosion or verdigris, Brasso does a good job.

The only condition that might prove problematic to shoot in it’s current condition are those with cardboard stuck to them. For these, the problem would be that they couldn’t be chambered and the action closed and locked because of the increased dimensions attributed to the cardboard.

 

[Bald1]

I agree with RPG. And u can buy a safe dehumidifier pretty cheap online.

 

[Greyman50]

Golden Rod is one brand that can be found in just about any gun shop, pawn shop ECT.
Not knowing where you live may want to consider moving your safe to a dryer area of your home. Garages are not good for safes in Florida and any other area that gets very humid.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

If you know anyone who reloads ask them to tumble your ammo in their vibrating case cleaner and your ammo will be clean and shine like new.

 

[444 Magnum]

I, too, live in the SE. I have large safes in the garage and I have two dehumidifier rods in each safe. No problems. The rods are not expensive compared to what they are protecting.

The cans of desiccant are not enough by themselves. They have to be dehidrated frequently due to the high humidity. I don't even use mine anymore, the rods are more than sufficient.

Going in and out of your safe frequently can also be problematic.

Bronze wool (like steel wool only softer) can be used to polish the ammo.

 

[JohnHL]

If you know anyone who reloads ask them to tumble your ammo in their vibrating case cleaner and your ammo will be clean and shine like new.

I have heard vibrating live ammo can break the powder down into smaller particles thereby increasing its burn rate.

Don't know if it's true.

John?

 

[BLUEDOT37]

I heard that it's a bad idea too especially since so many powders are deterrent-coated to control burn rate.

Not a good idea to agitate it off.

.

 

[s&wchad]

Bummer...

I've cleaned some lightly corroded cartridges with fine steel or bronze wool. If there's any visible degradation of the brass, I wouldn't shoot it. Be glad it's only 1000 rounds.

Surplus military ammo cans are a good way to store ammo. I don't have the space or see the need to store ammo in a safe, but everyones circumstances are different.

 

[weatherby]

I agree with the cook.
Fine steel or bronze wool and discard any that look too bad.

 

[Paul in Nevada]

I have heard vibrating live ammo can break the powder down into smaller particles thereby increasing its burn rate...

I heard that it's a bad idea too especially since so many powders are deterrent-coated to control burn rate...

It's perfectly safe to tumble ammo for short time periods. This is right out of the Dillon manual. How long would you need to tumble to start breaking down powder? I don't know, and no one has an answer whenever this topic comes up.
The bronze wool will work but it will be time consuming. You would also need some kind of an acid to break up that verdigris. Maybe something like Barkeeper's Friend would work better. You would certainly need to clean the chemical residue off afterwards, which could also be done in the tumbler.

 

[Dave Lively]

The desiccant bags soaked up so much water from the air the bags broke and soaked your ammo? My experience with desiccant is when they saturate they quit absorbing moisture but never release it. Are you sure the water didn't get in some other way?

I live in Georgia, have my safe indoors and use both desiccant and a goldenrod. But I tended to let the desiccant go so long between recharges I was mostly relying on the goldenrod. The only gun I ever had rust issues with was an HK91 which makes me wonder if the rust was due to some old surplus 308 ammo that might not have been quite as non-corrosive as advertised. I now have a couple of desiccant cartridges that can be recharged with a base that contains a heater and fan. That is much more convenient than using an oven so I recharge them more often.

If you can stop the ammo from further corroding I would shoot it as is. If the corrosion has weakened or ate into the brass case tumbling it is not going to fix it. I have shot plenty of ammo with black spots on the brass and never had a problem. CCI Lawman tends to come with some minor corrosion spots.

You might want to buy a couple of ammo cans with a water proof lid for your ammo and throw a couple of small desiccant bags in for long term storage. In a sealed can the desiccant can only absorb the water in the can so there is zero chance it will cause a problem.

 

[Skeet 028]

It's perfectly safe to tumble ammo for short time periods. This is right out of the Dillon manual. How long would you need to tumble to start breaking down powder? I don't know, and no one has an answer whenever this topic comes up

.
The problem of breaking down powder usually isn't a big deal even with rifle loads as most of them are loaded to the base of the bullet(factory loads) or very close. If loaded with ball powder no worry at all. Handgun ammo usually isn't loaded with stick powders...ball and flake most of the time and it is pretty stable physically. The above was 'splained to me many years ago by a ballistician at Dupont. He even said that stick powders sometimes break a bit during the loading process, anyway and will not create problems either. He did say some stick powders did not take well to heavily compressed loads. I even loaded a dozen 30-40 Krag cases with a Dupont powder. Tumbled them for over 24 hours. Broke 'em all down and they were all fine. Loaded them back up with the pulled powder and shot them in a 95 Winchester. I tumble all lubed loads to make sure I get all case lubes off...both pistol and rifle. I even lightly lube handgun ammo. Goes through the process better

 

[Nevada Ed]

In the old days (1970's) I used Brasso polish to shine up my brass cases.
I never had problems of it "Eating up" the cases, after I wiped the dry polish off the cases.

Today I use "Mothers" that does not smell as bad and had a low price at the near by Wal-mart store,
to clean my brass, that collect powder burns and crud, from being fired, before I tumble the cases.

Never had wet or damaged ammo, yet, but I do have some very old lead loads
where the lead is turning "Gray" and needs to be used up.

 

[sel1005]

Thanks everyone!

Great feedback and input, appreciate everyones help on this

 

[67tempest]

I would clean off the crud and shoot it, I'd be willing to bet it will all go off with no issues. Ammo is pretty much water proof, no matter how nasty it looks on the outside the powder and primer are probably untouched.

My brother picked up some surplus .308 dirt cheap, it looked like it had been stored under water. The boxes were completely deteriorated and the cases were discolored and heavily tarnished. He knocked off the big chunks and fired it through an FAL, it all went off with no issues.

 

[GypsmJim]

It's perfectly safe to tumble ammo for short time periods. This is right out of the Dillon manual.

How long would you need to tumble to start breaking down powder? I don't know, and no one has an answer whenever this topic comes up.

Is 5 minutes short enough? Or, an hour? I dunno either.

Maybe the best solution is bronze wool and elbow grease.

Or are ya feelin lucky.

 

[Engineer1911]

I have tumbled loaded ammo from 9 MM to 7 MM Rem Mag and 30-06. I have not had a problem yet. My 223 prairie dog ammo has 12K+ miles riding in pickup or trailer and still safely goes Bang with good accuracy.

Tumble as required and ignore the "Internet Truths".

 

[handejector]

Tumbler.
Vibratory Cleaner.
Two DIFFERENT animals.
A tumbler tumbles.
A vibrator vibrates.
Tumbling loaded ammo is not a problem. I have tumbled several million rounds.
When vibratory cleaners first appeared (back in the 70s or 80s??) they came with instructions to NOT use them with loaded ammo because the vibration could break down powders. I do not know if that info has changed or not. Before I vibrated any ammo, I would be finding out from a source beyond net chat, but do what you want.

 

[oink]

I've never tumbled ammo for an extended time but I have fired ammo without issue that rode in the trunk of my patrol car for nearly 10 years.