[Hinch]

I am looking for some advice on shells that got wet and rusted. If they will fire and will they hurt anything shooting out of the gun?Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[OldGoat]

I am looking for some advice on shells that got wet and rusted. If they will fire and will they hurt anything shooting out of the gun?Any advice would be much appreciated.

Get a shell dismantler & salvage the shot. Pitch the rest....maybe pour powder outdoors as fertilizer.

 

[320090T]

How wet? Damp, rain or submerged?

 

[Pseudo Nym]

Shot some STS shells that had rusted around the primers. When shooting them, they dusted the face of the receiver and made it difficult to open. I think OldGoat can attest to that. So I agree, dismantling them is not a bad idea.

 

[Hinch]

How wet? Damp, rain or submerged?

There were in the bed of the truck under a roll up bed cover and we had alot of rain so all the bottom of the boxes soaked up the water that leaked in the bed.

 

[railroad]

Scotchbrite the heads and shoot them in your 870.

 

[Hinch]

I was thinking of trying steel wool to see if I could clean them up.

 

[birdk9]

Last years duck loads that I found this year in the pocket of my parka get pitched. They are all rusted primers and if moisture gets inside a steel shell you could be shooting a less than malleable slug.
Shells that get snow or rain damp during hunting stay in circulation. As long as rust is not a problem I shoot them. Once the primers get white rust or real rust I generally pitch them. Rust on the Brass/Steel can be wiped off and ready to go.
Every target deserves at least one shell. Every shell deserves at least one target. Throwing shells away gives you bad mojo.

BTW steel wool may not be the best. It is flammable. I would go Scotch Brite pad.

 

[Hinch]

I just tried the steel wool and it is working pretty good.I think they so be ok now to shoot.

 

[senior smoke]

Suggest use them for practice as you just might have some that do not go off.
Steve Balistreri
Wauwatosa Wisconsin

 

[Hinch]

That's what I will do.

 

[waverider]

And clean your gun right away, if you do not do that anyway. Make sure that you wipe the breech face with clp. Maxx Blu I think would be the best.

Jason

 

[Birch1007]

I had 6 flats, yes flats, of Top Guns that where submerged in water for over an hour. They then sat in the water soaked cardboard boxes for 1 and 1\2 days until I could dump them out on trays to dry. They all went bang no issues. No special treatment to the shells or gun either.

 

[o-hale]

Birch,
I would say you were extremely lucky.

 

[Birch1007]

Birch,
I would say you were extremely lucky.

Lucky how?

 

[flashmax]

Birch,
I would say you were extremely lucky.

All the components are waterproof. Even the primers will shoot wet. The only thing that might soak up water is the base wad on some shells but even that takes a lot of water and a lot of time. Rust is generally external on shot shells.

 

[waverider]

So if the powder gets wet it will still go bang?

Jason

 

[flashmax]

So if the powder gets wet it will still go bang?

Jason

It will if it isn’t soaking and submerged.

Hercules Powder has a sample batch of powder stored in water. For over 100 years now. Periodically they pull a sample, dry it, and test it. It has retained its burn characteristics for all these years.
?? Shelf life of gunpowder

 

[waverider]

I remember seeing the ad in the their reloading data magazine.
The do dry it out before testing it. You implied that the powder was water proof.

Jason

 

[flashmax]

I remember seeing the ad in the their reloading data magazine.
The do dry it out before testing it. You implied that the powder was water proof.

Jason

The powder IS waterproof. Water, though, requires more energy to change state than powder. So ( as I said ) if the powder is submerged or saturated it won’t light easily. BUT stick a cap and booster in a closed tube full of powder and water and BOOM. Same thing in “wet” powder in a shell. If the flame from the primer catches the edge of a flake it will light it. Light one and the charge fires. Loaded shells will not have saturated powder charges. Too many mechanical barriers to the water reaching the core.