Reloading components getting wet ...

[Hi-Power Jack]

Pipes froze & broke - water everywhere - some primers, some 9mm cases

(used), some MG 124 JHP's. I think the powder should be fine...

Going to get them out of wet boxes, dry them under some 90 F heat for

a day or so - Then What? Any ideas???

Thought I'd tumble the cases briefly (10 minutes) and place back in plastic

bags , after they're dry ???

The bullets - most are in plastic bags, as they came from MG - should be

fine - but if open boxes got wet, any advice what to do to preserve them???

I'll dry & check the primers - think that's all I can do with them at this point -

they either made it or they didn't ... Unless YOU have an idea or two???

Appreciate any assistance in the thinking dep't here - want to save all that

I can (guess stocking up in advance has disadvantages, too )

I know - just another reason to hurry the retirement and move to Florida

permanently (Let's NOT turn this into a political discussion)

Thanks for the help.

[ltdmstr]

I would let the cases dry then tumble. They should be fine. Primers will probably be fine too, but not sure on that. Maybe try contacting the manufacturer or SAAMI. I do know that SAAMI's web site states regarding storage that high humidity will not hurt primers, but that's a bit different then them actually getting soaked.

[mlmiller1]

I would hand towel dry the bullets, if any got wet, then tumble them for a while. Stop any corrosion in it's tracks! Dry primers in the sun, if you can get them out in the sun. At least that is what I would do here in West Texas with the extreme dry weather. Not sure there with high humidity. Good luck, hope it works out!

MLM

Edited February 8, 2013 by mlmiller1

[DyNo!]

It will probably all work fine if dried out but I'd still put it in the practice pile.

[Steve RA]

Tumble cases and bullets - not together, of course - agree on drying primers in sun if possible, if not, don't get too close to a heat source.

[Guest]

Serious bummer! I used to have to deal with frozen pipes on occasion…not so much since moving to Florida. More worried about what temperature surf wax to use these days.

Just curious, how many cartons of primers were affected?

If you can create a warm (but not too warm!) environment with an RH below 30% or so with some low volume airflow where you can place the primers, that would be ideal. If you have a small room/closet and a de-humidifier that might be the ticket. If you can’t get your RH at least below 50% you can create a dry environment using a sealed airtight container or large plastic bags and desiccant (not damp rid…but real desiccant). I believe you will find after they are dried out they will work just fine. As I mentioned in a similar post from a fellow with wet bullets, primers are assembled wet and then dried as part of the manufacturing process. In your case you are in a better position because you know when and how they got wet and they are still in their original packaging, so corrosion or contamination is not really an issue. You just need to get them dried out and then use them!

Had some jacketed bullets get wet in the carton and they spotted. Tumbled some to get rid of the spots, but after the first batch or so I found that it didn’t make any difference and just shot them with spots. Looked like little Dalmatian bullets. Montana Gold puts some sort of light oil preservative on theirs (reminds me of PAM cooking spray), hopefully that would help if they did get wet.

[rback]

No issue with Georgia humidity and primers kept in the garage for 3+ years.

I would try to dry them out slowly and load up a few to test.

[warpspeed]

The primers should be OK as long as there is no rust.

[tires2burn]

As for the bullets and cases I would put them on a couple of cookie sheets in the oven at 200 deg for 20 min. The primers I would air dry under a fan of some sort. The powder , air dry on a cookie sheet and rotate the powder every once in a while.

[gunguru]

From Saami:

4. Primers exposed to water or any organic solvent, such as paint thinner, gasoline, kerosene, oil, grease, etc. may deteriorate, resulting in misfires or poor ignition.

5. Modern sporting ammunition primers will not absorb moisture under normal or even severe conditions of atmospheric humidity. There is no advantage to be gained from air-tight containers. The factory containers in which they are packaged need only normal conditions of storage. They should be kept dry and not exposed to high temperatures (in excess of 150° F). If exposed to wet conditions or high temperatures, they may deteriorate, yielding misfires or poor ignition of the propellant powder.

[Hi-Power Jack]

From Saami:

4. Primers exposed to water . may deteriorate, resulting in misfires or poor ignition.

I'll be home in two months, and try them all out - right now I'm getting "experts" opinions

that the primers will be a. fine, and b. not fine.

I'll post the results in about ten weeks (end of May).

Thanks for the opinions.

[Guest]

The suspense is killing me....But, if this turns into a betting pool I'll take "yep, they will be fine" for a new vibra-prime! :roflol:

[Hi-Power Jack]

The suspense is killing me.

It's my $1,000 worth of supplies - it's Really Killing ME !!!

I have to wait two more months to try them all out ...

[RH45]

Back in 2008, our basement got flooded. The primers were all high enough that they didn't actually get wet, and they were all ok. Some jugs of powder were actually floating on the water, and I think all but one jug of powder worked fine. All of my bullets were submerged. Plated and moly bullets were fine, but, fmj, with exposed lead at baack, and jhp, with exposed lead, in the hollowpoint, ended up with a whiteish corrosion, but, would still shoot under an inch at 25 yards.

Loaded ammo was the worst. most of the .22 rimfire, and a lot of the centerfire either wouldn't fire at all, or were squibs.

All told, that flood cost me about 20K.

[Hi-Power Jack]

All told, that flood cost me about 20K.

I'm in for close to that, also - mostly for the kitchen floor - had to remove the

cabinets, first ...

But, the ammo is more important ...