Water vs Bullets?

[bblhd672]

I think it will depend a lot upon the quality of the ammo - and whether or not it was produced for military use which has requirements for sealing the primer.

[Soccerdad1995]

It depends on the gun.

If it's a Glock, no problem. The gun's incredible reliability will rub off on the bullets, so you should be fine leaving a full Glock submerged in acid for 10 or 20 years.

If it's a 1911, then a single raindrop will render the gun completely inoperative until you pay a highly trained gunsmith a minimum of $5,000 to fix it. And there are only 3 gunsmiths in the world who are capable of doing the work.

At least that's what I've gathered from reading various gun blogs and forums.

[rotor]

I think it will depend a lot upon the quality of the ammo - and whether or not it was produced for military use which has requirements for sealing the primer.

I agree. There are plenty of youtube videos already out there. One kid left Winchester white box submerged for a month and about 1/2 of them did not fire. Military requirements for primer sealing and maybe (?) bullet sealing make a difference. Do not get a squib with your testing this.

[striker55]

I think Guns and Ammo TV shot a gun while under water and it fired.

[ELB]

I wouldn't trust them for SD ammo henceforth just because it is so easy to replace them, but I wouldn't worry about them either. I once soaked three kinds of ammo in three kinds of oil, including Kroil penetrating oil, for a week to see if they would fail, and none of them failed to fire after the soaking. I don't think water would be any different.

[allisji]

It depends on the gun.

If it's a Glock, no problem. The gun's incredible reliability will rub off on the bullets, so you should be fine leaving a full Glock submerged in acid for 10 or 20 years.

If it's a 1911, then a single raindrop will render the gun completely inoperative until you pay a highly trained gunsmith a minimum of $5,000 to fix it. And there are only 3 gunsmiths in the world who are capable of doing the work.

At least that's what I've gathered from reading various gun blogs and forums.

heaven help you if it's a 9mm 1911

[CleverNickname]

I took the wife and hound dog out this afternoon for nice boat ride and while I was boating around I had the thought, " I wonder how what happens when bullets get wet". So what if you fall into the lake and you go under and you, your gun, gear everything gets soaked then you had to use your gun after you came out of the water because a hoard of angry badgers were swimming towards you with machetes. My thought is the gun should still work fine after all the water tests I've seen on YouTube with the quick dunks and even shooting under water. But what if you drop your gun and it's submerged for a day then you find it and the badgers return with chainsaws. They bullets will most likely work won't they? Or do you think water will have gotten in and ruined the powder.

I can't think of any bullets that wouldn't work when they got wet. Lead and/or copper are pretty non-reactive with water.

[cmgee67]

It depends on the gun.

If it's a Glock, no problem. The gun's incredible reliability will rub off on the bullets, so you should be fine leaving a full Glock submerged in acid for 10 or 20 years.

If it's a 1911, then a single raindrop will render the gun completely inoperative until you pay a highly trained gunsmith a minimum of $5,000 to fix it. And there are only 3 gunsmiths in the world who are capable of doing the work.

At least that's what I've gathered from reading various gun blogs and forums.

9mm 1911's are bad enough but what about the dreaded 380!

[Bitter Clinger]

SAAMI Guidance on Ammunition That Has Been Submerged In Water 

Torrential rains and storms surges that can result in flooding in areas of the United States bring  about several interesting questions. Is it possible to salvage ammunition that has been exposed to  water? Can ammunition that has been submerged in water for a period of time be salvaged?   Should one set it out and attempt to dry it? What are the potential hazards?   

To supply answers to these questions, one should look at the situation from two perspectives: First,  ammunition that has been exposed to rain or moisture as could be normally encountered when  hunting or shooting; and, secondly, ammunition that has been, for whatever reason, totally  submerged for any length of time.     

Centerfire rifle, handgun and shotshell ammunition is reasonably tolerant of exposure to light rain  or dropping in the snow or on damp ground as long as the exposure is limited and the cartridges  are wiped dry immediately. Ammunition should not be carried or stored in any manner that may  collect and trap water, further increasing the exposure of the ammunition to moisture.    

Rimfire ammunition is much more susceptible than other ammunition types to moisture damage  from exposure to the elements due to the unique construction of the cartridges. Every effort  should be made to prevent rimfire ammunition from being exposed to rain or dropped in the snow  or on water‐soaked ground.    

Regarding ammunition that has been submerged in water for any period of time, there are too  many variables that would need to be considered such as the cartridge type (e.g., rimfire, shotshell,  centerfire rifle, centerfire handgun); depth of the water; length of time the cartridges were  submerged; are the primers on the cartridges sealed providing some degree of water resistance?  what contaminates may have been in the water that might affect the powder charge or priming  compound? and many others.    

Some of the potential hazards of attempting to salvage or use the previously submerged  ammunition include, but are not limited to: 
o Potential safety hazard in attempting to “dry out” the cartridges. 
o Possible further deterioration or damage of the loaded cartridge or its components due to drying methods. 
o Failure of the cartridge to fire, which could have life-threatening ramifications. 
o Initiation of only the priming compound or ignition of only a proportion of the propellant powder charge. This may result in insufficient pressure to push the projectile clear of the barrel resulting in the projectile stopping part way down the barrel and creating a bore obstruction. Firing a subsequent round through an obstructed barrel could result in serious bodily injury, death and property damage.

It would be impossible to ascertain for certain the extent of the deteriorating effect, if any, the  water may have had on each individual cartridge.  Therefore, the safe answer is that no attempt  be made to salvage or use previously submerged ammunition. The ammunition should be  disposed of in a safe and responsible manner. Do not ship the ammunition back to the  manufacturer. Contact your local law enforcement agency for disposal instructions in your area. 

http://www3.nssf.org/share/pdf/SAAMI-Am ... _Water.pdf