Extreme ammunition stress test

[seamusTX]

In September 2008, I had two partially used boxes of .380 ammunition in the trunk of my car. The car was flooded by Hurricane Ike, and the ammo was submerged in briny, filthy water.

I salvaged 18 rounds, 9 of CCI Blazer aluminum and 9 of Winchester brass. I just washed them off and forgot about them.

A year later, the cases had crystalline corrosion, which I scrubbed off with my favorite metal polishing cloth.

Today I cycled those rounds through my Kel-Tec P3AT. Exactly half of each group failed to fire. One of the FTF Blazers, when I ejected it, fell apart. The bullet came out of the shell. One round fired but was very difficult to eject. The rest worked as designed.

- Jim

[WildBill]

Today I cycled those rounds through my Kel-Tec P3AT. Exactly half of each group failed to fire. One of the FTF Blazers, when I ejected it, fell apart. The bullet came out of the shell. One round fired but was very difficult to eject. The rest worked as designed. - Jim

Wow. Not very good odds. I wouldn't have predicted that one case that fell apart, but salt water is very corrosive. I would toss any ammo exposed to those type conditions. It is not worth the safety concerns.

[seamusTX]

Jim, do you have a rough idea as to how long the ammo was submerged?

About two days. We had a period of about 24 hours from the time that the wind started rising until it was deemed safe to go out. Then we had a bunch of higher priorities. Salvaging this ammo was just an afterthought.

I would toss any ammo exposed to those type conditions. It is not worth the safety concerns.

I certainly wouldn't rely on ammo exposed to such conditions, but I was curious as to the results of this experiment.

BTW, I wrote "exactly half," which does not make sense. Five of nine rounds in each group fired. I tried re-feeding a couple of rounds, and they did not fire on the second strike.

- Jim

[mr surveyor]

I would not have been surprised if you'd had a squib from at least one of them, particularly a round such as the one the bullet seperated from the casing so easily.


surv

[seamusTX]

I was very worried about a squib. I made sure each round that went bang also made a hole in the paper.

The primers failed. I thought they were sealed pieces of metal. I have some research to do.

- Jim

[mr surveyor]

I guess that the primers are more susceptable to infiltration than the powder charge.

keep a nice smooth wooden dowell rod handy when doing salt water infiltration ballistics tests.... just in case.... ya never know


surv

[WildBill]

The primers failed. I thought they were sealed pieces of metal. I have some research to do. - Jim

Obviously, the part of the primer you see in an assembled cartridge is sealed, but the part facing the powder in the cartridge is not. The front of the primer has the anvil exposed. The anvil acts as a nozzle to direct the flame. The explosive compound underneath the anvil is also exposed. Here's a pretty good picture of a boxer primer. The red stuff is the primer compound mixed with some type of binder to hold it together. http://www.nfa.ca/content/view/83/199/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;