Question about wet ammo

[sterno]

I live in south Louisiana and a friend of my Stepdad's gave me 200 nickel cased .38 special rounds. The catch: they were in an ammo can in his house while his house was underwater during and after hurricane Katrina.

They weren't loose, they were in their boxes and the boxes are in pretty good shape. It's actually kinda hard to tell they've been in the flood. The ammo itself looks pretty good as well, but some of it has some corrosion on the case. The corrosion wipes off fairly easily with a rag with alittle CLP on it. I doesn't even look like any of it really got thru the nickel coating.

I pulled one bullet from one case that looked to be one of the most corroded and the projectile looked good and the powder looked nice and dry. I then put the empty case in my Ruger and the primer fired fine.

So my question is, should I attempt to fire this ammo or is there some danger in doing so? He gave me the ammo to do what ever with and I figured I'd pull the bullets and use them and/or the brass if it was in good shape. It looks to me that the ammo is still in good working order.

So, wadda ya think!?

 

[Kayser]

Two possible problems:

- Corrosion that has worked it's way inside the mouth of the case could cause the bullet to get "stuck" to the case which could raise pressures dangerously.

- if the primers aren't sealed (probably not) water could have gotten in to the powder causing questionable ignition (squib loads, etc).

Toss 'em, or if you can, disassemble them and keep the useful components.

 

[TPAW]

For a lousy 200 rounds in .38 Special, I wouldn't shoot it. Why take the chance, not to meniton the time cleaning each round! Some guys might say shoot it, I would not.........JMO.......

 

[Rimrod]

Were they corroded before the flood?

If they were in GI ammo cans with a good seal they may not have gotten wet.

But still if there is a question don't shoot them.

 

[JNewell]

I wouldn't touch them, but if you're going to wipe them down, use something other than CLP, which could potentially affect the primers.

 

[skeeter1]

Just a hint--

Used dryer softener sheets (e.g., "Bounce") are great for wiping down things like that. Rags full of CLP (as much as I like it) will probably get in the primers and ruin them.

Since it's .38 Spl, I'd go ahead and use it for fun, but not self-defense.