rifle powder burn experience

[BJung]

Has anyone shot ammo that has been exposed to a lot of heat?

I have some bags of ammo that was in a safe and survived a house fire. Pulling the ammo apart is such a paint ( yes, I'm lazy ).

I just pulled some 7.5 Swiss PRVI rifle ammo (that was also in the safe) apart and burned the powder. I was surprised to see it sparkle and burn more like a fast burning pistol powder than a medium to slow burning rifle powder. I'm wondering if PRVI is using a different powder I'm a use to or the fire effected it.

 

[std7mag]

Powder burn rate is relative to other powders.
And is tested under pressure.
When burned loose, with no pressure i highly doubt you could tell "fast" from "slow" with the naked eye.

While the powder may burn ok, my worry is what did the heat do to the casing?

Not worth finding out! Dump em!

 

[44 AMP]

When burned loose, with no pressure i highly doubt you could tell "fast" from "slow" with the naked eye.

Actually, you can, but only at the extreme end of the ranges, and only as a "relative" thing. Burn a small pile of Bullseye and one of IMR 4350, you can "see" the bullseye burns faster.

While the powder may burn ok, my worry is what did the heat do to the casing?

Not just the casings (which might be heated so they're too "soft" now) but also what might the heat have done to any coatings on the powder?

What part of the chemical compounds in the powder broke down or changed, just enough so it isn't now what it once was? There's no way to tell.

MAYBE the rifle powder now burns too fast, or too slow...neither is good, and either can be dangerous.

DUMP THEM.

Any chance you got a kid handy? And an Inertia (hammer) puller? if so, set them to work, and promise a treat when they get done. Teach them the right way to use it, and then let them have fun hitting things!!

The powder is toast, toss it, the bullets are recoverable, and the cases are suspect, so I'd toss them, too, just to be sure.

 

[BJung]

This powder didn't burn like a campfire. It burned like a sparkler. I was really surprised. I've burned powder from surplus 7.62x51r and .303 British and the powder didn't burn like this.

 

[44 AMP]

The way to be sure is to get some ammo from the same source (and era so we can expect the powder to be the same) that didn't go through the fire, and pull one down and burn the powder.

If that powder "burns like a sparkler" then its what they used, does. On the other hand, if it doesn't burn like the powder from the round that went through the fire, we can assume the sparkler effect was due to some chemical change in the powder, because of the fire, and NOT AT ALL safe to use.

 

[RC20]

Too many variable for an accurate answer.

Don't use it, that is the for sure safe (pun) answer.

 

[gwpercle]

Heat is not smokeless powders friend .
But the unknown here is how much heat was the ammo exposed to and for how long .
Honestly ... no real way to know . Back in my youth ...tests of unknown ammo was conducted with a rifle tied to a tree , a cord pulled the trigger while we hid behind trees from as far away as the cord would allow . 5-6 shots and if the gun didn't explode we concluded the ammo was good ! Now that I think about that....we weren't that bright ...the Good Lord was just looking out for children and fools .
Gary

 

[BJung]

I hate to admit your right because I'm lazy but your right. I don't want to ruin a gun over being lazy. Thanks

 

[44 AMP]

Ammo is cheap. Guns are more expensive, and you and I are priceless.

Losing a finger or an eye or worse, because you cheaped out on ammo is, as the old saying goes "pennywise and pound foolish".

Using ammo you don't know the history of, but expect it to be ok is one thing. Using ammo you KNOW has been through "questionable" storage (and going through a fire absolutely makes it questionable) is barking stupid.

Here's one example (which, fortunately did no harm)

Friend of mine bought 500 rnds of 7.62NATO "surplus" ammo. Sight unseen.
Stuff came loose in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box. Unlike his experience with US surplus ammo, which, I'm sure was what he was expecting, these rounds were dingy and there was a quantity of sand in the bag. We traced the headstamps, turned out to be Israeli mfg in the early 90s.

We fired 100 rnds through one of his AR's. 11% failure to fire, and of those that did 17% of the cases cracked. All the rounds that went off did hit the 200yd gong, accuracy was acceptable, reliability was not.

I pulled down the 400 remaining rounds, the bullets were useable, the rest we tossed. The powder in many of the rounds was visibly degraded, sometimes sticking in clumps to the base of the bullets.

Save the bullets from the stuff that survived the fire, if you want. Toss the rest.

 

[BJung]

I started pulling the bullets apart today. I remember the 9mm loads using AA2 so I was able to measure the powder and find my old pet load for 115gr Speer 9mm again. The powder smelled okay but in some cases, the AA2 was sticking on the side of the case.

I bought surplus military ammo before. It was .303 in a galvanized box in a wood crate. There was sand in the crate. I would have loved to know what the history of that ammo was.

 

[BJung]

I pulled most of my bullets that were exposed to a lot of heat from a house fire. The AA2 powder was - overall - brownish. The 357 ammo was clumped together and dirt color. The 45acp was ok. I gave up on the 40cal as it was too hard to remove. I'll dump it or give it to the police department to dispose of. I have 10 Hornady Makarov rounds that I was going to try but after seeing the other few hundred rounds, I'll pull the bullets and make test loads with them.