Question: Damp FMJ Ammo

[Rafe]

I think it'll be okay, but want to ask those more knowledgeable.

Discovered a toilet leak in the master bath last Sunday morning. Turned off the water supply, mopped up the floor, and plumber out the next day to fix er up. It didn't look like the slow drip had done any damage beyond getting the molding wet in the little room where the toilet is.

Fast forward to Thursday. The only ammo I have (besides .22 and shot shells, and none of that is on the floor) not in ammo cans was an unopened cardboard box holding 20 boxes of S&B .40 S&W range ammo that I bought a couple of years ago. It was sitting against a wall in the master closet about three feet away from the bathroom. Decided to move the box to make more room for shoes. And you guessed it...the box was damp.

Sure enough, a case of FMJ with probably 200-300 rounds showing visible water condensation. So it had been sitting in that environment for at least four days. No visible discoloration or corrosion on the cartridges or around the primers. I pulled everything out and dumped it on a towel to get the visible water off, then put the rounds back in their plastic trays (trashed the cardboard boxes) and shut them up in a small room with a dehumidifier running. All the rounds I checked looked bone dry after a few hours of the dehumidifier working, but I let it run overnight Thursday and most of the day Friday. Then transferred the cartridges to ammo cans with the usual silica tray in there.

Since this is not defensive ammo and is intended for plinking & practice only, is there any danger in trying to shoot it? An occasional squib or misfire with it doesn't really bother me: good practice. I just don't want it to be unsafe...and I really don't want to go to the trouble of getting rid of it other than on the range.

Thanks for the advice!

(And note to self: I have the ammo cans for a reason, darnit. Never store ammo on the floor again unless it's in an airtight can. )

[mrvmax]

I’ve mistakenly washed and dried ammo before and out of curiosity fired it. It worked just fine. I’d just be very careful about squib loads, as long as you’re not rapid firing I think it will be ok. Just my opinion and don’t go off what I say but if it was mine I’d use it with more caution than normal- just in case.

[joe817]

I’ve mistakenly washed and dried ammo before and out of curiosity fired it. It worked just fine. I’d just be very careful about squib loads, as long as you’re not rapid firing I think it will be ok. Just my opinion and don’t go off what I say but if it was mine I’d use it with more caution than normal- just in case.

A year or 2 ago, my wife washed my dirty blue jeans that was in my laundry basket. I had 3 loose rounds in the pockets(that she did not check),and she washed the jeans. I didn't discover them until I got them out of the dryer and was putting my jeans on a coat hanger. To my surprise they came out really clean and pretty.

I did take them to the range and fire them, and not a single misfire. Now I certainly don't recommend washing your ammo in the washing machine to clean them, it just shows to go you how water tight the rounds are. Like mrvmax says you'll be fine. Just inspect them really close before you load them up.

[flechero]

Dry it off and you are good to go.

I've had a few rounds go through the wash and even jumped in the pool (to save a kid) while wearing my gun and spare mag... every round fired fine.

Ammo is press fit together so it would take pretty serious pressure to get water inside it...

The range I used to shoot at discounted ammo that had been submerged in the flooded building... looked like crap but said to have worked fine.

[DynamicDan]

Those buckets of bullets look like they went through a flood.

[Rafe]

Thanks folks. I decided not to run the ammo through the washing machine or the dryer as an experiment, though. I wonder what the odds are of at least one discharge if you put 1,000 loose center fire rounds in a dryer.

I haven't shot .40 much in a while, that's why I had an unopened case in the original shipping box on the closet floor. It was part of my stock-up-now purchasing in September/October 2016. I stuck a note inside the ammo can saying that these are the rounds that got wet so I'll be careful about rate of fire and possible squibs. Since HRC didn't win the election, the price of the ammo now is almost exactly what it was back in 2016. Maybe it's a good excuse to take the XDM out and shoot through that ammo and buy some new stuff. And buy a few extra ammo cans, too.