Ammo Oxidation and how to prevent it?

G

GunXpatriot

New member
So I had about 10 boxes of .30-06 ammo hanging around for whenever I felt like having fun. I havent touched any of them in, maybe 4-5 months. That was the last time I've gotten to go shooting. You're probably wondering "how does this guy survive?"

haha, but anyway, I noticed that the brass casing actually started to oxidize a little bit. It has a few slight "blotches" of dark marks. The bullets themselves seem fine. I was curious. This hasn't happened before, so I decided to look at my .22 ammo. My half-used box of Federal bulk .22 had also started to oxidize. The oxidation on the casing was negligible, but the copper jacket on the bullet had started to become dark!

Then, to my surprise, I checked some leftover Winchester 333 ammo. The bullets and casings were perfect, even though they were with the Federal and .30-06 ammo... As for the oxidation, I could imagine keeping the ammo in a humid place could expose them to excess moisture, and my old house was definitely humid. But why would the Remington .30-06 and Federal .22 ammo oxidize and the Winchester not? The winchester has been laying around for about 2 years now, much longer than the others!

Now, I've started to keep my ammo in ammo cans and I was wondering how I could prevent oxidation. I know ammo cans are pretty much immune to outside water, but what about any moisture that could be trapped inside? I'm sure if I left it for 10 years and checked it, they will have been affected? Would a couple little packets of dessicant do the trick? Thanks :)
 
You're assuming that it's 'oxidation '. Copper and it's alloys usually form a sulfide though it can also oxidize. It can also react to ammonia compounds . Cracked case necks -is caused by stress corrosion cracking .Thunderstorms create ammonia compounds from nitrogen in the air .
It's too early to give metallurgy lessons .:D
 
Copper and it's alloys usually form a sulfide though it can also oxidize
Click to expand...

Something I realized recently (just moved into a newly constructed building) is the potential threat the dreaded "Chinese" drywall poses to us gunnies. Though wrongly attributed solely to Chinese drywall imports (lots of US stuff was bad that year, too), any recently constructed building could be "tainted" with wall board that gives off too much Hydrogen Sulfide gas. Not bad in small doses, but in these large quantities it will corrode, ruining wiring, airconditioners, and you guessed it--brass ammo/bullets. Probably not great to breathe, either:p

TCB
 
WD-40 should be kept far away from guns and ammo, there are far more suitable products for lubrication and corrosion prevention.
 
Years back one of the gun magazines did a test to see which oil would contaminate ammo .That should be out there somewhere.
 
WD40 and oils like CLP are penetrating and cleaning oils specially designed to flow into tiny crevices and cracks - like between the bullet and the casing - or it could dissolve the coating between the primer and the casing rendering the primer useless.

Keep your ammo dry!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top