Do alcohol and firearms mix??

C

chaz12

New member
I had a container of denatured alcohol that leaked and dripped down into a couple of cardboard boxes of 7.62 NATO shells. It soaked the boxes pretty thoroughly before I discovered them.

I have let the cartridges dry out, but I am wondering if denatured alcohol would have any ill effects on them. Maybe affect how reliable the primers are??

Chaz
 
Try pulling down a sample of the rounds and see what the powder is like. If the powder is clumped together then you will to scrape them.
 
I would still use them for plinking. If the primers were impacted (which I doubt with NATO ammo) then no big deal. I don't think it could make the ammo unsafe so I would take it out and shoot it.

Wouldn't take it to a gunfight, but to the range, sure.
 
They should be fine. If I had a dollar for every time I got my ammo wet swimming through creeks, rivers and dams when out hunting I would be rich and I have NEVER had a problem. Most ammo especially Ex Mil stuff is waterproof so I wouldn't worry about it, even if the denatured alcohol has got into some of them I don't think it would do anything to them they just wont work (If you do put them through your gun and they dont work the primer probably still will so watch out for squib loads). If you are worried, do like the others have said and pull some down, throw them out or give them away ect.
 
Drinking and boozing has no place........oh wait...wrong alcohol thread:p

Some solvents can penetrate, such as WD-40, and ruin ammo. Not sure about alcohol BUT BE CAREFUL if you shoot the stuff.
Listen VERY carefully for squibs as the primers may fire without igniting the powder.
Personally, I would toss it.
 
The main risk is if the alcohol dissolves some of the propellant binding agents, dries up, and then leaves the propellant with a different granularity. If, for example, it turns the propellant into a finer powder, it could burn differently.

Probably most of the cases are waterproof, but you might try the following. Pull one bullet, pour out the propellant, soak it in alcohol, and see if it dissolves or turns into something radically different.

But I would be safe and just chuck the cartridges.

- Sriracha
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top