I am making up a large batch of Zombie/SHTF ammo for long term storage. I am going to stuff the rounds in a military ammo can with some desiccant...but I also thought about using primer sealant, but then I thought what's the point? I mean moisture can seep in through the case mouth. I crimp my loads with a Lee Factory Crimp die, but surely it's not air tight...especially when using cannelured boolits. I also considered using some sealant around the case mouse, but thought nay because it would probably leave residue build up in the chamber after firing. Thoughts?

Sealant is usually used around both the primer and the case mouth.

...well this is embarrassing...

Use white nail polish for the primers. It's much, much easier to see than clear.

My screwboard. Made from 3/4" plywood. Uses 2-1/2" drywall screws with sharp tips ground off. Screws are a red hair short of an inch apart right, left, up and down. Holds 138. Rubber feet to allow the heads of the screws to clear the surface upon which you set it. I use this thing for lubing 138 cases at a time with two quick shots of cooking spray in one quick pass from either side. Works great. Also good for holding the cases upright when I put nail polish on the primers. Biggest cost in this thing is the screws...

If you are thinking of storing your ammo for long periods, I suggest you make sure the inside of the necks have no lube in them from the expander ball.

I was checking some ammo I loaded about 30 years ago, and some of them have corrosion at the neck and bullet junction.

We used RCBS resizing lube at that time.

I am not sure wther this was due to the type of lube, so I have started using only dry lubericant for the necks now.

There was no deterioration in the primers of these loads.

quote:

I was checking some ammo I loaded about 30 years ago, and some of them have corrosion at the neck and bullet junction.

More than likely Patina formation or galvanic action .

( Moisture differentiation between metals , as Copper and Brass will tarnish )

Remember Brass is a compound as is copper in respect too ammo components , as their made up of other metals

as well .

under "normal" conditions
copper an brass corrodes to form a complex blue-green impervious surface
layer that prevents further corrosion. This is called "patina" and you will
see it on "copper" roofs and "bronze" statues. It is considered a desirable
aesthetic property, as well as protective feature of the object.

Corrosion requires five elements: a corrosive metal, oxygen, water, a
catalyst ( the chloride in the salt water), a porous oxidation
surface layer. If You have all of these present, but you are getting the
"wrong" products of the corrosion reaction, the "patina".


Another thing which comes to mind is that you might be forming an electrolytic couple with
some other conductive metal maybe the rounds are stored in thus changing the corrosion
reaction -- basically you have an hidden "battery" that is discharging .

Anyone who's purchased surplus Military WW2 , Korea an such rounds has more than likely seen this .

Even sealed tins of German 8X57mm exhibited this behavior .

Hunting by the Sea with salt air , I've had corrosion aspects on recently reloaded rounds .

Salt fog is particularly nasty for causing such conditions .

I have only used primer sealant once. I can't remember the brand, but it was commercially available from the mail order reloding suppliers that sell us our bullets, brass, powder, primers etc - Midsouth or Lock, Stock&Barrel, I forget?

One would think it would be hard to use primer sealant incorrectly (maybe incorrect dosis?), but the ammo thus treated was the only ammo on which I have ever experienced multiple primer piercings. I fortunately brought two rifles on the hunt where my ammo was treated with sealant to be particularly "protected". I also fortunately only treated ammo in one caliber (.270 Win) so I still had another gun to shoot.

After I returned from my "adventure", I loaded some .270 Win using the exact same (lots of) components and the same load data. I had not experienced any primers piercings when I first developed the load (with unsealed primers), nor did I experience any on the loads I made after my return (with unsealed primers). Needless to say, I never bothered with primer sealant again.

All this just to suggest, perhaps test any sealant you might think of using before actually sealing larger amounts of ammo...

- mike

P.S. Some people vacuum pack their ammo for long time storage. I have never done this myself, but I have read good reports.

quote:

Originally posted by mho:

All this just to suggest, perhaps test any sealant you might think of using before actually sealing larger amounts of ammo...

- mike

P.S. Some people vacuum-pack their ammo for long time storage. I have never done this myself, but I have read good reports.

I thought that sealing with nail polish might result in the primer being too well protected and that the firing pin might not do its job. The TV ads tell us nail polish dries and provides strength to the nail on which it's applied. So I was worried. I painted one primer with a double coating of polish, letting it dry super-completely dry between coats. I laid it on thick, too. Tried that primed case in my AR. No problem: It went "pop!" just as it should. It dried down so thin, there's no problem.

I have vacuum-sealed primers with one of those Seal-a-Meal contraptions. I lived in Northern Virginia where the summers are offensively humid. I worried about them deteriorating in that almost-raining humidity up near Winchester. Now that I am in delightfully-dry Nevada, I worry not about it.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc224/375:

quote:

I was checking some ammo I loaded about 30 years ago, and some of them have corrosion at the neck and bullet junction.

More than likely Patina formation or galvanic action .

The common name for that particular patina would be verdigris.

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:

The common name for that particular patina would be verdigris.

A shot or two of penicillin and it clears right up...

Excellent replies by all! I always learn so much here on AR. Nail polish is a genius idear! That oughta work around the bullet and case mouth too, right?

And when sealing the primer, you want to do that just in the seam between the primer and the primer pocket, right? I take it that you do NOT want to actually cover the striking surface of the primer.

quote:

Originally posted by Not_Infringed:

Excellent replies by all! I always learn so much here on AR. Nail polish is a genius idear! That oughta work around the bullet and case mouth too, right?

And when sealing the primer, you want to do that just in the seam between the primer and the primer pocket, right? I take it that you do NOT want to actually cover the striking surface of the primer.

I painted over the striking surface. Doesn't seem to bother it one bit. The stuff dries very thin. If you really want to you can dob, then wipe with finger. Beware: Finger will become very white and caked with nail polish very quickly. I found that by thinning the white half-and-half with clear, the stuff went farther. I bought my polish at Walmart for a buck per tiny bottle. Don't buy the expensive stuff-- not necessary. I was able to dob three to four cases with a single dip. Having the stand I show way up there REALLY helps in doing them in large numbers. I had to do several thousand I'd sized incorrectly and loaded before I knew they were wrong. I found that out when they wouldn't chamber. I got myself a case comparator and sure as hell, the shoulder was about .005 inches too high toward the mouth. So I pulled the bullets, saved the various powders as a "mystery powder" in one jug, resized the cases correctly (nail polish on primers, lubed with cooking spray) and reloaded them with the mixed powder. I got 2750 fps out of a 22 or 23-grain charge with zero pressure signs. Military ammo produces about 3100 in a 16-inch barrel, so I was well under.

I have no idea if nail polish on the bullet at the neck would work to seal the powder away from humidity. I'd think seating the bullet would smear it right off. Maybe one of the more knowledgeable here can offer up some information about that...

quote:

Originally posted by homebrewer:
I found that by thinning the white half-and-half with clear, the stuff went farther. I bought my polish at Walmart for a buck per tiny bottle. Don't buy the expensive stuff-- not necessary.

You could of course also consider using "shocking pink" or "passion crimson" - the possibilities seem endless

- mike

Nail polish works well. When I have completed loading, I dab a a bit of nail polish onto the primer, sufficient to cover the primer and the groove around it. I let the polish set for a few seconds and then, with light pressure I quickly pass the base of the case over a folded-up paper towel. The result is the groove remains full of polish and the primer "face" is clean. Years ago my hunting partner put some nail polish on the base of his .44 Mag ammunition and did not wipe it off and the added layer on some of the rounds tied up his cylinder.

quote:

Originally posted by mho:

quote:

Originally posted by homebrewer:
I found that by thinning the white half-and-half with clear, the stuff went farther. I bought my polish at Walmart for a buck per tiny bottle. Don't buy the expensive stuff-- not necessary.

You could of course also consider using "shocking pink" or "passion crimson" - the possibilities seem endless

- mike

Yeah, but all you really want is to tell at a glance if you painted it or not. Different colors cold be used to differentiate between different powders in the loads. Not a bad idea. You're a pretty smart guy, mike. I don't care what anybody else says...