Basement flooded and ammo (commercial, reloads, military) were underwater a week :-(

B

barkgrass

New member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My basement flooded during the ice storm and ammo (commercial, reloads, military) were underwater a week. The water was drained three days ago and I am about to assess the ammo's condition, i.e., open all the boxes. I am hoping the military ammo (Swiss) is OK but doubt the reloads are salvageable; no clue about the commercial stuff (Winchester, Remington, Blazer, etc.)

Is the ammo safe to use or it is a total loss?

I searched the forum for this question but could not find it. If this has been addressed elsewhere, please provide the link. Thanks!
 
Sorry to hear about insult to injury due to the ice storm. Most ammo does ok. I have dunked rounds into water then let stand for a couple of weeks and they go bang. I have even found rounds in the spring at the range that were left there all winter and through spring and they go bang. As Longshot said, One way to find out :)
 
I would dry off a few rounds and try them. They will not be any more powerful than before the flood. If they don't sound right, check the bore between shots. I am sure that 50 year old surplus ammo has been through a lot since it was manufactured. A couple of days under water shouldn't be too bad.
 
Not in ammo cans? how was it stored?

A flooded basement is a fear of mine, cause like a lot of people on CGN i store the majority of my ammo in the basement most in ammo cans.
 
An old bud of mine was a prepper. He stored ammo, loose commercial and sealed tins in a well. It wasn't protected in any way and kept in nylon sacks. Some of that stuff was underwater for at least 10+ years. It was all fine and it all went bang. No, there weren't any shot shells in the mix.

A thousand rounds of M2 30-06, same for 7.62x51 and about 2000 1960s dated IVI 303 Brit. There was also a whack of 9mm from various makers, including surplus and some of the early 7.62x39 surplus that came in to International Firearms. Lots of 38 S&W, same for 380acp and 45acp.

He took much better care of his firearms.

This stuff, was all around 50-60 feet down, under at least 30 feet of water. This was his SHTF stash. Just over 15,000 rounds.

Anyway, it's all gone downrange a long time ago. Nary a problem, other than the loose stuff had to be washed in soapy hot water to get the slime off.

In Africa, during the late sixties, I saw ammo come out of the most disgusting storage you can imagine. One place that really took the cake was a blood pit, behind a native butcher shop. I won't go into details but there were also weapons in that mess as well. It's absolutely amazing how well weapons and ammo stand up to torture. I guess it all has to do with them being designed to be that way.

OP, go ahead and shoot that stuff, maybe wash it first, if it needs it. Even 22 rimfire ammo can be buried or drowned for a long time and still do everything it was built to do.
 
I helped clean a few friends basements after the Calgary floods. The shotshells were okay about 80% of the time iirc (dried in a towel and then laid in the sun, about half a milk crate full).

All the pistol and rifle rounds were fine after drying and tumbling to clean them up.
 
If you have insurance covering the flood damage it is all bad and needs to be replaced, also tell the insurance company you will make sure the bad ammunition is disposed of properly by yourself.
 
Brian46 said:
If you have insurance covering the flood damage it is all bad and needs to be replaced, also tell the insurance company you will make sure the bad ammunition is disposed of properly by yourself.
Click to expand...

Heh, heh - you're on the right track Brian! ...

I'm sure you're gonna be alright - I would think unchecked condensation would be worse (inside an ammo can).

I've never soaked my ammo before, but I have had a basement flood in the past - so I keep my ammo off the floor (think slats - like you would find around around a lathe). Certainly this would be useless in a flood situation - but it saves the day if your hot water packs it in.

Abby
 
I watched a youtube video about this but cannot find it. Both reloads and commercial ammo were submerged for three days.

Reloads mostly failed, 2/10 worked and for most commercial, 9/10 worked.

The ones with sealed primers and proper crimping were good for 100% use after submersion. This was not deep water however.

Perhaps you can find the video if you look for it. I watched it over six months ago. Sorry for your loss.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom