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

Factory and military stuff will most likely be fine. Hopefully the hand loads will be good too.

Had a similar situation last year and had some 30-06 rounds ( Federal & Remington ) under water for 4-5 days.
I took them out of the boxes and wiped them off and they all shot fine. Still using some of it.
 
Interesting location to store ammo. Did he have to dive in to get it or was there a system to hoist it out without going in?


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'm sorry to hear about what happened . I was wondering why was there water in your basement for a whole week . were you on vacation ?? some insurance company's from what I have heard won't cover you if your house is not being watched by someone .

I have a deal with several friends if one or the other is away we watch each other's homes . if you were away make sure you tell your insurance company a friend was watching your home. all I can say is I hope everything get's cleaned up proper and dried up . that sucks . best of luck .
 
I can't imagine what insurance BS your going through. Will they cover it? if so maybe you can keep the damaged stuff ?
most should be ok.
 
if it has a primer sealant like the military and factory ammo would likely have you should be gtg. Factory reloads could be ok...but I had about 250 rds submerged for a day or two. THey all went off...although some felt very weak, and I actually saw material going downrange that could have been wet powder pieces....
 
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