water proofing rounds

[festus]

Ever fall in? Ever ford a stream? Ever take the old girl fishing?
If you answered yes to any of these...you may want to look at waterproofing your rounds.

It is really simple.

1. Get some thin (really runny) nail polish. (the thinner the better stay away from anything metallic or pearled)

2. Wipe off the primer area of each round with a q-tip dipped in alcohol (not saturated and let dry thoroughly).

3. Brush a very small amount of nail polish around the primer seam (let dry thoroughly).

4. Wipe off the seam area at the case mouth/bullet with a q-tip dipped in alcohol (not saturated and let dry thoroughly).

5. Brush a very small amount of nail polish around the case mouth/bullet seam (let dry thoroughly).

6. Load and carry.

This is not perfect. No system is but it is better than nothing and it works. I learned it from examining Russian Makarov rounds and looking at failure rates due to water/oil intrusion into primer areas. I have done this to all my pistol rounds and have not had a failure to ignite in the last couple of thousand rounds (since I have started this)

PS if it's STUPID but it works...it ain't STUPID!!!:Smilie Funny:

Keep you powder dry and you gun ready!:57:

[Cooter]

Sounds like a good idea. The only problem I see is after shooting a good amount, your gun will be gummed up with nail polish.

I can just see my friends making fun of me for putting make-up on my ammo.:2:

[HK4U]

I read something about doing this a few years ago but have never tried it. Thanks for the reminder. I may do a few and try them.

[NDS]

I've heard of people recovering ammo from under water after some time and it shooting fine. I've never heard of anyone getting wet while hunting (from rain or falling into water) and having a failure to fire.

While I am sure your tip will provide some added protection, I doubt it's really needed. I have shot a lot of the coated ammo available from the cheaper brands and think it adds to cleaning time. I guess if it makes you feel more secure there's nothing stopping you.

[kwo51]

I carred shotgun slugs in light vasaline coat when diving of Florida.

[festus]

There was a NYC subway cop that suffered a failure to ignite because some CLP weeped between the primer and case and killed the primer. this helps prevent that as well.

In any case I am looking at stuff I carry not range fodder. I have to know that when it's time every thing will work as advertised. anything less than 100% reliability is unacceptable.

I might be anal retentive about it but my equipment all works first time every time (except for that one PROMAG in a previous post). When I discover a piece of gear I can no longer trust my life to...IT GOES BYE-BYE!!!!!

[Red Hat]

Most ammo is very well sealed and is waterproof for normal contact with water. Myself, I wouldn't put anything on a round to make it waterproof. I've carried ammo that was underwater for several hours and didn't have any failures to fire. There have been several test shown on TV where rifles and pistols were fired underwater to see what would happen. None of those had any misfires. Moisture is only a factor if it's stored in a humid or wet condition. Corrosion of the brass will cause case failures and chances of overpressure from the contaminated powder. Just store your ammo in a clean dry condition and don't worry about your carry ammo.

[KimberPB]

Here is a little info on oil vs primed cases.

The Box O' Truth #39 - Oil Vs. Primers - Page 1

[festus]

Thanks for that. I will quit being quite as paranoid but will probably still seal my primers anyway.:y:

[festus]

After seeing the way he prepared those primers, it is apparent that he may have used TOO much oil. I tried some shot-gun primers and had disasterous results with liquid wrench and with KROIL. about 1/4 of the primers were dead. NOT GOOD.

I then started doing some homework about Russian ammo MFG. They seal avery primer because they know that if there is a way for a GI to screw it up, He will.

Seems we can also learn from our NATO partners...Every 7.62 NATO round I own from other that the USA is primer sealed.

If it is not such a good Idea, Why do the worlds Armies use it?:22: