[ACP230]

Today I discovered that I left two rounds of ammo in my jeans after an early season deer hunt last weekend.

A .250 Savage reload and a Plus-P Cor-Bon 158 grain LSWCHP .38 Special went through the wash.

Do you think either will fire?
Will they fail to fire at all?
Will they be squib loads?

I may fire them this weekend if I get to the range.
If so, I'll report back.

[blades67]

They'll fire just fine is my guess.

[4v50 Gary]

I plea guilty (but for a different caliber). It shot.

[444]

There is no question in my mind that it will fire.
The one thing you MIGHT be concerned with is the burn rate of the powder. This idea comes from the idea of putting reloads in a brass tumbler to get rid of case lube. Some people have put forth the idea that the loaded ammo rolling around in the tumbler might cause the powder to be ground down and made finer, thus increasing the burn rate and possibly making it over pressure.
Whether this happens or not is beyond me. Whether this could be caused by a washing machine is beyond me. But, it is something to think about.

[C.R.Sam]

Special ammo for clean Kill ?

I can not advise to shoot them.

Sam

[Quartus]

Why mess with it? Toss 'em.

[Stevie-Ray]

Naw, don't toss em, take em apart.

Always save your reloading components.:D

[rayra]

Stick in the inertial hammer.
Good thing it wasn't rimfire rounds through (and I mean through) the dryer.

[Johnny Guest]

- -or danger in firing them. Poster did say "through the wash," not mentioning the dryer. Even if the cartridges did tumble dry - -Think of the number of cycles in an hour, and I'll bet it wouldn't equal the number of shakes a box of ammo gets in driving over ten miles of gravel road.

At the same time, I sure wouldn't trust either cartridge to fire properly enough for hunting or defense use.:p

Johnny

[4v50 Gary]

I didn't dry mine. Only washed it. Oppps.:o

[Mark Tyson]

"You might be a gun nut if . . ."

It happened to me too. The ammo fired just fine, no problems.

[ACP230]

The laundered ammo is segregated from the rest of my supply:
it's lying on top of the dryer.
It was only washed, so heating the powder isn't a problem.

If I shoot it it will be at the range. I wouldn't depend on it for anything more serious than paper targets, tin cans, or dirt.

[rayra]

sorry Johnny Guest, but I'd be worried about the bullet having been backed into the case, water seepage / contamination of the powder.

And you are missing the point abou thte dryer - it's not how many times it is jostled - it's how many times a rimfire cartridge (which I was referring to) can bounce on its ??? without detonating.

(shrug)
Have at it. Pushing stuck bullets out of barrels is no fun either.

[rayra]

and I'll say again as a long-time reloader, and even though I'm a cheapskate - not worth firing a $0.10-$0.30 round, when so much could possibly be wrong with it. Scrap it. Saving (less than) a buck is no reason to play with explosives inches from your face.

[Matt G]

I'm carrying a CCI .45acp shotshell in my left pocket right now that I've been carrying for the last 5 or 6 months. I carry it on-duty for euthanizing sick little critters near houses. It's the only one I have, and I'm too cheap to go buy a box of 'em. Of course I've washed it. :) (don't think I've dried it.)

I'm curious what's gonna happen when I finally have to use it. (Okay! OKAY!!! I'll go buy a new box!)

[Mike Irwin]

I've laundered .38 Spl. and .357 Mag. ammo before.

It's always fired just fine on the next trip to the range.

[jsalcedo]

I've laundered dozens of rounds and they have all worked fine.

[Standing Wolf]

Some people have put forth the idea that the loaded ammo rolling around in the tumbler might cause the powder to be ground down and made finer, thus increasing the burn rate and possibly making it over pressure.

I've polished my hand-loaded rounds in tumblers for years with no ill effects.

[PMATULEW]

Just shoot it.

An "acquaintance" of mine once loaded up a handful of .30 carbine rounds that had been rolling around on the floor of his Jeep for quite a while. If I say they were green, I mean they were green.

Except for one failure to feed they all fired just fine.

[cookie]

BTDT, worked fine.

[cordex]

I've polished my hand-loaded rounds in tumblers for years with no ill effects.
That's amazing! Did you change the media in all that time, or did you just let it run straight through?
;)

[45crittergitter]

My machine washed .32 Silvertips (and magazine) worked, but I recommend you don't load them for defense.

[ACP230]

I'm off to the range this morning and will shoot the .38 Special load and see how it works.

I don't think I'll shoot the .250 Savage round. I only have one .250 Savage rifle! I'll probably break down the round and reload it.

Range report to follow.

[sm]

Had a lady friend thought she would be helpful, laundered a "what not" bag and some hunting clothes. Terrible racket in dryer. From .22 lr, various handgun , rifle, shotgun ammo. It all fired when tested at range later. Funny -she never offered to launder anything related to hunting/shooting/target after that.;)

Just a small bad I tossed misc. ammo in to be sorted later.

[ACP230]

Just got back from the range, ate lunch, and then sat down to make a report.

I used my Contender in .357 Maximum to fire the Cor-Bon LSWCHP, just in case some screwy thing had happened to it. It fired as if it had never been through the wash. It hit near the point of aim too and the deviation was probably my fault.

I figured it would fire, and was more convinced that it would after reading some of the posts on this thread.

I hope I won't do this again, but it was an interesting experience.

[Keith]

've polished my hand-loaded rounds in tumblers for years with no ill effects.

I've always wanted to do that, but have been scared to try it.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

Keith

[LawDog]

My family has over the years washed, rinsed, tumble-dried and spun pretty much every variety of ammo commercially loaded.

Some of us also have the deplorable habit of leaving various calibres - usually .22LR, but sometimes 12 gauge -- on the dashboards of various pickups during multiple Texas summers.

Grandad was particularly bad about the dashboard thing. After he died, we found a cardboard fifty-round box of .22LR on the dashboard of his car that was so sun-faded that the box had completely faded to white and the brand-name was totally unreadable.

All of it cycled through a Remington 552 without a hitch.

I've come to the conclusion that quality ammo probably isn't as delicate as I once thought.

LawDog

[telewinz]

Factory ammo, will shoot. Reloads, will not shoot.:D

[444]

"'ve polished my hand-loaded rounds in tumblers for years with no ill effects."

I have done this. I didn't leave it in the tumbler for a long time. I wouldn't be all that concerned about it, but like I said, it is something to consider for those that are very safety conscious or very accuracy conscious. I have shot lots of ammo that has been through the washer. I have also shot lots of ammo that I carried in my pocket for weeks among the loose change. I have shot lots of ammo that has sat in the car through the Nevada summer. Never had a problem, and never noticed any difference in the performance.

[Brian Williams]

Range rounds