Factory ammo saturated with lacquer thinner

[Win1892]

Friend found 30 boxes sitting in a puddle of lacquer thinner. I told him to discard the packaging, let it dry, and it will fire. But he should keep it out of the general population just in case.

Any comments, concerns?

 

[kingmt]

It should be lacquer free but good to go as long as there isn't other problems.

Explain found. He found his or he found some he knows nothing about?

 

[357 Terms]

A puddle of lacquer thinner? He has a BIG problem right there! Was this in his house/basement?

The ammo will prolly be ok, was it submerged?

 

[Steve C]

Nothing wrong with trying it. It's not going to cause any damage to the gun unless the bullets where lead and all the lube has been washed off and then you may get leading that just a chore to remove. If you get failures to fire or inconsistent ignition pull them for components and reload or sell to someone that does reload. For squibs, light or low power recoil do the same thing just remember to check the barrel for a stuck bullet and drive it back out if one is there.

 

[Win1892]

His ammo. His garage. Can of lacquer thinner leaking and pooled on floor around cardboard box sitting on floor.

 

[atonguis]

Prob will be ok, I would just wipe them down and inspect them if they got wet. Tell him to go to wally world and get a plastic tub with lid and keep ammo in there.

 

[gpb]

They are probably okay. However, if they were mine I would keep them seperate and only use them for target or practice and not for hunting or self defense.

 

[Hondo 60]

If they're lead bullets, it probably would be worth it to tube with a liquid alox or something.
I'd hate to have to clean the lead outta that barrel.

 

[GLOOB]

I'm surprised I'm saying this. But I'd probably toss it. Umm, well. At least pull some bullets and inspect the powder.

I don't have any lacquer thinner, but I do have some acetone here on my bench. For kicks, I just put about 5-6 grains of Auto Comp into a bowl and added acetone. The powder turned into a single gummy lump of grey goo.* Light weight organic solvents can get into places that are water tight, and I don't think ammo is even water tight for extended lengths of time.

If he was there when it spilled and cleaned it off right away, that would be one thing. But if it sat there for an unknown length of time, hmm. Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try. I'd bring a rod and hammer, though, for squibs.

Well, on second thought, it might hurt to try. Kinda the same idea of shooting 100 year old cordite ammunition stored in bunkers. Depending on the powder and how much solvent might have gotten in there, couldn't it be possible the burn rate increased?

*edit: just lit it on fire. Burned nice and slow like napalm.

 

[atonguis]

I'm surprised I'm saying this. But I'd probably toss it. Umm, well. At least pull some bullets and inspect the powder.

I don't have any lacquer thinner, but I do have some acetone here on my bench. For kicks, I just put about 5-6 grains of Auto Comp into a bowl and added acetone. The powder turned into a single gummy lump of grey goo.* Light weight organic solvents can get into places that are water tight, and I don't think ammo is even water tight for extended lengths of time.

If he was there when it spilled and cleaned it off right away, that would be one thing. But if it sat there for an unknown length of time, hmm. Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try. I'd bring a rod and hammer, though, for squibs.

Well, on second thought, it might hurt to try. Kinda the same idea of shooting 100 year old cordite ammunition stored in bunkers. Depending on the powder and how much solvent might have gotten in there, couldn't it be possible the burn rate increased?

*edit: just lit it on fire. Burned nice and slow like napalm.

There ya go

 

[GLOOB]

^ A solid, wet lump of powder will burn slower. But if a little solvent gets is the case and the fumes degrade the the powder just a little, then years later completely evaporates, I wonder what happens then?

 

[Shadow 7D]

Um, the the rounds won't light off it there is enough solvent leaking in to make the powder clump

there is enough solvent to KILL the primer, worse case is a handful of duds.

 

[GLOOB]

Are you sure solvent kills primers? I'd think it would "kill it" temporarily. But after it dries out (might take years in a loaded round) that it would go bang, again. The compound is applied in a paste of solvent then allowed to dry, to begin with.

 

[Shadow 7D]

I would say it depends on how 'heavy' the solvent is, paint thinner is pretty heavy compared to acetone or MEK, also they are allowed to dry in the open, if you have a mass of powder and the primer soaked in solvent, and mostly sealed, it will take MUCH longer than what it took at the factory.

 

[mdi]

Difference between wet boxes and submerged ammo. If the ammo was just in wet boxes (like the cardboard/paper boxes sopped up the thinner), go ahead and shoot. I think the bullet/neck fit on a properly loaded round would make the cartridge moisture proof, but if submerged, under the surface of the thinner, I'd pull some and check them out...

 

[BeerSleeper]

Are you sure it was lacquer thinner?

Lacquer thinner evaporates so readily, I can only see one of three possibilities.

1) It's very cold where this took place.

2) The "lacquer thinner" is actually a misidentified "some other solvent".

3) He conveniently discovered this within the very narrow window of time between when the spill occurred, and when it finished evaporating (a matter of not more than a few hours at room temperature).

 

[bfoosh006]

What kinda ammo ? 45 ACP, primer down on the floor side ?... 30'06 bullet down?.... 22LR ? Are the rounds loaded with black powder ?

I'm not so sure I would fire any of it.... certainly none if it were 22LR. Maybe if the bullet point was touching down, I'd consider it, but only after I pulled some apart to exam the powder.... perhaps even checking to see if the solvent affected the powder visually , and put a few drops in a emptied bulletless, powderless but still primed case, let it evaporate by its self and then safely fire the primed only case .
Additional, If any of the deterrent coatings, ( which help control burn speed ) were affected...you might have drastically changed its burn rate

No offense intended...but
There are somethings that I don't fool with... one of them is items that can develop up to 62,000 PSI in my hand , or by my face.

 

[1SOW]

The "boxes" that were saturated, I would pull the bullets of the lowest rds to check the powder.
Surely 30 boxes weren't ALL sitting in a depression so the Laquer thinner got "deep" enough to all bullets. ??

Shooting them might be entertaining at the muzzle.

 

[jbkebert]

Are you sure it was lacquer thinner?

Lacquer thinner evaporates so readily, I can only see one of three possibilities.

1) It's very cold where this took place.

2) The "lacquer thinner" is actually a misidentified "some other solvent".

3) He conveniently discovered this within the very narrow window of time between when the spill occurred, and when it finished evaporating (a matter of not more than a few hours at room temperature).

Yup...

Laquer thinner has a very distinct smell and evaporates very very quickly. I install alot of onyx shower systems and use alot of laquer thinner. A sopping wet paper towel with the stuff will be bone dry in a matter of minutes. Used some this morning at around 20-22 degrees. Once again dry within minutes. The smell alone in a basement would drive you nuts in a very short time.

I would venture to say it was something else.

 

[drsfmd]

At least pull some bullets and inspect the powder.

This is excellent advice. Why guess and take risks?