Found moisture in 50cal can, almost 200 rounds of ZQI appears wasted, pour one out for the homies

[flippinfleck]

Green scotch bright pad and just scrub it while watching Velocity channel all while sipping on your favorite beer. Will have it done in no time. It will only take a couple of twists to get it shootable.

Jokes on you as I don't drink much beer. I'll pour a few fingers of cheap scotch and see where it goes.

 

[Kylep427]

See, I have several .308 to run ammo through. My M1a national match would not come close to running that, but my PTR 91 would probably run it with as It sits. My AR 10 would possibly run it with minimal cleaning. I have some Spanish .308 from 1971 that’s pretty crusty, not as bad as yours, but the PTR just eats it. What are you running it in?

 

[flippinfleck]

Five minutes of 'scrubbing' with a fresh green scrubby.

Can still feel some of the corrosion. Would dry tumbling help to make it smooth? Sounds like shooting it is not an issue. Don't want to scrub with any more water. Round cycles OK.

 

[AllaSnackbah]

Put a hand warmer or two in every ammo can. They absorb all the moisture, it works.

 

[Kylep427]

How much cheap scotc?

 

[Uzi2]

General consensus is shoot it. Who am I to go against the herd?

OK. How to clean it up?

Dry tumble seems popular. Till it's not, and then it is. So dry tumble? I'd need to buy one. Not an issue. Suggestions welcome.

Scrubbing with a brass brush sounds similar to cleaning shit out of my shoes in that I'm likely to wind up with crap on my face. If tumbling really is an issue though, I'll just shower after.

Not sure how the moisture wound up in the can. Seems to be much more than what may have been in the cardboard. This particular group was purchased from a Walmart so not exactly a wet location, had been held in a 'holding' location for a bit as I ran out of cans, and showed no signs of issue when shooting prior to storage. Seriously, probably a quarter to half cup of water overall in that can. No idea where it came from.

Ammo cans expand and contract with small temperature changes, this causes them to suck in the ambient air around them. If that air is moist, the moisture goes into the can and condenses on the inside. It will not be expelled when the can contracts again....it stays there and just builds up.
You have proven that the seal on that can is compromised so either use it for something other than ammo storage or get rid of it OR put it in a dryer place with less ambient moisture in the air.....or mark the can with "Use Desiccant" and put a desiccant packet or two in it.

That ammo is just about 100% salvageable.

 

[76Too]

If you're not into the excuse to buy a tool, maybe a gallon bucket and the tumbling media, then toss it in the dryer without heat?

And don’t be home when you run it unless you want to go bananas from the noise!

 

[paul73]

Don't want to scrub with any more water.

try vinegar, not water. no need to soak it in it, just scrub like you did.
or you can put some vinegar on the baking sheet, so brass would roll in it, but not getting soaked up to primers.

 

[Mesatchornug]

And don’t be home when you run it unless you want to go bananas from the noise!

Stay home, in penance. Maybe bribe your wife to take the kids for mini-golf and ice cream...

 

[flippinfleck]

What a pain in the arse this is.

Is tumbling a live round a viable option?

 

[Mesatchornug]

What a pain in the arse this is.

Is tumbling a live round a viable option?

Every commercial round is tumbled. That's how they get so shiny.

 

[flippinfleck]

Every commercial round is tumbled. That's how they get so shiny.

Tumbled before or after assembly?

 

[MGnoob]

Just put in your brass vibrator. It’s likely fine

 

[Mesatchornug]

Tumbled before or after assembly?

After.

 

[CATI]

I know MA text says "original package" but is stuff better off without the cardboard/paper? In general I mean, of course the cardboard in the OP is junk

 

[40 Creedmoor fan]

After.

One of the reasons I stopped dry tumbling is that the media would get dirty very quickly and had to be replaced. I was tumbling brass before decapping and residing. Now I understand where I made a mistake. I can reload and tumble after! This way, the only "dirt" the media removes is on the outside! Yay! I learned something useful today! Thank you!

 

[Mesatchornug]

One of the reasons I stopped dry tumbling is that the media would get dirty very quickly and had to be replaced. I was tumbling brass before decapping and residing. Now I understand where I made a mistake. I can reload and tumble after! This way, the only "dirt" the media removes is on the outside! Yay! I learned something useful today! Thank you!

My understanding is these serve different purposes

Commercial is virgin brass. They just want to to look super shiny for buyers.

Tumbling for reloads is preparing dirty materials.

 

[DW357]

One of the reasons I stopped dry tumbling is that the media would get dirty very quickly and had to be replaced. I was tumbling brass before decapping and residing. Now I understand where I made a mistake. I can reload and tumble after! This way, the only "dirt" the media removes is on the outside! Yay! I learned something useful today! Thank you!

Ideally you want to tumble before otherwise you risk damaging your dies. Although they don’t need to be spotless to reload but you don’t want all kinds of junk on them either.

 

[DW357]

I tumble prior to reloading and that’s it. Well except for rifle brass I’ll tumble after sizing to remove the lube

 

[flippinfleck]

I know MA text says "original package" but is stuff better off without the cardboard/paper? In general I mean, of course the cardboard in the OP is junk

I've got a few rounds in original packaging that are dry as a can be. Thus far, this is the only can with water inside.

 

[Uzi2]

One of the reasons I stopped dry tumbling is that the media would get dirty very quickly and had to be replaced. I was tumbling brass before decapping and residing. Now I understand where I made a mistake. I can reload and tumble after! This way, the only "dirt" the media removes is on the outside! Yay! I learned something useful today! Thank you!

You do realize that you can clean tumbling media right? Add several pieces of torn up paper towels or cut up used drier sheets and run the tumbler for an hour or two.

Tumbling before resizing is to remove grit and preserve you dies.

Tumbling after resizing is to usually remove lube.

Tumbling after reloading is to polish the ammo for appearance only, it serves no other function in the reloading process.

 

[40 Creedmoor fan]

You do realize that you can clean tumbling media right? Add several pieces of torn up paper towels or cut up used drier sheets and run the tumbler for an hour or two.

Tumbling before resizing is to remove grit and preserve you dies.

Tumbling after resizing is to usually remove lube.

Tumbling after reloading is to polish the ammo for appearance only, it serves no other function in the reloading process.

I switched to wet tumble with steel media before resizing. Lemishine is God's gift to reloaders!
Cleaning dry media is something new. I'll have to try it.

 

[pastera]

If you're not into the excuse to buy a tool, maybe a gallon bucket and the tumbling media, then toss it in the dryer without heat?

I actually used a treadmill for a poor man's tumbler years ago.
Wife thought I was crazy but my brass was shiny.

 

[Mesatchornug]

I actually used a treadmill for a poor man's tumbler years ago.
Wife thought I was crazy but my brass was shiny.

Yankee Ingenuity!

 

[Mtn_Guy]

Yeah those boxes look moldy. Must have been wet/damp when they were put away.

 

[flippinfleck]

Found a box of the same in the safe. Quite the difference.

 

[Agnotology]

Is it?

Last I heard, you still can't use a calculator with a QWERTY keyboard on the SATs. I doubt they'll let you use one with an internet connection.

Correct, but with the advent of Amazon and actual online competitors, and phones functionally working, TI's cost the same (read: less with inflation) than when I got mine in 2003.

 

[Mesatchornug]

Correct, but with the advent of Amazon and actual online competitors, and phones functionally working, TI's cost the same (read: less with inflation) than when I got mine in 2003.

Are you saying that's a win? I got mine in 98. The price has changed as much as the design in the last 25 years. They've amortized every cost dozens of times.

They're still laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Agnotology]

Are you saying that's a win? I got mine in 98. The price has changed as much as the design in the last 25 years. They've amortized every cost dozens of times.

They're still laughing all the way to the bank.

It is as much of a win as we are going to get given how much schools are in bed with TI. Now we just need textbooks to go the same way.

 

[Hailstorm]

Dryer sheets help with tumbling.

I have found ammo cans that leak. I was going to use one for a quench container. Filled with oil. Only to come back later to find it leaking out the bottom. The can that those had been in is leaking. That is a lot of mold. Which means the moisture in there was very high. I am willing to bet if you put water in the can. It will leak out.