Nasty Incident with .22 Ammo

[Len-2A Training]

My Wife had a nasty incident yesterday that I just thank God had no consequences, other than my curiosity and aggravation.

My Wife was shooting my High Standard (Hartford) Supermatic Tournament .22LR pistol with Concorde (Philippines ammo) Std Vel ammo (I found that I had two bricks of the stuff from who-knows-where). She had maybe 4-5 FTFs. When we re-oriented the round, each time they fired on the 2nd attempt.

Then she has a FTF and when I open the breech and the base of the case falls out. Check the barrel for obstructions with a cleaning rod and the bullet is stuck in the barrel! Pound it out and the rest of the case goes flying into the weeds. NO unburnt powder falls out! When the round went off, the sound was ever so subtly different (nothing significant that you'd do an "ah ha"). The remains that I retrieved can be seen here.

http://tinyurl.com/d3p3w

I'm just very glad nothing happened to cause any harm to either of us or the gun.

 

[Admin]

Thankfully you checked and cleared the barrel. It would have been ugly had she chamered another round and fired.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Indeed. Luckily the case walls were still in the chamber, so nothing should have happened. But it still is spooky!

I've never seen or heard of such a thing in .22LR.

It didn't have the hollow sound of a squib load and there was no debris shooting out of the breech. Color me puzzled. At least we only have 400 rds left of this stuff and I have no idea where I bought it.

I fixed the URL so you can at least see the picture. Since hunt101.com seems to be down, I can't seem to actually post a picture to this forum directly. Will check into Yahoo's picture server.

 

[Nickle]

Len, I use photobucket. They're free and they work.

http://photobucket.com

 

[TonyD]

You were lucky, but, more so, you were dilligent in knowing that something just wasn't right. It's obvious it's ammo related and luckily .22's are too cheap to even think about using that stuff again.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Nickle,

Thanks!

OK, here's the picture from Photobucket.

 

[TonyD]

Len, is that a date stamp?

 

[C-pher]

Wow, glad that everyone was OK.

We had a squib this weekend, but in a .45. Not a fun thing to happen. We too were glad that another round wasn't able to chamber.

 

[Lynne]

Glad you had the smarts to check it Len, and that nothing happened.

 

[Admin]

Len, is that a date stamp?

070183 22 year old ammo?

 

[TonyD]

Len, is that a date stamp?

070183 22 year old ammo?

That's what I was looking at. Wasn't sure if it was a date stamp, serial #, or lot #.

I've shot very old ammo before without problems. I guess it depends on the quality of the powder and how it's been stored through the years.

 

[Admin]

I shot some 20 + year old 12 guage shells once duck hunting. I pulled the trigger, heard a muffled pop, tipped my muzzle down, and watched the bb's pour out.

 

[TonyD]

My sidearms are still loaded with Black Talons from my LEO/SWAT days!

I know I need to replace it.

 

[Nickle]

Ammo keeps far longer than most people expect.

 

[Admin]

Ammo keeps far longer than most people expect.

You act like you know cuz it's a family business or something.

 

[TonyD]

Good ammo has to be aged, like a fine wine, to 'uncork' its best accuracy.

 

[Nickle]

You act like you know cuz it's a family business or something.

I guess I have mentioned that fact before. Old military ammo is usually good in excess of 40 to 50 years. Commercial ammo is good in excess of 10 years. And these numbers are conservative.

 

[Lynne]

Good ammo has to be aged, like a fine wine, to 'uncork' its best accuracy.

I have a few boxes that I'm aging now. [lol]

 

[Nickle]

Good ammo has to be aged, like a fine wine, to 'uncork' its best accuracy.

I don't buy that line. Good thing you qualified it with a wink. Accuracy does seem to fade a little, but I've had 65 vintage match ammo (Lake City) work well 30+ years later.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Hmm, likely that is a date stamp. I really don't know. I found two bricks of this stuff in my "ammo depot" (only 400 rds left now). Likely that it is 22 years old, because I didn't do any .22 shooting from ~1980 until I got my Wife into shooting this year.

My ammo is stored in large (20 or 40mm?) Navy ammo cans (~16x15x12), so it doesn't degrade due to climate issues here.

Hell, I still have a lot of reloads back from the 1970s and I can guarantee you that they will all be good to go.

Col. Santose found some fully loaded M16 mags from his days in 'Nam (late 1960s) a few years ago and he fired them . . . they all went "bang" like they were supposed to and the mags suffered no wear due to being loaded for >30 years.

 

[Nickle]

Lynne, I'm actually behind on my ammo stock. I'm down to about 10,000 rounds, not counting 22 LR. I prefer to be up at about 15,000 on hand.

I forgot to add that is what I keep for "personal" use.

 

[Lynne]

Lynne, I'm actually behind on my ammo stock. I'm down to about 10,000 rounds, not counting 22 LR. I prefer to be up at about 15,000 on hand.

I forgot to add that is what I keep for "personal" use.

Well, I'm not "aging' THAT many (at least I don't think I am...I haven't counted lately), but I haven't been able to shoot much of late either. (hand problems)

 

[TonyD]

Len - Old Filipino stuff that got 'contaminated' somewhere along the lines, manufacture, shipping or ealy storage. The case coming apart is what's a little strange. I guess it could be the presence of ammonia in the powder that degraded the brass over time.

 

[Nickle]

MILSURP I buy when it's cheap and on sale.

When I load, I make "moderate" sized batches, 500 to 1500 rounds. Less set up and tear down time, and by buying components in bulk, I get a beter deal. I buy my primers 5000 at a time, rifle powder in 8 lb kegs (4 of them at a time) and bullets by the 1000.

Remember, my father is a type 6 FFL (Ammo Manufacture), so, I get a significant break on some of this stuff.

Also, my loading are is quite warm in the summer time, and a little cold in the winter.

 

[TonyD]

I store components and reload inside for climate control.

 

[Nickle]

My area is in an semi-finished room in the 2d level of the house. Unheated and no A/C. It only gets too cold to work in for a short period in the winter, and too hot only on days above the upper 80's.

 

[TonyD]

I don't do it merely for personal comfort. It's mainly so the powder remains consistent and doesn't get exposed to extreme temps or humidity, either in storage or the loading process.

 

[Nickle]

Controlled environment helps, but is not necessary. Make sure the powder is kept in a closed container, since normal humidity will definitely ruin the powder. The original container is fine, just make sure the lid is tight when not open.

Loaded ammo will withstand a LOT of variation in air. I recommend storing it in USGI ammo cans, though.

And, yes, Tony, I figure you know all this, but some don't.

 

[TonyD]

The biggest part is during the loading when the powder is "exposed". It will suck up moisture causing variations in weighing correctly and burn rate. Keep in mind there is a hell of a lot more humidity down here.

And, yes, this is mostly for the benefit of others.

 

[Nickle]

I wouldn't leave powder "in the open" in El Paso, TX. And I can't think of any place I've been that was drier than there.