Vacum sealing

[1goodshot]

I sealed some ammo in a vacum bag for long term storage and notice that after several days the bag had lost its vacume. I know the air in the bag come from inside the cartrige and not a leak in the bag. That got me to thinking about how that would effect the loaded round. I assummed that the gun powder might expand and if that would effect how it performs. Does anyone know what will happen or if it really makes any differance.

[IamNOTaNUT]

Hmmmmm . . .

thinking . . .

The vacum in the bag sucked the air out of your cases. Okay, I guess I could see that, if there is not a real good crimp or sealant applied to the case that sounds reasonable as the contents in the bag attempt to equalize the air pressure. Will this affect the way the ammo shoots?

I would think not. It is my understanding that the propellant should be able to ignite even in the absence of air due to the chemical composition of the powder, i.e. carrying it's own oxidizers or something like that. This is going back years and years as a knowledgable person told me that guns will function in space. I cannot vouch for the accurcy of this, though, because it was so long ago I don't recall the source.

Why not just go out and shoot some and tell us how it works? It would seam to me that at the very worst, you sucked the O2 out of the case, which may result in poor powder performance if the stuff will not burn in the absence of O2. I wouldn't think that would be a dangerous condition.

Keep in mind, though, that I am just thinking out loud here, offering some speculation, and if you blow yourself up you can't blame me.

[C.R.Sam]

Amount of air in case not going to have much effect. Most important for long term storage is avoidence of temperture excursions. Fairly low humidity and fairly constant temperature gives best longevity.

Side trivia........coffee in vacuum pack cans will actually be positively pressurized after time. The coffee emits gasses. The purpose of the vacuum is to prevent contamination from outside and loss of the essence/aroma.

Sam

[Mal H]

I see a problem with sealing ammo in a vaccuum bag if it does indeed equalize the pressure inside and outside the cartridges. This means there is now a low pressure inside each cartridge. So when you remove them from the bag, unless you use them immediately they will tend to suck in stuff from the outside at a faster rate than they normally would from changes in atmospheric pressure. For example, if you take a bunch outside in the cold and shoot some and bring the remainder inside, the cartridges might suck in some of the resultant moisture that will collect on the casings.

Storing the way Sam described is best.

[C.R.Sam]

Excellant point Mal.

Sam

[stans]

Does this mean that vacuum packed ammo sucks?

[1goodshot]

Thanks