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Old August 3, 2014, 11:07 AM   #1
psalm7
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Storing reloads

Not sure if this has been discussed but a thread on a Sniper forum got me to thinking . If reloads are stored over a few months the impact point will change due to carbon in the neck of the case reacting with the bullet . Another shot back that he super cleans his brass and doesn't have this problem then another tells him now he will have a problem with the case gripping the bullet and spot welding itself and cause over presure . I think they are way over thinking this . I just load them and store them and move on to the project . Any thoughts apreciated .
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Old August 3, 2014, 11:10 AM   #2
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I dry brush the necks as part of the reloading process. It seems to have eliminated this problem ever starting.
I'd also look at other things that could change in long-term storage such as neck tension varying as the case necks "relax" a little.
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Old August 3, 2014, 12:49 PM   #3
psalm7
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I crimp with a LEE factory crimp . So I would think prep and clean brass crimp and It should be no diferent than factory ammo .
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Old August 3, 2014, 06:03 PM   #4
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Very long term people run into stress crack problems with stored ammo.

You might want to re-up the date by reloading a new batch and shooting up the older stuff.

5 years seems safe but that's a guess. I have some ammo that has done fine for much longer but that was in pistol.

Other have had case splits

Normally I only store factory ammo and shoot my reloads up.
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Old August 3, 2014, 09:31 PM   #5
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Way too many putting their two cents in when this could really go this way or that. No one knows for sure. I got some reloads that I reloaded for my 30-06 14 years ago. Worked up an awesome load. Just shot some about 5 days ago and groupings were about the size of a dime at 100 yards. Whatever or however my process is, I ain't changing a thing.
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Old August 4, 2014, 07:38 AM   #6
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Quote:
Very long term people run into stress crack problems with stored ammo.
Some may, but far from all.
I was shooting some ammo made in 1943 yesterday , there wasn't any problem with any of them & I'm reloading them tonight.
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Old August 4, 2014, 08:24 AM   #7
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Stress cracks in necks can be caused by ammonia gas exposure (season cracking). The stress is due mainly to work-hardening of the brass, and neck annealing prevents it. If a case has been reloaded several times, the original annealing is neutralized and it becomes sensitive to ammonia gas again. BTW, it doesn't take a lot of ammonia. Having the ammo in a room with a kitty litter box can do it over time. Or you can anneal for every load cycle if you want to.

Sticking of bullets in necks is usually caused by "cold welding", where corrosion and difference in alloys can act to bond a bullet to the neck. Board member Hummer 90 was a test director at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they had equipment to measure bullet extraction force. He said he'd measured up to 600 lbs pull on ammo that was old enough (70 lbs is more typical of .306 ammo). This would be new ammo, and not reloaded, so neck carbon had no role in it. He said it still functioned correctly. I don't recall any comment about POI shift, but presumably there is some because of the higher start pressure and higher resulting peak pressure would shorten barrel time. That could detune a sniper's tuned load.

I don't know whether the presence of carbon would exacerbate the cold weld by attracting moisture, or would interfere with the extent of that bond by acting as a barrier. But either way, I think the potential for moisture interaction is a good reason for storing ammo for the long term in a sealed container together with a desiccant.
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Old August 4, 2014, 10:04 AM   #8
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I question the validity of POI changes on ammo stored "a few months". The last two weekends I shot up some odds and ends .223 match ammo I had loaded 3-4 years ago. It all went right to the same zero and sight settings it did when "new". Some of this was 4-5x loaded brass too. Oh, and some of it has been moved 3 times since it was originally loaded, and there's a chance one of the boxes made the trip out to Camp Perry and back with remnants.

It may be possible to run into issues with very old, improperly stored lots, but for most uses I don't think it's worth stressing over.
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Old August 4, 2014, 09:13 PM   #9
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I have some of my reloads from 20+ years ago. They all go bang and go where pointed.
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Old August 8, 2014, 10:04 PM   #10
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When shooting some old mil ammo I decided to pull some of the bullets to check the powder. Finding the bullet pull MUCH harder than my reloads I researched and found a suggestion to "bump" the bullets back into the case a few thousands to break the bonding that had taken place.

I tried this and found if I did this the bullet pull was much closer to my reloads. This is what I do on all older ( say 10 yr or older) rifle ammo.

Shooting ammo with the bullet bumped (only a few thousands) I find tighter grouping.
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Old August 10, 2014, 10:26 AM   #11
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Note that U.S. military ammunition has a pitch seal that glues the bullet in. You often have to break the seal with a seating die even when the ammo is fairly new. I've not found any consistency in foreign military ammo regarding bullet sealant. Some lots use it, some don't.
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