Posted on 03/10/2013 5:34:51 PM PDT by RoosterRedux
A friend encouraged me to store my ammo with a desiccant (something to remove moisture/humidity from the ammo can/box).
After talking to my pharmacist (a gun lover), I learned that the primary ingredient in desiccant packets is silica.
After an online search for available products containing silica in a volume that would work as an ammo desiccant, I learned that there is a surprising source of which I already had plenty...scoopable/clumping cat litter.
Thought I would share this and ask for comments.
When I was cleaning out the garage, I discovered some old 30-30 ammo that belonged to my grandfather. It was stored under less than ideal condition for at least 75 years.
I was afraid to use it, so I salvaged the brass & bullets. Though I didn’t use the powder or primers, I tested them & they seemed fine.
http://www.eva-dry.com/products/eva-dry-500-mini-dehumidifier/
The velocity would have been decreased, but other than that they would have worked fine.
I've got over a thousand rounds to store. I need something very effective and at a very low price.
“I find it impossible to believe that clay will not release water vapor when baked. Ive seen an awful lot of clay suck up water when it rains, and then turn to dust in the sun.”
Me too, especially since I have commercially available desiccant bags filled with what I believe is bentonite clay and the instructions on each bag give a baking time and temperature to dry them out.
I wouldn’t use cat litter since it has perfumes which will make ammo smell like cat litter and might have other unwanted effects. Just buy desiccant bags, they aren’t super expensive: http://www.uline.com/BL_1001/Kraft-Bag-Clay-Desiccants
Google is your friend!;-)
You only have over a thousand rounds???... Go to the shoe department at Wally world and ask the attendant to dig out the silica packets from a half dozen shoe boxes. I have my local store collecting them and evry so many months I go by and thew department head hands me a bag of five or six dozen packets. Baked in an oven for thirty minutes, they are as good as new. Ammo cans are $13 a piece. You can probably get you small amount of ammo in two cans and five or six packets from the shoe boxes is all you need when sealed up. Before you close the lid for the storage, rub a finger wetted with CLP on the rubber seal.
I see pictures of that ugly cat everywhere. Is that the same cat, or do a lot of people just have the same kind of ugly cat?
Real mean use their own darned panty hose, they don't depend on their women folk for everything.
Preppers use 5 gallon buckets, fill them nearly full, then set a piece of dry ice (frozen CO2) on the top of everything. When the dry ice is nearly gone, they seal the top. The cold and CO2 gas displaces most of the moisture inside the bucket.
Already emailed it to mine..........
Bentonite is a hydratable layer silicate clay and thus an excellent desiccant. That is why it dries out the cat feces in short order. If you take the bentonite and cook it in the oven at about 300 degrees for a few hours it will drive off any water of hydration that is in the layer silicate. You can then use it as a most excellent desiccant.
Every time I open anything that has one of the “do not eat” packets (here at work its several a week) I save those and toss them in my gun cabinets. I always toss a couple in my ammo stash as well.
Keep those little moisture packets.
Put it in coffee filters... then staple closed.
Been using this stuff for years... works well!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.