Nail Polish on Primers?

[Ben86]

I've been thinking about doing this on my carry ammo. Is this a good idea? Necessary? I get new carry ammo every 6 months.

 

[dave from mesa]

Necessary? No
Is this a good idea? Not a bad idea but ammo nowadays is sealed pretty tight. Can't see it going bad or getting damp for a long time.
Don't see where it will hurt anything tho.
If it makes you feel better then go ahead.

 

[IndianaBoy]

I have never had carry ammo have a primer that went bad.


Applying nail polish might seal it. On the other hand, the carrier for nail polish is volatile... it might be able to diffuse into the primer pocket and react with the priming compound.

If you want to do it, test some before you carry it.

Take two boxes of ammo. Nail polish one box, leave the other alone.

Take them to the range six months later.


Personally I see no need.

 

[frogomatic]

to quote a certain character from a certain book..."It won't help, and it might hurt!"...lol j/k.

If the conditions warrant it, a little nail polish will insure that the moisture doesn't get into the cartridge.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

A little bottle of purpose-made primer sealant (e.g. George & Roy's) goes a long way and should alleviate concerns about volatile chemicals penetrating the primers. I see little need for nail polish.

 

[leadcounsel]

could it cause light primer strikes and non-fire?

 

[OAKVILLE SHOOTER]

Factory ammunition is typically sealed pretty good. I do know several reloaders that use nail polish to seal the primers on their reloads though. To my knowledge, it has never caused any problems for them, and they still do it. Sometimes they will use different colors to distinguish different loads as well.

 

[TimRB]

Primers are press-fit into the pockets. Water isn't going to get in there. Guys on this and other forums have tested this by immersing ammo in water anywhere from hours to days and invariably they report that it goes bang.

Tim

 

[chris in va]

On a side note, what exactly is the red stuff that Wolf uses for sealant on the x39 ammo?

 

[Hoxviii]

I can't see it hurting anything. When reloading, i use nail polish on the primer to designate different loads.

Green is minimum, yellow the next, orange next, red, and then black. I keep the actual data in a notebook, but it makes it easy to just glance and know which one I'm working with.

 

[everallm]

The other reason some folks use nail polish is if they reload and want to make sure they are picking up their brass as opposed to unknown brass. This way they are sure of number of times reloaded, fire formed to a specific chamber etc etc

 

[Average Joe]

No.Not needed

 

[Claude Clay]

everything my wife has washed in our cloths [mostly mine and my daughters] has fired wether it went in the dryer or not. be they 22lr, factory whatever or my reloads; all still go boom.

 

[rcmodel]

It is not necessary.

Factory ammo with sealed primers use a drop of water-thin Lacquer.

Nail-Polish and other thick paints can flake off and end up in the firing pin channel during firing.

Get enough of it in there and you have a bigger problem then wet primers.

I have been reloading for about 47 years and have never sealed even one primer.

I have shot in the rain, hunted in the rain, and found shotgun reloads I dropped in a duck blind and recovered later when the water went down.

I have yet to have a misfire with one of my reloads.

rc

 

[MTS840]

Nail Polish on Primers?

I've been thinking about doing this on my carry ammo. Is this a good idea? Necessary? I get new carry ammo every 6months.

Where on EARTH do these ideas come from?!

I shot about 300 rounds through my new G30 SF recently including a few boxes of 12 year old Cor-bon 160 gr.! They all worked perfectly!

There have been guys who recently dug their WW2 1911s out of storage with the same ammo they were placed there with, and the ammo still works!

Quality factory ammo will keep for DECADES. Just load it up and keep shooting!

 

[rogertc1]

The only nail polish I have used is on ammo is .22LR. To seal between the bullet and case.

 

[Jubjub]

But it looks faabulouss!

 

[CypherNinja]

As long as you do it RIGHT, it won't hurt. Doing it wrong may cause jams or pressure spikes.

Most ammo marked "Self-Defense" or LE is factory sealed these days anyway.

 

[polekitty]

The primers in Sellier & Bellot are already sealed. Don't know what they use, but it's a retty color.

 

[Izaak Walton]

Nail polish (?) Of course followed by eye liner and a soothing cologne!



Running for the door!

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

On a side note, what exactly is the red stuff that Wolf uses for sealant on the x39 ammo?

I have a feeling it's not nail polish.
I'll keep that stuff off ammo that I want to go bang every time. You might as well slather some around where the bullet meets the case too, gotta seal every entrance. Throw some nail polish remover in your range bag in case of jams.

 

[B yond]

When I buy primers they come in a little plastic tray inside a cardboard sleeve. They are in no way protected from humidity or oxidation or anything else floating around in the environment.

I've never had a problem with primers other than light strikes, and that wasn't the primer's fault, it was a spring that needed replacing.

 

[B yond]

Nail polish (?) Of course followed by eye liner and a soothing cologne!

Didn't you mean shooting cologne?

 

[conw]

The GQ Style Guy did a short piece on nail polish for ammo a while back. The verdict was, it has to match your eye color.