Poll: Will this .45 Gold Dot cartridge fire or not?

[nitesite]

Vote YES or NO..... Deadline is October 10th.

Okay, so today my better half and I are doing the usual loads of laundry commonly associated with having a family of young boys. Let's just say that the piles of pants alone accumulate pretty rapidly. Hence, it's not always possible that we go through every pocket before throwing in the clothes.

So Kathy is removing pants from the dryer and she says: "Hmmmm... look what you left behind!" It's a Speer Gold Dot 230-gr cartridge that has gone thru a 14-minute wash cycle, plus two rinses. Then it goes into the dryer at what, about 220 degrees for 70 minutes being banged around after it exits the guilty pocket it resided in.

She grabs it up from the now-empty Kenmore and immediately tosses it to me as she screams (in her cute little shriek) "OhdamnthatsHOT!!!!"

My first thought? "Durn, thatsonofaguncostsaboutseventy-fivecentsandnowlookwhatIvedone~~~~" "Throw it out in the field and good riddance for my stupidity" I say. Then I decide that it still might GO-BANG.....

So I grab up a Sharpie laundry marker and commence to brand it so that it will not to ever go in a self-defense magazine (No.... not Combat Handguns... the other kind of magazine). It's still pristine, mind you.

And then the question forms in my feeble old brain.... "If it's maybe going to GO-BANG after this laundry cycle, that really says something about the round, but what are the odds that it will fire after TWO FULL CYCLES?????"

So without mentioning this to my lovely wife, this evening I slipped it into the white underwear load (with the hot/hot wash and rinse cycles) and another dryer experience

I ask you for your best guess as to what happens. And please, don't email me in case my wife reads it and finally learns that I've gone over the edge.

Vote YES or NO..... Deadline is October 10th.

 

[Daniel964]

Ya it'll go BANG

 

[Bill Z]

You better hope not, cause when she finds it this time she's gonna shove it .................................


but I think if you survive the experience, yes, it will fire in your pistol.

 

[tc300mag1]

luckie it didnt go bang in the dryer ive seen dryers where they have gone bang exciting i would guess probley not since it didnt go off..

 

[Shmackey]

Yes.

 

[wally]

I vote it will fire. Most modern ammo is pretty water tight. A single wash cycle is nothing in terms of corrosion.

Do tell the result.

--wally.

 

[g56]

It's a toss up, I've seen some water resistance tests on ammo, the ammo was submerged in water, this was on military ammo that is supposed to be water tight, it will take a dunk with no problem, leave it in the water and things start going downhill according to the amount of time the ammo was in the water, and the water resistance varied within the same brand and lot of ammo. If I remember correctly, the powder was wet on about 50% of the cartridges after 24 hours submerged, most could take an hour or two without problem, but introducing agitation would screw it up pretty good. I'd call the odds around 50/50.

 

[Redlg155]

I'm sure it will fire.

My only cocern would be that the tumble cycle of the dryer would have broken down the powder ganules, thus altering the burning rate. So, you could potentially have an overpressure round.

Good Shooting
Red

 

[esheato]

Well, first of all, what's nitesites definition of "bang?"

Primer only? Primer and weak powder ignition? Full-power load?

As for my vote, at least the primer if not more will react as intended. So a big YES on my part also.

Ed

 

[denfoote]

Been there. Done that!!

Yeah, it should work!! The couple I had that happen to did!! Never put loose rounds into yer pocket!!

 

[M2 Carbine]

Redlg155

I'm sure it will fire.

My only cocern would be that the tumble cycle of the dryer would have broken down the powder ganules, thus altering the burning rate. So, you could potentially have an overpressure round.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What Red said!!

This is the same reason you don't clean loaded ammo in your (reloading) case cleaner.

Most people think it's because a bullet nose could fire a primer.
Maybe possible but not likely.

Powder burning rate is controlled somewhat by shape and coating.
Tumbling powder can change both of these and make the powder burn much faster than designed.

 

[Joe Mamma]

I say yes. I don't think the washing is the issue. I think it's the hot temperture and tumbling in the dryer. I am anxiously awaiting to hear how this turns out.

Joe Mamma

 

[SLCDave]

I vote yes as well.

 

[45crittergitter]

Darn tootin' it'll go bang. But dont bet your life on it.

 

[JNewell]

Yes, it will go bang.

 

[silent one]

say nitesite,

I think it will shoot. One thing is for sure, after going through the washer, and dryer a couple of times, It will definately be a "CLEAN" shot


SILENT ONE

 

[Archangel]

I think it will fire.

But I think you should fire it over a chrono and compare with non-washed rounds to see if there's any difference.

 

[Feanaro]

I'd put a hun'erd dollars down on it firin', if I had it to pluck down.

 

[Lonestar.45]

I vote it will fire.

I can tell you one thing about .22 rimfires though. They weren't made to go in dryers......or vacuum cleaners. Trust me. Maybe it's those pesky rimfire .22's, they end up in places they shouldn't sometimes.

 

[Navy joe]

Washed and dried many a 9mm with no problems, all went bang. However, I went Whitewater rafting carrying my P3AT and spare mag. One week later I test fired the stuff without having cleaned or unloaded the gun. of 13 rounds only 4 fired, all 4 came from the spare mag that dried out quicker. Round was the Cor-bon HP which I have since decided doesn't expand worth a crap out of small .380s so I will no longer be using it. Considering going to sealing all my carry ammo to guard against sweat and the elements.

 

[albanian]

I would say that it should go bang. It might not but I have seen ammo go through much worse and still fire. I have washed and dried ammo and it still went off. I have shot 40 year old paper shotgun shells that worked fine. If it didn't go off, I would be surprised.

 

[BevrFevr]

BANG

If you put it in with the whites, I wonder what effect bleach may have on it. Bleach will react with Brass,copper and lead.

Have fun, but make sure that bullet don't lodge in that barrel and then you shoot another round.

-bevr

 

[SDC]

Ditto on the "Yes".

 

[R.H. Lee]

The burn rate might be an issue. Is that a compressed load? If not, can you hear the powder if you shake the round next to your ear? If the powder somehow got wet and clumped together it might not fire. I vote yes and no. Maybe. Probably.

 

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's Again nitesite-

You know, I got to go along with what my friends RED and the
silent one said, as it should really be a clean shot; but there is
a strong possibility that all the tumbling may have broken down
the granules to some degree? I'm not a powder expert by any
stretch of the imagination, but it does stand to reason that this
may have happened. Take Care and Be Safe my friend~

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member