I know this thread probably better belongs in the reloading/ammo section. But since I know that there are members here that live in Louisiana, and the parts of Texas which border the gulf, that have dealt with similar types of problems, I figured that I would ask here first.
A friend of mine lives out in Long Island, NY, and after Sandy, I gave him a call, to see how he made out. I was lucky with just having a tree land on my house, causing minor damage since it was growing close to the house and didn't have a chance to gain momentum, he wasn't quite as lucky since his house was flooded with 2 feet of water. Luckily his firearms were stored above the flood line except for two handguns which when recovered were cover with rust. We're working on trying to save them.
The problem, he had over 2K rounds of ammo which was submerged in salt water for an unknown length of time. He went back to his house a week later after the water receded. I helped him go thru the ammo, throwing out all the paper boxes plastic holders, and drying them out. The shotgun ammo is corroded beyond help. I told him to cut the shells and save the shot.
As far as the 1K+ rounds of .223 ammo , and 1K+ rounds of .45acp, and .357Mag. Some of the ammo is tinged with green, and some is corroded, and has rust (.223 ammo) on it. What can be done. Can they be safely (I sorted out the ones that looked better than the rest) used? Just try to salvage the brass and heads? or just dump them? If I dump/recycle them, what about the unfired primers?
The pistol ammo is all (US made) factory stuff, no reloads. The .223 ammo is all Wolf (steel cases).
If you recommend we use it up as range ammo, should we rinse this stuff off with water first (to remove the salt), then dry. Or just fire it?
I'm especially looking for advice from those that had this problem first hand (Katrina victims), Galveston folks, etc. Thanks for any and all advice.