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Silicone kills bullets
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:08 am
by pipestone
I recently pulled out my two most favorite pistols and began loading mags for a cabin fever kind of day, target shoot.
Had a box of dyna- points left from early last summer that had got shoved to the back of the bench. This particular box had been spayed down with silicone for my speed feeder.
Outside, set up targets; First shot," bang", oh that triggers sweet... second shot, "click", hey!!!... eject, "click", hey!!!...eject, "click", hey..yyyyyy!!!!!!!!
After pulling a few shells from a non-silicone box to troubleshoot; bang- bang- bang went the shells. Got the post hole digger out and layed ~500 rnds. to rest.
pipestone

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:56 pm
by Fast Frank
Yep, it's true.
A long time ago, I had a box of bulk .22s that got rained on.
The box turned to mush and I was afraid that leaving the bullets wet would lead to corrosion.
I threw the bullets out on an old towel and sprayed them down with WD40.
The stuff is supposed to displace water, right?
I rolled those bullets around on the towel and tried to pick the cardboard mess off.
Then I stuck them in a Tupperware bowl.
About a month later, I got a chance to shoot... and not a single one of them fired.
It killed the whole box.
I won't do THAT again!
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:19 am
by Song Dawg
I use WD-40 to neuter a bad handload for my .22-250. It renders the primers null & void!
However, I do spray my "Ultimate Clip Loader", (not the rounds) with a quickie of silicon to keep the plastic smooth.
SD
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:42 am
by Bullseye
WD-40 is a great penetrating oil for making bad rounds (duds) inert. This is the first I've heard of silicone spray achieving the same result but obviously it has penetrating qualities too.
R,
Bullseye
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:46 am
by toyfj40
Bullseye wrote:WD-40 is a great penetrating oil for making bad rounds (duds) inert.
This is the first I've heard of silicone spray achieving the same result but obviously it has penetrating qualities too.
Uh-oh... what about using a 'silly-cone' based Sizing-Lube
for my .223 & .308 cases... ?
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:55 am
by Bullseye
I'm not entirely sure what is causing the problem since this is the first I've heard of silicone deactivating cartridges. I suspect it has more to do with the spray propellant rather than the silicone itself. Your bullet lube is thicker, more waxy, than a penetrating lubricant. Have you had any failures to detonate with your reloaded rifle ammo since you started using that silicone lube?
R,
Bullseye
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:44 am
by bearandoldman
Bullseye wrote:I'm not entirely sure what is causing the problem since this is the first I've heard of silicone deactivating cartridges. I suspect it has more to do with the spray propellant rather than the silicone itself. Your bullet lube is thicker, more waxy, than a penetrating lubricant. Have you had any failures to detonate with your reloaded rifle ammo since you started using that silicone lube?
R,
Bullseye
Got to agree with you on that Bullseye, it is most likely the volatile carrier in the spray and not the silicone. Silicone is a dry lube but the carrier is a volatile solvent of some kind and may be causing the problem. I have used Ace silicone spray on my Wally World bulk ammo so that it funs through the Ultimate Cliploader better and have had no problems, but the ammo gets used up in a few weeks and does not set for a long period.
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:05 pm
by toyfj40
Bullseye wrote:Have you had any failures to detonate with your reloaded rifle ammo since you started using that silicone lube?
well... no, BUT... I still have a 'stash' in reserve...
ya'll have a safe/happy holiday.
I'll likely be Off-the-air for a while...
to return after new-years...
--toy
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 1:30 pm
by Jolly Rogers
Well now...this may account for the 10 or 15 duds on my last box of wallyworld Federal bulk. I sprayed the cliploader and hit the rounds in the box for a coupla seconds. Didn't soak them down but maybe....
I will not spray the next box and I'll monitor the situation to see if the dud round count decreases. Thanks for the tip in... Glad someones got the gray matter fired up!
Joe
Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:18 am
by pipestone
The Winchester X-perts haven't been all that great. Burns clean but dud count has been high, no more Dyna points at wally world any more.
Called K-mart to see about the Dyna points; yes they have them...............................24 bucks for brick, can you believe that ? A little over a year ago ~14 bucks.
pipestone

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 9:26 am
by Bullseye
Yes I believe it. I mentioned the Kmart price jump in another thread. Maybe they're strategy is to eliminate this product through slow sales. I cannot imagine buying Dynapoints For $24/500 when wally world is selling the Federal bulk at $10/550 rounds. For me, the Fed Bulk shoots every bit as well as Dynapoints. The Winchester ammo isn't all that special and when I consider that I get my CCI-SV for about $28/500, there's no reason for me to buy Dynapoints anymore.
R,
Bullseye
Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 6:25 pm
by pipestone
Seemed like when I got my first MK11 I had a bulk box of Federal, partially consumed that didn't run well, I immediately stop using it -never went back.
Worked o.k. in my rifle.
Maybe I'll try a brick and see, could have been all in my head.Still looking across the net for buying bulk.
pipestone