Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Keep Your Powder Dry!

Many people who store ammo use 50 cal ammo cans and silica gel desiccant packets to absorb moisture.  I have seen various arguments against using desiccant in various forums.  Some will say they have ammo they have stored for decades without desiccant and it works just fine.  Or that military surplus ammo is already waterproof.  They don't explain why the military bothers to store it in waterproof cans if it's already waterproof.  Nobody says that using desiccant harms your ammo.  I have seen corroded ammo, although I confess that it still worked.  Still, I would rather play it safe.  Silica gel packs are not very expensive and can be purchased from most retailers that sell firearms accessories.  That being said, you can easily make them yourself for next to nothing.  A 4# bag of silica gel kitty litter sells for $4.17 at Walmart.  I have heard that rice will also work, but my understanding is that silica gel is the superior desiccant.


I just happened to have a 1 gallon can of government issue desiccant that was given to me by a friend who was cleaning out his garage.


I searched the internet to find out how much silica gel is ideal for an ammo can.  I saw answers ranging from 10 g to 40 g.  Supposedly, 40 g will keep a 3 cubic foot area dry.  I tried making a packet with 40 g, and it a bit too big, so I went with 25 g.


I used coffee filters (8-12 cup basket type) and weighed them on a kitchen scale.  I swear that scale read 25 g right before I snapped that pic.  I found that 2 heaping tablespoons was just about 25 g.


Gather up the edges until it looks like a teabag that is about 2" across the top.


Fold over the top edge and staple.


Toss it in with your ammo and close the can.

They say that you can "recharge" silica gel by baking it in an oven at 200 deg for 3 hours.  I plan to recharge them once a year.

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