shotgun shells and water

got back from dove hunting yesterday, I had all my gear stored dry in my ice chest. it started raining sometime yesterday evening and thru the nite.

I figured my gear would be fine, but when i went out there at noon, my ice chest had about 3 inches of water in it.

in there was my mojo decoy (which was unharmed due to the styrofoam container) and two boxes of AA's, two boxes of remington premier nitro gold, and one box of cheapie winchester super X.

all five boxes got soaked, i picked them up, dried them off individually and threw the boxes away, all look good, but I"m wondering if they are okay to shoot?

i normally would throw them away,but is close to $50 in shells.

I would still use them, esp through a pump, but that's just me, I know if rust started to build on the casings, then I'd think twice.

Test a couple before you go hunting. If they look real corroded don't use them, but if they just have a couple little spots then hit them lightly with some steel wool. I wouldn't worry about it too much. As long as they're not rusted to the point where you think they'll explode, the worse they could do is not fire. I've had the Super X duck loads totally underwater when duck hunting and they all shot every time. Just don't try and dry them off in the microwave!!!

no rust, they look good as new, i was worried about the powder

Shoot 'em up!!

they should go bang

Give them as much time as possible to "dry out" and you will be fine shooting them.

Put them in the oven for a while @ 225......
Just kidding.. Please do not do that.

Give them plenty of time to air dry. I would say put them in the sun but there isn't any.

I dont think drying is going to help your situation. Wet primers are wet already, and drying will more than likely not help. I have done this exact thing only ours were in the ice chest in the bed on the way home from a dove hunt. They were completely drenched and we had no issues. Just pay attention and watch out for misfires or weak shots, a wad stuck in the barrel is bad business.

matt

No you better not use the wet shells . But I will come by and take them off your hands

i'm going hunting today.

if they don't work then you can come get them at no charge

Let me tell you a story about wet shells. In the early 70's I was duck hunting in the rain. Apparently some of the shells were wet. Most of them fired OK except one. A bunch of scaup came over the decoys real low and I fired. The first shell must have been wet because the primer made a pffft sound, I ejected the shell and took a second shot at the ducks. There was an enormous explosion that made my ears ring for two days, and I had a headache for the rest of the day. At the end of the barrel was a swell that looked like when glass blowers blow into a glass pipe to make a glass vase. I guess the first shell failed to fire and left the shotcup and pellets in the barrel. When the second shell ignited there was a build-up of gases and possibly some unburned powder. I am lucky the barrel didn't explode and kill me with shrapnel. I had the barrel cut down by Jess Briley in Houston, TX and got one of the first threaded choke tubes ever made. I still have and treasure that gun today, but never shoot old shotgun shells. It aint worth saving the money.