Yeah - I don't get concerned with any short-term storage at all. I moly all my long range bullets so that is never a problem - but I do hold off on any pre-loading bare bullets to within a few days of shooting if important to me. It is said to make a difference - but the way I shoot anymore - who knows....
-AlWe know that differences in seating force affect accuracy. We know that cold welding has an extreme effect on the amount of force that it takes to move a bullet in a case neck. Just because you have not experienced a thing does not mean that it does not exist, or that it is not important to shooters who have a lot of time and money invested in winning matches. What we cannot do is determine if there is cold welding by inspection of ammunition. That is the problem.
I loaded ammo for this years europeans at Bisley
I didn't assert that it doesn't exist only I, personally, haven't detected any performance issues with reloads that have sat from season to season. Also, I do not shoot matches so if this is the norm for this shooting sport then I guess that settles the issue for that discipline.
I have had old ammo that still shot spectacularly well after a year to three years. While cold welding is definitely a real thing - there are so many variables, it is impossible to say ALL ammo will have deteriorated at a certain point. Figure one guy who hasn't ever subjected his cases to pins or liquid cleaners to remove all the carbon in many-times fired cases will see nothing compared to a guy using virgin clean brass, etc. And even if there was cold welding in the short term - while it might raise velocity a bit - if they all cold welded roughly the same amount, it is possible that the actual velocity spread isn't as much as one would think - even though the overall velocity of the batch increased. If the overall increase in velocity doesn't take one out of the node - bullets might still shoot relatively accurately. We can even do controlled experiments by dunking inert ammo in liquids for timed periods, measuring extraction force, etc. - but even with the added bond - they "might" still shoot good. Guess it just depends on how bad they get - to the point where there is very uneven release or significant pressure increases that turn a good vibe into a bad one. I haven't shot a 30BR, and particular 6PPC and 6BR barrels in several years and I have loaded ammo from back then that was for practice. I'm going to make a point to chrono each batch and compare to when originally loaded (I'm a chrono nut) and see how the targets fare. Will be interesting. I have thought of these things a lot in the past but never had ammo to put to the "test" from a longer-term perspective.A short bit to chew on:
My good pal, the late Dr. Mike Kihne, had a very good 3OBR VFS gun. He took several years off from BR to tend to his ailing mother. When he got back to shooting again, he had 125 rounds he'd loaded five years previously with my 117's and H4198. He shot those at his first tournament after his layoff.
Won the 100. Won the 200. Won the Grand (obviously).
Good shootin'
I'm guessing that is more of a "preservative" to keep the bullets from tarnishing - but do not know for fact. It is conceivable it might act as a permanent "lube" to help resist cold weld. Pure speculation on my part, though.
Agreed however it's a worthy observation to bring here as use of different projectiles might have different susceptibility to neck welds. Just what this oiliness is IDK, tarnish protectant or residues from bullet swaging.
Don’t be silly, you don’t need to clean if you shoot cold welded loads.
That will heat things up for sure! I proposed a bore scope image contest to see who can produce the best image after cleaning. The winner will win a gallon of Sweet's Copper Remover.
I mentioned somewhere in this thread that I use danzac coated bullets. With it, I've still seen bullet weld happen. Again, not sure what exact circumstances make it occur but moly is hygroscopic so I would assume it might even contribute to it rather than preventing it because of that, but like others, I'm guessing here.
