sealing with shellac

[SandSquid]

I was inspecting some of dad's old hand-loads and I notice all his primers had a drop of shellac to seal them to the brass and most of the boolits did as well. Most of his cartridges that I am shooting were loaded by him at least 30 years ago and they still go bang just fine. But in my recent entry into hand-loading I have not seen this mentioned so a few questions popped up:

Is this still done?

Is it necessary?

Was it ever necessary?

[Jammer Six]

The only other person I've heard mention that was the T-man, Actions By T, Teddy, and he's as crazy as a three balled billy goat.

[runfiverun]

a lot of US military ammo was sealed around the bullet with a tar like substance.
they done it to improve bullet pull, and the stuff is a pain to remove from the cases.
some of the steel jacketed ammo has a sealant thats lacquer like.
i have sealed a lot of my hunting shotshells with clear fingernail polish that i thin down and use a drip on the primer edge and the crimp.
they still sell a lacquer for doing this it's stained red as i recall.
it's just done as a waterproofer and it does work.

[Jammer Six]

Runfiverun, what is "bullet pull"?

[Paul B]

Runfiverun, what is "bullet pull"?

Not River Run but bullet pull is the amount of force needed to extract a bullet from a loaded cartridge. Used by ammunition manufacturors to measure crimp strength and uniformity.
Paul B.

[runfiverun]

it's altered by neck tension of the case.
the tension helps get the powder up and going before the bullet starts to move.
it is also important in accuracy especially in revolvers.

[Jammer Six]

I see. Thanks.

[versifier]

Years ago I used to seal all my hunting ammo necks and primers with clear nail polish. These days I don't bother. Never had a misfire in the field either way, but I figure it can't hurt if you want to bother with it.

And it might be really helpful if the ammo was exposed to penetrating oils/solvents like wd40 which ill-informed folks sometimes spray on their guns.

I found that clear nail polish is much easier than shellac, has its own brush right in it too. Don't know where the bottle of it went, possibly raided by the girls. Three daughters keep me supplied with red, orange, white, and black nail polish for touching up iron sights (they all shoot, and they know which colors are available seasonally and where to get them). I ought to get some more of the clear stuff just to have it handy, but I suppose there's no reason not to use transparent colored stuff to tell different loads apart more easily. Hmmm....

....They could sell it all at shooting suppliers in all the colors needed, four or five opaques for sights, and a full spectrum of transparents for sealing and marking.

I often have several different loads for a hunting rifle with different weight jacketed bullets and one or more cast designs. My favorite deer/moose rifle in .308 has all worked up and loaded for it varying amounts of 150, 165, and 180gr jacketed loads, 120, 150, 180, and 190gr cast loads, all in their own rows in a big square 100rd box. Different colored primer pockets would help me keep them all easily identified the next time the big box of mixed loads gets dumped by the thumb-fingered idiot I argue with in the mirror all over the kitchen floor at 4:30AM on opening morning....

Old dogs can learn new tricks. I will give my youngest some cash and a mission. Thanks for starting this thread and making me think about it again in a new way.

[Jammer Six]

The other place I've heard of sealing ammo is carry ammo.

[runfiverun]

i keep the clear around to fix the wrappings on my fishing poles also.
if the threads around the eyes get a little nick or scratch i use it to touch them up.
it's good to keep in the camp or fishing bag too, if you get a torn nail or a little annoying cut it can be used to keep the annoying part held in place or the nail split down till it grows out.
i have used it as an emergency glue for eyeglass lenses before also.

[SandSquid]

I like the idea of using different colors for different loads.

[Jammer Six]

Now we just need a Real Man (tm) to step forward, and go buy five hundred bottles of nail polish in a dozen different colors for all of us.

[Paul B]

Now we just need a Real Man (tm) to step forward, and go buy five hundred bottles of nail polish in a dozen different colors for all of us.

Buy? BUY?????? I just hijack my wife's when she ain't looking.
I use it to keep scope screws from backing out. Works almost as good as loctite and the screws are easier to get back out should you want to make changes. Just be sure you degrease them and the screw holes thoroughly.
Paul B.

[runfiverun]

i got a teenage daughter, i should buy stock in the fingernail polish company if they all have that much.
i never knew there were more nail polish colors than there are model car paint colors.
she has a 9x10x14 box full of them and a giant gallon sized bag of other colors as back up shades or sumthin.

[casullman]

I have developed the habit of sealing both primers and bullits all the time. I do this for the sake of consistancy. Somehow every hunting season, at one point or another, a cartridge finds it"s way to the snow. As for the range, the nail polish color idea might help to see flattening of the primer more distinctively and also for different loads. I'll have to raid the wife's hoard.

[shooter]

I never knew all the things you can do with nail polish. I just let the little lady go spend my money on her fingers and toes. What a great idea of putting a different color on the bottom of different loads for said caliber. My problem I would probably forget which color went with which load. Good Idea.