doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Problems with Old Plastic Wads

I can't recall where it was, but about 15-20 years ago I read an article that warned reloaders not to use old plastic wads. Supposedly, there are chemicals such as phthalates and other plasticizers added to the plastic in wads and other products that make them soft and pliable. Supposedly, these chemicals degrade or dissipate over time causing old plastic to become brittle and stiff. I never saw that warning about old wads repeated here or anywhere else, but have thought about it. I was reminded of this in comments made by tw, Shotgunjones, and Stan in the current thread concerning Pressure Variance Between Fibre and Plastic Wads.





Another thing that prompted me to start this Thread was a stop at a local Flea Market last week. A vendor had a bunch of reloading supplies for sale. He had Five 25 lb. bags of Lawrence Brand Magnum and Chilled shot. I asked the price, and he said "$25.00 a bag, or $100.00 if you take it all." That was an easy decision. He also offered me a large box of Win. AA and Federal once fired empties in 20, 16, and 12 ga. for an additional $10.00, but I told him I didn't really need those. He then threw them in for free because he didn't want to take them home. I gave him the $100.00 for the shot, which was 3 bags of #8 and 2 bags of #7 1/2, and he then threw in another free bonus, which was 3 full bags of 12 ga. and 16 ga. Remington wads. They look and feel OK, but I have no idea how old they are. I always stock up on ammo and components when I find them cheap, so I don't have to pay inflated prices when Anti-Gun Democrats cause shortages or destroy the value of our dollars. So how old is too old?

I'm interested in hearing and learning more about this. I would think if wads can become brittle from age in the original plastic bag, then it could also happen to the wads in old loaded ammunition, where it would be impossible to see or feel without breaking down the shells. If nothing else, it could be a convenient excuse for some to use after missing an easy shot at a grouse.

Keith, you made out like a bandit on the deal. Congratulations!

The wads I had go bad were not notable in any other way. I have all my wads, in their original bags, on shelves where I reload. I probably have 25 bags of various makes and gauges. I was about to reload some shells, some years ago, and when I got down the wads I wanted and began to handle some of them I noticed the petals would just break off at the base. They had become brittle, having lost all pliability.

Wish I knew more about what contributes to this. All I can add is that most of the time my reloading premises is not heated or air conditioned, and there are no windows for direct sunlight to contact them. It's been years since I had that issue with those wads and I've never seen it recur. Because of that I lean towards thinking there may have been a difference in the composition of the plastic in a certain lot, that led to the deterioration.

Well, Keith, I made a “find” of my own a couple of weeks ago - two bags of the increasingly rare DR16’s supposedly from the original run of this wad. I don’t know when the wad was first released (perhaps someone here will know) but until your thread I hadn’t given a thought to the plastic degrading. I just went to the bench and opened a bag. The plastic is still soft and pliable. Whew.

The F114 wads I reported failing actually disintegrated upon firing. Fragments were found a few yards downrange after being noted in the air.

There were no physical abnormalities found with the remaining wads.

Plastic is known to degrade with age. It can get brittle.

Oxidation or gassing out? I've fired a good many old shells with plastic wads and never noted anything like the F114's blowing up.

Stuff I loaded for field use 20 years ago still seems viable, but the Remington wads were fresh when loaded. Ditto a flat of Federal Champions that I finally got tired of looking at and shot up this year. They were about 15 years old.

Interesting topic for more research.

Again, this is 'in my experience.' The only wads where I've encountered rot & brittleness have been older Winchester AA wads that were still in their original plastic bags. My thought is that there is an incompatibility between the two plastics that is causing this degrading but like one of our former members who has left the range used to say, "I could be wrong.' I say that because I've used even older Winchester AA wads that were packaged in cardboard boxes when they were first made available for sale that exhibited no sign of degrading and had remained very pliable... and therefor don't consider that there would be anything to worry about in an older factory loaded round, where the wad is concerned. Any Winchester AA wads in plastic packaging I deem suspect and 'test' for pliability by folding a petal back against several of the wad's sides and seeing if it returns to its original place.

I did experience some issues at one time with another short-lived brand of aftermarket 12 ga wad that was made w/an unsuitable plastic and also was blowing through the top of the over-powder portion of the wad on firing and the seller of those wads made me whole, when I pointed out the flaws & reason for my dissatisfaction to him. AFAIK, none of those wads are to be found anywhere... at this late date.

I've also used numbers of quite old plastic Remington Power Piston™, Federal 12 C-1 & 2 wads, 28 ga Federal Pushin Cushion™, 20 ga Wind Jammers and even Herter's 12 ga 'Chalice' and Lage Uni-wads that were all as pliable as the day they were made, even though many were 30+ years old. No degradation in the plastics used being noted.

Apparently, the problem does exist, but isn't as serious or as common as that old article I read warned. I wish I could recall where I saw it.

I normally have most all of my ammo and reloading components in my basement, which is heated in the winter, and cool and dry in the summer. The walls are poured concrete, and I learned after one summer to avoid leaving the door or windows to the outside open for any length of time. Doing so permits the hot humid air to come in and begin to condense on the much cooler concrete. If I keep things closed, I rarely need to run a dehumidifier, even when outdoor hunidity is highest.

So far, the only ammo storage problem I ever had was with some old Winchester promo field loads that I had bought probably 20 years earlier at a going out of business sale of a gun store. Those had spent several years in another basement that wasn't as dry as mine. Several shells were hard to chamber, and I noticed that the plated steel heads were a bit swelled, and had cracked. I didn't try to fire the shells that had small cracks, and the others seemed ok. I wish now that I had cut open the cracked ones to examine the wads and other components.