Get Ready for Summer Heat (and Humidity)

Proper storage of your reloading supplies is critical in protecting their performance, ensuring they

operate the way they’re supposed to operate, and preventing them from rusting or degrading. We’ve

talked previously on the blog about safely storing powders and other supplies along with keeping your

workstation clean, but as the seasons shift it’s important to take a moment to focus on another potential

reloading danger: humidity.

About Humidity and Reloading

When reloading, you want a little bit of humidity.

In a perfectly dry room, you’re encouraging the

occurrence of static electric sparks; it’s best to have

some humidity to prevent this from happening.

However, too much humidity can be a bad thing.

According to SAAMI (Sporting Arms and

Ammunitions Manufacturers Institute), high

humidity paired with large swings in temperature

can degrade the performance of your primers. Large

temperature changes and high humidity can also

degrade your cartridges.

Experienced reloaders have plenty of stories about humidity impacting their work. High humidity has

been seen to cause powder clumping, changes in burn rates, and more. Some reloaders have gone so

far as to claim different humidity in the loading process can impact the velocity of reloaded

ammunition. If you live in an area that is prone to high humidity, it’s best to work indoors when you

can and to use a dehumidifier to protect your process. You should also use proper storage containers

for all of your reloading supplies to prevent the humidity from hurting them.

You don’t need a completely dry environment — 40-50% humidity is totally fine and actually matches

up to recommended storage conditions for some smokeless powders. Just remember that humidity

shifts will affect the performance of your ammunition, so you should make an effort to reload at a

consistent humidity for consistent performance.

For further information or questions please contact us at 262-244-7023 or visit

www.TitanReloading.com.