22 lr life

[bheadboy]

I have some Fiocci 22lf match I used in Sil pistol until about 8 years ago --very accurate and an often winner with it.

just wondering - shelf life, hold onto it or shoot it up as time is diminishing its competitive ability.

Bob

 

[drover]

Some of the best shooting 22 lr match ammo I ever had was over 35 years old when I acquired it. It had spent its whole life stored in a cool dry basement, never a problem with it. Proper storage is the key.

drover

 

[snert]

I am down to my last two boxes of 1977 vintage T22...and it still shoots best in my 513T. I figure I have 100 more opportunities to shoot a squirrel....

 

[bheadboy]

hummmm, think I will take care of this stuff.

Bob

 

[Paddyd]

I store all my ammo in GI steel, air tight ammo cans down in my basement where the temp remains a fairly constant. I have some 8X56R headstamped 1938 and some LC 1953 30/06 that all shoot as good as new. All been stored for many many many years. As mentioned before keep it cool and air tight. Do this and it will outlive you.

 

[M-61]

I still have some "WHIZ-BANG" (CIL) from the late 50's when I was a boy. Storage conditions I have to say would have varied greatly over the decades but not to extremes. It still shoots fine which is more than I can say for the cardboard boxes it came in. Time has faded them but the ammo is good.

 

[dickn52]

It's good to go as long as the lead hasn't turned grey/white.

 

[StevenDzupin]

If they fire, what does a chronograph tell?

Consistent velocity with low ES ,you got a winner.

Regards,

Steve

 

[hunter243sgk]

I have a lot of old 22lr ammo and some of it is fine and some wont fire. As some of it was gave to me I don't know how it was stored but I bet that has a lot to do with it. Some of the old boxes sure are neat I save them just because of that.

 

[Hummer]

Many years ago smallbore prone shooters would remove a round from the ammo block, dip it in a jar with a sponge in it with a hole in middle and Hoppe's No 9 was in the sponge before putting it in barrel.

 

[michael martin]

I have some Fiocci 22lf match I used in Sil pistol until about 8 years ago --very accurate and an often winner with it.
just wondering - shelf life, hold onto it or shoot it up as time is diminishing its competitive ability.
Bob

I have some Fiocci 22lf match I used in Sil pistol until about 8 years ago --very accurate and an often winner with it.
just wondering - shelf life, hold onto it or shoot it up as time is diminishing its competitive ability.
Bob

In another life I was a Fire Marshal for the Fire Department here in town, and on occasion people would drop of ammunition for disposal. Usually a lot of shot shells, and .22 stuff.
One day a woman came in the office with a paper sack full of .22 rimfire ammo in 50 round boxes. She said her Husband had passed away and she had found the ammo on a shelf in a bedroom closet. She said it had been there for a very long time.
I took most of it out to the explosives bunker at our range, but kept a couple of boxes for myself. Couldn't hurt a thing, or so I thought.
A few weeks later I had a day off and decided to go out to my Brother-in-law's farm and do some Squirrel hunting. I packed up my Ruger MKII, and grabbed a box of the donated ammo. When I got there I loaded ten rounds into the magazine and headed for the woods.
As I was walking down a fence row I noticed a small tree near a fence post. Lo and behold, on a long branch about eight feet off the ground lay a big fat Red Squirrel. He had seen me, and was all stretched out hoping that I hadn't seen him. Silly Squirrel.
At a distance of only twenty-five, or thirty feet, I jacked the slide, took dead aim, and squeezed the trigger.
Click! Nothing happened. The Squirrel just laid there.
I jacked the slide again, re-aimed, and pulled the trigger.
Click! The Squirrel didn't move a muscle. Except maybe a facial muscle when he grinned.
I went through all ten rounds in the magazine before I decided enough was enough, and went back to car. As far as I know that Squirrel is still laying on that limb, probably laughing.
Thinking about my misfortune on the way home I came to the conclusion that the ammo was obviously bad. It had lain on a sometimes hot, sometimes cold shelf in an unventilated closet for many, many years, where the primer mixture had deteriorated to the point where it wouldn't ignite.
Would that Squirrel have known that?

 

[Shynloco]

I have some Fiocci 22lf match I used in Sil pistol until about 8 years ago --very accurate and an often winner with it.

just wondering - shelf life, hold onto it or shoot it up as time is diminishing its competitive ability.

Bob

Rimfire ammo "CAN" last a long time and actually depends on how it's been kept. By that I mean the atmosphere and temps it's been kept in. I have kept rimfire ammo that I had stored in a hallway closet at room temps that shot just fine some 15+ yrs later. I'd forgotten I had it and wasn't trying to set a record. Now if is competition ammo, you have to be careful how you store it and don't want the coating on the bullet exposed to higher (or irregular temps/up and down extreme temps) for more than 3 yrs and I would rotate it out (by shooting it up in practice) ALTHOUGH, I've seen UM1 (Olympic ammo) last for 10 years+ after being made and still shoot a very nice group. Just remember, rimfire ammo is amongst the most sensitive ammo around.

Alex

 

[CJ6]

I have some Remington Peters from the 30s (dads) it still goes bang, sometimes louder sometimes quieter, but it still fires.