What would ammo shelf life be before it starts degrading? I figured it would be a long time however someone who I think knows a lot the other day told me it would show a drop in reliability and performance in just a few years. He said loaded or components would show these effects in just a few years. He thinks even military ammo would degrade to some degree in 5-10 years. What are the opinions here I have been building up a good amount just because I can and would hate to think they will all be useless in 5-10 years. Thank you for you time and thoughts. PGG
Ammo shelf life before it starts degrading? Time to loss of performance & reliab
- Thread starter pgg
- Start date
The question is a tuff one, too many environmental variables to determine an absolute.
Best answers I've seen describe the primary problem of long term storage to be a minor cold weld of the bullet in the case neck affecting grip. And that issue of course affects pressure issues and the subsequent downrange groups to some degree.
Seating a tad long for storage, then bumping the bullet down to the final seating is said to help eliminate the problem.
Another issue I've heard of is a load developed when the guy lives in Denver, then years later he moves too St. Louis and the altitude change affects the load accuracy,
Beyond that, kept high-n-dry in a controlled climate environment I think primer and powder reliability and burn issues remain stable for decades.
Others milage may vary,,
Best answers I've seen describe the primary problem of long term storage to be a minor cold weld of the bullet in the case neck affecting grip. And that issue of course affects pressure issues and the subsequent downrange groups to some degree.
Seating a tad long for storage, then bumping the bullet down to the final seating is said to help eliminate the problem.
Another issue I've heard of is a load developed when the guy lives in Denver, then years later he moves too St. Louis and the altitude change affects the load accuracy,
Beyond that, kept high-n-dry in a controlled climate environment I think primer and powder reliability and burn issues remain stable for decades.
Others milage may vary,,
+1 on the comments above. Have fired 40+ year old CMP ammo released from various arsenals around the world and it seems to shoot fine.
Have also shot some exceptional scores with 20+ year old match grade .22 LR that I wish I had more of...
Best bet is a first-in, first-out approach to warehousing. Shoot up the old stuff and replace with new.
You can not shoot it when you are dead, so enjoy it while you can (of course keeping ample supplies to ward off the next invasion of your neighborhood...
Have also shot some exceptional scores with 20+ year old match grade .22 LR that I wish I had more of...
Best bet is a first-in, first-out approach to warehousing. Shoot up the old stuff and replace with new.
You can not shoot it when you are dead, so enjoy it while you can (of course keeping ample supplies to ward off the next invasion of your neighborhood...
Cigarcop said:
I am curious as to why you think there is a difference between a new round and a reloaded round of the same age.
The cold weld spoken about above is due to galvanic action between dissimilar metals (copper jacket alloy in physical contact with brass alloy), and that happen regardless of if the material is newly loaded or reloaded. The contact time and environmental conditions (such as high humidity or wide temperature swings) are the issue at hand with old ammo. The component powder and primers are relatively stable in a closed bottle environment. If the casing has corroded, it obviously looses strength, and the cold weld between the brass and the bullet can cause overpressure that can be dangerous.
PGG,
Your friend doesn't sound like he knows nearly as much as you're giving him credit for here. As others have touched upon already, it's a question of proper storage. Avoid high temps and extreme temperature swings, and loaded ammo is incredibly stable stuff. There's a couple of variables in play here, but generally speaking, if its been stored properly, ammo 50 years or so old is no problem whatsoever. I generally avoid using anything much older than this unless I know for a certainty that the ammo is both non-corrosive and non-mercuric. But yes, I've used old military ammo this old that shot as well as the day it was made.
Your friend doesn't sound like he knows nearly as much as you're giving him credit for here. As others have touched upon already, it's a question of proper storage. Avoid high temps and extreme temperature swings, and loaded ammo is incredibly stable stuff. There's a couple of variables in play here, but generally speaking, if its been stored properly, ammo 50 years or so old is no problem whatsoever. I generally avoid using anything much older than this unless I know for a certainty that the ammo is both non-corrosive and non-mercuric. But yes, I've used old military ammo this old that shot as well as the day it was made.
KevinThomas said:
Well he could read this and is a very nice man so we are all being nice! I was very shocked to hear his opinion on this thats why I post the question as I never felt that way about ammo. Regardless he said he had ammo go bad who am I to argue that point I was not there. I am very happy to hear that his opinion and experience on this is not the norm. Thank you to all who post and helped. Love this site. Great work PG
superlight93
Silver $$ Contributor
I have some orange box Tenex that was supplied to John Writer prior to the 1972 olympics. It still shoots so good that I have won many RBA matches in sporter class. Fellow shooters are in disbelief when they see that ammo on my bench.
PGG,
No offense intended, and I do apologize if it was taken that way. Just don't want to see you wind up tossing perfectly good ammo based on erroneous information, however well intended.
Primers have actually been a problem, and the US stayed with corrosive primers well into WWII due to longevity/storage life problems with some of the early mixes of non-corrosive primer compounds. We didn't fully make the switch until those issues were worked out, allowing for long term storage. Aside from that, season cracking of the brass was a problem for some very old (WWI vintage) ammo that had spent decades in storage, but that was largely a result of rushed wartime production and some QC issues witht he material itself. Powder itself, howver, is remarkably stable stuff. So long as we're dealing with good brass, and a modern priming mix, this stuff can be stashed away for incredibly long periods without developing problems, so long as the environmental conditions aren't too variable. Fairly steady temps and a reasonable humidity level, and you'll be good to go for decades.
No offense intended, and I do apologize if it was taken that way. Just don't want to see you wind up tossing perfectly good ammo based on erroneous information, however well intended.
Primers have actually been a problem, and the US stayed with corrosive primers well into WWII due to longevity/storage life problems with some of the early mixes of non-corrosive primer compounds. We didn't fully make the switch until those issues were worked out, allowing for long term storage. Aside from that, season cracking of the brass was a problem for some very old (WWI vintage) ammo that had spent decades in storage, but that was largely a result of rushed wartime production and some QC issues witht he material itself. Powder itself, howver, is remarkably stable stuff. So long as we're dealing with good brass, and a modern priming mix, this stuff can be stashed away for incredibly long periods without developing problems, so long as the environmental conditions aren't too variable. Fairly steady temps and a reasonable humidity level, and you'll be good to go for decades.
some years ago I bought several 270 win. in the old green klean bore boxes and it was in 150 grain round points teese were all factory shells boght out from some gun shop in Wyoming! Well over the years when I was shooting at the bench I would burn up a few for the cases because they would not group worth a darn! well every so often they would split a neck and the gas would come back at the end of the bolt because the rifle is one of the very first mod 54 ever made and does not have the hole in the side of the reciever to releave the gas! Well a couple of people noticed this and said I should reduce my powder charge wheras I told them that they were factory. they looked at the green box and said to call remington with the code on the flap whitch I did and they informed me that they were made in 1940 as I recall and this was 25 yeaars ago and the said do not shoot any more of them as brass hardens over time!1 How long I don't know? but that was my experience. RW
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