"Shelf life" of your reloaded ammo?

[Cigarcop]

I do tumble with media, all necks get cleaned and brass is annealed every 4th firing....it just doesn't make sense to me when I have boxes of Federal Gold Match ammo thats over 10yrs old and still shoots some tiny holes.

 

[LRPV]

I have had 300 win ammo that I loaded and let sit for a year or so come out of the box with split necks when I got around to shooting them. That was before I kept any records as to how many times fired and such. They were kept in a good environment as well.

 

[Butch Syme]

I always date and put the outside tempature on every batch of handloads. If I shoot in the winter, Ill grab loads made for that particular tempature.
I wonder if you guys are seeing tempature / humidity issues?

 

[ChipEckardt]

I just shot .243 rounds that were loaded over 5 years ago from a bench at 100 yards and using a scope put 10 inside a 3 inch circle.

Chip

Bad grouping. Thought that was obvious, sorry.

Chip

 

[shootsanything]

I have read articals from 40 years ago - M1 Garand shooters would always set back the bullets issued by the CMP because of case welding. When we could get LC Match stuff I know guys who would pull them, clean the bullets in laquer thinner, the seat them long until the match and then seat at mag length the day of a match. Probably the cleaner the neck the worse the issue and why some shooters go to lengths to not remove the carbon from their necks.

 

[btm_54]

I loaded some virgin 308 win Winchester brass with Win 748, Win primers and 150 gr Silvertip bullets in 1984.
I sold the rifle I made them for in 1987. I found the rounds in my shed when I was cleaning stuff up last year. I wanted the brass so I shot them to save pulling them apart. I had no misfires and they were still MOA all I did was push the bullet in a "few thou".

 

[Larryh128]

I have seen neck tension increase for whatever reason on ammo that has sat awhile. All of my hunting ammo is fresh & I blow off any leftover loads from the previous year. My necks are lubed but it's seems like more of a tension change in the neck. Could be an under annealing situation.

 

[alf]

I shoot moly and I anneal after every firing, and I've proven to myself that it doesn't matter on rounds under a year old in my 1000 yard guns. I've never gone longer.

The first time I tried it, I shot ammo loaded in August the previous year, in April the following year, at the first match. First group out of the Light gun was a screamer.

After that, I never worried about waiting to load my ammo the week prior to a match. I load 'em them as soon as I have time to.

The other day, I did pull some moly bullets that had only sat a month, and I still couldn't pull them with the pliers style puller until I seated them another 10 thou to break the bond. So the cold weld effect is still there.

 

[Vaughan]

I just shot .243 rounds that were loaded over 5 years ago from a bench at 100 yards and using a scope put 10 inside a 3 inch circle.

Chip

Bad grouping. Thought that was obvious, sorry.

Chip

Now that was funny......

 

[DougMH]

I know if conditions are correct our ammo can last but..... I recently fired some ammo I loaded at the end of last summer with some crappy results!!

This ammo was for my 6.5x47 which I use for F Class so its a dialed in load. I went out with it last week before an F Class shoot and had terrible results with two different loads that were loaded last fall. So after scratching my head trying to decide what load to use if any!..I loaded one of the same loads up the night before the match and it was on fire again during the shoot! so what gives???

Is it possible from sitting for some time the neck tension changed?.. I did measure them before shooting and all lengths (base to ogive) were verified correct....Have any of you guys come across this...I have taken the rest of the ammo and moved them out a bit then reseated them to see if this corrects the problem but haven't had a chance to shoot them yet..

any help is appreciated!

On this and other forums, I've heard of neck tension changing somewhat. One guy used a K & M Arbor with Force Measurement and an expand Iron. He checked at the time he prepared the cases and after several weeks and found different readings. I suppose this could have been oxidation on the inside of the neck or he may have used something like Imperial Sizing Wax at prep time and it dried up after sitting.

I would say changes can be be minimized by annealing the necks of your cases after every firing. It would have less "spring back" than brass that was more brittle. Annealing after every firing does no harm whatsoever.

When we shoot CMP "As Issued" Service Rifle matches, we're often issued ammo with dates in the 50's and 60's. They shoot fine. Granted, these are not reloads.

Bottom Line. I think if the rounds are properly made up in the first place and stored properly, they should shoot as well after a year as the day they were made.

 

[Strut]

An old army sniper once told me that when setting up to shoot he was taught to roll and or shake the cartridges before fireing to make sure the powder wasn't caked or blocked inside. That could be another issue.

 

[djtjr]

Great timing on this thread, I took out a long range hammer this weekend and couldnt keep a half moa gun in a 2 inch circle. Sounds like a combo of oxidation sitting powder and perhaps neck tension due to probably most not annealing after every shot which perhaps explains factory loads not being as effected

 

[Cigarcop]

Well I appreciate all the feedback guys, what I'm taking from this and changing up is:
-Annealing cases more often
-perhaps leaving some carbon on the inside of my necks
-seating the bullets long if loaded some time prior to shooting

 

[dozernomore]

I think this post was absolutely excellent !
the only thing is, I know I got some handloads for my 22-250 that are going on two years old. DANG !!

 

[Cigarcop]

I think this post was absolutely excellent !
the only thing is, I know I got some handloads for my 22-250 that are going on two years old. DANG !!

Dozer, I would just bang the heads out a little with a kinetic hammer and reseat them.