[Im283]

There was a thread about whether or not you practice with your self defense rounds. Some people claim they shoot them occasionally and as a side benefit it help them keep fresh ammo on hand.

My question is this. How long will a round last in storage? I have some old surplus ammo that works fine and is near 60 years old. How long will a box of Hydra Shocks last (stay fresh) sitting in my ammo locker?

[CWL]

You've already answered your own question.

This is actually a common question for this board and the general concensus is that modern ammo should last for decades if stored away from high heat and humidity (even though WWII ammo has survived for decades in the Phillipines).

[kannonfyre]

Many people say that rounds will go bang even after being kept in gawdawful conditions for decades. Yes....it will go bang but the EXTENT of the bang is another thing altogether.

I once fired a OLD and corroded box of British ICI manufacturered "KYNOCH" .38 special cartridges. Only about 30 out of 50 of the rounds went off with a acceptable bang. The other rounds either failed to go off or only registerted "partial detonations" with the shots landing 6 to 7"s below the point of aim. These .38 rounds were 50+ years old at the time of firing.

Personally, I believe that 90% humidity, exposure to oil and less than ideal storage conditions will limit the storage life of ammo to as little as 2 years of less before muzzle velocity begins to drop and primers fail to work. \

However, if ammo is kept in air-tight boxes with copious amounts of dessicant and in an environment with a constant and tolerable room temperature, ammo should be able to last for at least 15 years without any drop in performance.

[Geno]

This past year, I conducted a Corbon Ammunition in Rem Oil, 30-day Submerssion Test. I did this test of ammunition sealing, because the employees where I shoot indoors were saying, "Don't store your ammo in your fire-resistant gun vault! The humidity will contaminate your ammo and when you pull the trigger, all you'll hear is click! If you want, you can bring that ammo in here and we’ll dispose of it for you."

I took a can of Rem Oil (spray oil), and a box of 20 rounds of Corbon, Self Defense Loads, 45 ACP+P Caliber, 165 Grain Pow'Rball. I placed the 20 rounds into a glass bowl. Next, I sprayed the 20 rounds with Rem Oil (from an aerosol can). I sprayed them until they were completely covered in Rem Oil. I left these 20 rounds of ammo completely submersed in oil for an entire month…30 days…in the vault! At the end of a 30-day test-period, I removed them from the bowl from the vault, removed the 20 rounds from the Rem Oil and washed them in soap and water :evil: and dried them with paper towel.

Next, using vice-grips, I de-capped one round to verify if there had been any "contamination". There was none. The powder was completely dry and flowed from the brass with ease. Next, I inserted the de-capped brass into the chamber. With only a primer loaded in the brass, I pointed the pistol in a safe direction and pulled the trigger. The primer did as was designed...pop!!! Next, I placed the gunpowder on sheet of tinfoil and lit it with a match. The powder burned flawlessly. Assured now that the rounds, likely, had not been contaminated, I proceeded back to the indoor range where the workers had advised me to bring my ammo to them to be disposed. I shared the results of my study, and told them that I would now be in the range test-firing my 19 remaining rounds to authentic their condition.

All 19 rounds fired flawlessly, accurately, and with full power. My impressions. If 30 days completely submerssed in Rem Oil, then hand washed with soap and water will not contaminate 20 rounds of ammo, I seriously doubt sitting in a vault will or on a shelf will. The fact that Mil Surp ammo, that is in excess of 60 years aged, still fires is proof enough of the longevity-test. JMHO.

Doc2005

[Cowboybootnut]

I have fired 20 year old military surplus ammo with no problems and good accuracy. I have fired my reloaded ammo that was 20 years old with the same results. I think most ammo, stored properly, could almost outlast the life expectancy of the shooter.

Remember, Oswald shot Kennedy with 20 year old ammo (I believe). ;)

Always look at the ammo first for signs of corrosion.

[NavyLCDR]

Still working through a case of 7.62X39 Yugoslavian mil surp from 1979 and never had one failure yet after about 1400 rounds. The tins were just opened about a year ago, though.

[barnetmill]

"Remember, Oswald shot Kennedy with 20 year old ammo (I believe). " I try to keep my response on track here. At about that time in 1960's I was at the fox valley rifle range in Illinois and saw a military 6.5 carcarno empty that had a hole in the case head a little above the extractor groove in the range headquarters building. I asked and was told that while the rifles were sound, there was problem from the surplus ammo(Loaded in the 1930's to early 40's
) blowing up these rifles. Remember these rifles and ammo made a trip to northafrica and then stored who knows how for 40 years. Anyway even military ammo can go bad with time and become dangerous.

I did a little earlier (1960) fire a 6.5 with original ammo and it worked fine.

"Oswald shot Kennedy" there is no evidence that he did. No eyewitness, no solid forensic evidence, no trial since he was shot the next day by a mob connected strip club owner (Ruby died of cancer a little later) and all records of Oswald's police interogation disappeared.

[Im283]

Thanks for the replies, I feel safe that my Federal Hydra Shocks will last into the foreseable future.

[Cowboybootnut]

barnetmill,

I was being a little tongue in cheek with that comment. :D

[barnetmill]

Cowboybootnut:
I can accept that as being a little tongue in cheek.
But I still can not accept that forces within the US government can knock off a US president and get away with it. But then that is topic for a different thread.

[BobMcG]

I have a shelf I've stored ammo on for 26 years and the shelf is still holding up just fine. I figure I'll be able to use it for at least another 26 years. :p :D

[RNB65]

Exactly 1,000 years (aka, a millennia).

Trust me, I know.

:)

[glockman19]

Stored properly in air tight ammo cases with silicon bags ti should last a lifetime.

[Shrinkmd]

I love these threads, less controversial than 9mm vs 45 or mosin vs mauser, but similar.

I think the problem with looong term storage is that it is all corrosive, right? The 50 year old corrosive stuff goes bang no problem, but isn't the current US Army spec for noncorrosive ammo 20 years? I want more GP11, but its already 25 years old. Should I shoot it sooner rather than later?

It would have been funny in one of the Planet of the Apes movies for them to find an old Mosin, dust it off, open up a fresh tin and start plinking away, a zillion years in the future.

[Geronimo45]

Rechambering a round repeatedly (as some do with their autos - get home, empty the chamber...) can wear away your rim - which could cause failures to extract.
As for storage... .22s (for reasons I can't explain) can and do go bad... IME, they go bad much easier/more quickly than centerfires will.
Keep away from major temperature fluctuations and high humidity. Or just shoot a lot.

[Geno]

Most .22LRs don't have the extreme tight fit that centerfire rounds have. If you pick up a round of .22LR and twist, you can actually spin the lead slug inside of the cartridge. Try that same test with a round of 9MM, 45 or any other centerfire. You can't spin the centerfire round, or at least you should not be able to do it. That tight fit nets an air-tight seal. To safe guard, some companies also seal their rounds. By the way, I do not store either rimfires or shotgun shells in the vault. I have always suspected that they do not have sifficient tightness to create an air-tight seal the way a centerfire brass cartridge does.

Doc2005

[JohnBT]

I've never had any problems with old ammo. Granted, I shoot most of it up within 15 or 20 years, but the second-floor bedroom heat and humidity hasn't hurt any of it. (I like fans, I didn't even take the window AC unit out of the closet last summer.) I suppose if I wanted to store ammo in my damp cave of a basement I'd seal it up, but the ammo cans would rust like everything else down there that isn't oiled, greased or protected with a GoldenRod.

I buy old paper shotgun shells at the gun show and they shoot and who knows where they've been - although I know they haven't been wet enough for the shells to swell.

John

[aka108]

Best groupings I ever shot from a 6.5 Swede was with some ammo mfg in 1924. Wish I had cases of the stuff. This was last year so it was 82 years in the box.