[john l]

Guys,
Does anyone have any real experience with how long shotgun shells can be stored in a mag tube before they expand and can cause a malfunction?

I don't plan on doing this anyway, but it would be nice if I went on a week long camping trip and didn't have to worry about a malf. on day #6 when a bear is nibbling my toes.

I am interested in any opinions or experiences, and I apologize if this question has been covered recently.

thanks,
john l

[loudernhel]

John,

I think we used to replace all the ammo in the shotguns at the police department once a year. The mag tubes were kept loaded 24/7 and the guns were administratively loaded and unloaded at the begining of each shift.

Occasionally I would find a round where the hull was a little worn or dented and replace it because I'm that kind of guy.

I don't know the exact answer to you question but it's alot longer than a week.

Enjoy your camping trip.

Regards,
David

[Dave McCracken]

Ammo kept in the ready shotguns here gets changed every 6 monhts or so, and I've gone a year without probs.

At my last institution, tower shotguns were left with ammo unchanged until the shells started leaking buffering material or telescoped in the magazine. Dunno how long this took, when I made enough rank and had enough clout, we checked the ammo monthly and replaced any that looked suspect. The old ammo was used for training.

I fired off all the bent and leaky shells once. All that could be chambered fired OK.

A week or so, no sweat....

[dfariswheel]

Premium brand shells last longer without problems.

I've had cheaper shells bulge in as little as 1 month.

Local cops tell me the problem is exacerbated by storing in a hot car in an upright gun rack.

[Coronach]

We keep the shells in our cruiser guns 24/7, and administratively load/unload at the beginning/end of each shift. After a while the rounds start looking ragged, and someone (for my cruiser, me) changes them out whenever they start to look too frayed at the front, too chewed up on the rim, or the crimp starts to leak the buffering compound.

I've never seen a round fail to cycle, but usually there is one officer per shotgun who takes the adage "choose life" to heart and changes the rounds before they really start to go sour. :uhoh:

Note that it is the repeated cycling that causes the problems I've seen, not static storage in the tube. You're absolutely fine leaving them in place for a few months, I'd wager.

Mike