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As long as it's kept protected, it can actually last a LOOOOOONG time. I still have boxes of 22 cal. "shorts" that I'm comfortable using and they stopped making them YEARS ago. As long as the brass isn't "growing" anything and the ammo is kept dry, I think it's ok. Back when they were making shotshells out of waxed paper I would have been concerned about old ammo, but now with plastic I wouldn't hesitate.
Give it to kids to play with so the dog isn't outside by himself with his bowl of radiator fluid?
I've always been told to not let it go too long. But then, that could simply be an excuse to shoot more ammo!!!!!
LOL
The last time I got a new car battery the sales guy asked if I had the old one for the core charge and I said "No, I already burried it in my backyard with my old oil and radiator fluid." I got the
Hi.
Any decent ammo lasts a lifetime, so to speak
. As a kid in 80's I dug up old stuff from the WW2 battle site in our summer home grounds, including some ammo. The few live ones were in quite a bad shape as can be expected for having been buried in the soil some 40 years .
My uncle uncapped 'em an we burned the gunpowder. It did burn, but the flame was quite erratic and there was some residue and unburned stuff left so the round probably wouldn't have fired in the chamber.
That assured me that ammo stays functional and lethal longer than expected, even if not stored properly.
In the army we did shoot some older 9mm rounds, and the problem with semi-automatic and automatic weapons seemed to be somewhat higher misfiring and jamming rate. So if You are shooting old rounds, make sure that every slug clears the barrel before the next one, or the rest of the ammo may well outlive the operator. Semis were sometimes bad, automatics just wouldn't load so there's no real danger. As we were told that something might happen we didn't worry too much about it.
Just my 0.02€
Sam
Any decent ammo lasts a lifetime, so to speak
. As a kid in 80's I dug up old stuff from the WW2 battle site in our summer home grounds, including some ammo. The few live ones were in quite a bad shape as can be expected for having been buried in the soil some 40 years .My uncle uncapped 'em an we burned the gunpowder. It did burn, but the flame was quite erratic and there was some residue and unburned stuff left so the round probably wouldn't have fired in the chamber.
That assured me that ammo stays functional and lethal longer than expected, even if not stored properly.
In the army we did shoot some older 9mm rounds, and the problem with semi-automatic and automatic weapons seemed to be somewhat higher misfiring and jamming rate. So if You are shooting old rounds, make sure that every slug clears the barrel before the next one, or the rest of the ammo may well outlive the operator. Semis were sometimes bad, automatics just wouldn't load so there's no real danger. As we were told that something might happen we didn't worry too much about it.
Just my 0.02€
Sam
If you take care of it it will keep as long as you're around.
Put it in an ammo can... put some dessicant in it and don't open it. I know it's tempting to pour it all out and roll around in it, but resist...
For good, cheap desiccant, buy a bag of the cat litter crystals. They're silica gel. If they're blue, heat them in the oven at 150 to drive out the water. Put some in the middle of a coffee filter, fold it in half and staple the edges to hold in the crystals.
You'll have enough desiccants to last a long, long time.
Put it in an ammo can... put some dessicant in it and don't open it. I know it's tempting to pour it all out and roll around in it, but resist...
For good, cheap desiccant, buy a bag of the cat litter crystals. They're silica gel. If they're blue, heat them in the oven at 150 to drive out the water. Put some in the middle of a coffee filter, fold it in half and staple the edges to hold in the crystals.
You'll have enough desiccants to last a long, long time.
it's blue when dry, pink when it's absorbed water
yes. ammo can go bad... you get a higher percentage of misfires and hangfires the older it is. We always used the old stock for practice and new stock for competitions.
I thought it was whitish/clear, then blue... must have been thinking of something else.
Thanks for the correction... I haven't bought any yet... although I did pick up another 550 rds. of .223 for $110 today, and two LEO/Military Only Colt magazines.
Thanks for the correction... I haven't bought any yet... although I did pick up another 550 rds. of .223 for $110 today, and two LEO/Military Only Colt magazines.
Back in the '80's when I was the armorer & a treadhead (M60A3's) we had PALLETS of WWII .45 ball that we had to fire up with grease guns. Can you imagine actually getting tired of full-auto fun? We did. And so did our thumbs. We had a little mag reloading tool that didn't work worth a crap. After the third or fourth hour that puppy worked a helluva lot better to us... 
Edited to add: I don't remember a single misfire with that stuff but you shouldda seen the circus we had when a 105mm HEP was a FTF. Serious poopoo.
Edited to add: I don't remember a single misfire with that stuff but you shouldda seen the circus we had when a 105mm HEP was a FTF. Serious poopoo.
If you keep in a cool dry place you'll have fired it all long before the powder gets old. Black powder does have a shelf life, but that's hardly ever used anymore in firearms.
Do NOT however store a loaded magazine or a loaded weapon unless not doing so defeats the purpose. It's not only a dangerous idea from a safety standpoint, but the oil from the inner workings of the magazine or pistol can get inside the shells and "kill" the secondary. When that happens you're likely to get a bullet stuck in the barrel, and the next round fired will almost certainly be the gun's last, and it could be yours.
If you must store a loaded magazine, for instance if you're maintaining a weapon for home defense, then make sure you do the following things:
* keep the magazine out of the gun until you expect to use it
* use the bare minimum of lubrication in the magazine
* check the ammunition in the magazine monthly to ensure the cartridges haven't gotten oily (discard the entire magazine's load if this has happened)
* keep the breech and barrel of the gun dry
* NEVER lubricate a loaded gun.
