Ammo Storage.....heat question?

T

texbow

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I normally store all my ammo inside the house(climate controlled). I recently found some rifle and 12ga ammo in my garage I must have misplaced 8 years ago during a move. Kept dry but in a texas garage for 8 summers. Still OK to shoot?
 
I've had and used ammo that has been around for years where there was no climate controlled conditions (like WW II ammo) that worked fine decades later. I would shoot it and not worry about it.
 
I have ammo that has been in my FL garage for 14 years that shoots just fine. I'll see your heat and raise you 99% humidity...... ;)

Where I live, summer is breathing through a wet sponge, yet the ammo functions fine.
 
My money is on FITASC.

I have shotgun shells that are older than many of the members of this Forum. The shells are still fine. Some of them are even paper shells.
 
I'd use them to plink with but wouldn't use them for hunting or self defense... I've never had one of those old rounds fail but I subscribe to Murphy's law.

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texbow wrote:
I must have misplaced 8 years ago during a move. Kept dry but in a texas garage for 8 summers. Still OK to shoot?
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I'm shooting ammunition that has been stored in a succession of Arkansas, later Texas, garages since it was loaded in 1980. It still works fine.
 
Folks like to worry about the dangest things.
Ammo is sealed up very well and really hard to damage.
Even after a trip through the washing machine, it shoots just fine.
 
Temperatures over 120F make smokeless powder break down. If it has been repeatedly exposed to temps in that range then it is safe as long as a bullet doesn't get stuck in the bore. If a round feels odd then stop and check the bore.
Time doesn't affect powder or loaded rounds but temperature can and does.
 
I've always stored my ammo in my garage and never had issues in any of the states' climates I've lived in (Idaho, Nevada, California, and New Mexico).
Now storing reloading supplies (powder and primers namely) may be a different story? I'm not sure
 
Had to go check the temperature outside and in the garage.
93 outside and 80 in the block garage.
It doesn't sound like anything in the garage would be in danger of overheating.
 
When someone says old ammo, I think Civil War. I'm slightly exaggerating but modern powder lasts a long long time unless it gets wet, or is consistantly in very high heat. I've read of people using primers and powder they've had for 70 years with no problems at all. If I remember correctly some powders will turn slightly red and smell acidic when bad, but I've never heard of any.
 
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