Can some explain......

S

silverbullet6oh

New member
Can someone explain why I wouldn't want to use TulAmmo .55 gr fmj or hp poly coated ammo as a semi-long term ammo? I plan on cycling through my ammo often, keeping only about a 1k rounds on hand, but cycling through that as well. If I dont plan on keeping the same ammo (as in date purchased) sitting in my basement for a long time, it seems it would be fine. But I dont know the the science as to why everybody states to only use TulAmmo as "plinking" ammo.:confused:

I have seen the ballistic reports on this ammo, and it seems to be very good.
 
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Steel cased ammunition can rust, which is the only problem I can think of if you don't plan on reloading. If you are going to store the Tulammo stuff make sure it is in another container to keep it free from moisture.
As for why people think that steel cased cheap stuff is only for plinking, it's probably because there are more malfunctions/ duds in a box of Tulammo than other, more premium brands. Not that you're guaranteed to have a dud in a box of tulammo, just that there are probably more duds per box than other brands. However I don't have any statistics or numbers to confirm that, just my own experience.
 
I think SHTF discussions are banned at this site, but...

I think the ammo you have will be at the very, very bottom of your list of concerns. But, I'd want ammo that would be okay sitting around for about 2 decades in poor conditions, and steel-cased ammo wouldn't be my choice. Reloading would be high on my list of ammo requirements, if ammo requirements were on my list of concerns, and so I'd want brass.

Folks believe different things for different reasons, some logical and many emotional. I happen to believe that the next serious situation will last a lot longer than the last one (1929-1939), so I'm thinking at least 2 decades, if not longer. The rest of my life, basically.

If someone's view of a serious situation is 18 months of killing zombies then someone fixes stuff and the bad guys are gone and things are getting back to normal, it really doesn't matter. I don't think the next situation will go that way, and will take longer to 'resolve'.
 
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It might be at the bottom of my list of concerns when the SHTF, but it had better be very high on my list of concerns when planning for it. I'm not sure the statistics would support me on this, I somehow associate steel-cased ammunition with faster wear on articulating parts, especially extractor & ejector. Additionally, I reload, so almost any kind of boxer-primed brass case is preferable for my SHTF preparation.
 
No, we don't do SHTF stuff here, so if you want this to stay open, then this is just "long term storage", or we're done.

The drawbacks to steel cased ammo are well known, And those are aside from issues with particular makers QC.

Steel rusts. The only way to keep it from rusting is airtight storage or some kind of coating. Some steel cased ammo has a lacquer coating that has caused issues. Steel is not brass, it does not behave like brass, it works, well enough, but it is not the best for the purpose. IT is, however, cheaper than brass.

Many nations use steel cased ammo as a matter of economy. Note that the US does not.

Guns designed for use with brass cased ammo generally work with steel, but there have been, and can be issues.

If you want to store steel cased ammo, the best it can be, besides a proper storage environment, get a sealed case quantity, and leave it sealed!

Personally, I wouldn't want my deep stash ammo to be the cheap crap.
 
I have some experience with long term storage of ammo although not because I was trying to....

Back in the (very) early eighties, I picked up a ton of PMC .223 for really. really cheap. At the time I was shooting in service rifle matches and was reloading all my practice and match ammo and I thought that the PMC would make a good source of cases. I never shot all that ammo up and fast forward to 2015, I still have a bunch of it sitting in .50 cal ammo cans.

I do shoot some from time to time and it seems to be every bit as good now as it was back in 1981, There is no real secret to ammo storage, keep it dry and away from extreme temperatures.

On a side note, I have seen videos of rebel arms cashes dug up in Africa that were buried back in the eighties and along with the rusted AKM's were large stashes of steel cased ammo. They threw some oil on the rifles and once the action was cycling again, they loaded up a few magazines and the ammo went bang lust fine.
 
I have a stash of steel cased catrdges that I purchased for "long term storage", that I have had for 5 or 10 years, no rust, groups nicely (30 carbine, haven't grouped the 223 stuff yet) and appears like cracker Jack ammo for "long term storage".
 
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I think a wood ammo box in a dry place is your friend. I wouldn't think a basement would be the best place. I can't even image having 1,000 rounds. If you want mass amounts of cheap ammo why not handload? Tulammo does great in some guns and horrible in others. For 7.62x39 my pistol shoots it fine without any problems. But my 9mm pistol had several problems with it.
 
If you are looking for ultra long term storage of ammo, then sealed "sardine cans" are your best bet. Keep it in a cool place and away from extreme temps. Back in the 60s, I was buying and shooting 11mm Mauser that had been made in 1879, then repacked in the 1880s. Out of 100 rounds, I think I had maybe four misfires. And these were black powder rounds, too.

The lesson? Good storage and protection.
 
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