Life of ammo

K

keithdog

New member
I have two boxes of .40 ammo that I purchased in 1997. Remington Golden Saber and Winchester SXT. The boxes were purchased for self defense loads, which thankfully were never used. Now I am thinking perhaps I should use them for target ammo and replace them with new fresh self defense loads. How long would you expect ammo to remain viable? They have been kept perfectly dry in an ammo box and show no sign of rust or corrosion.
 
I dug out some 243 rounds last year that I loaded in 1981. I wanted something to shoot in a new Savage rifle I bought to get it on paper. I was getting .5 - .7" five shot groups at 100yds with this stuff and it was thirty-one years old. My guess is that it will last a lot longer than you will if kept cool and dry. Hodgdon powder started out selling WW2 surplus powder and after fifty years it still worked great.
 
Yes. If stored in a reasonably dry, stable environment, it should work just fine for your grand- or even great-grand-kids.
 
In 1983 I bought some old military surplus ammo for my Mauser. The headstamp on the ammo was "1925". Out of 50 rounds I think I got 2 mis-fires - and that was poorly manufactured, South American ammo with corrosive primers.

Ammo produced with modern components should be good for 100 years or more - unless left out to the elements or allowed to corrode.
 
Ammo from 1997 is not hurt at all if stored as you describe. I have shot 70 year old WWII surplus ammo that functioned flawlessly. Keep the ammo dry and it will far outlast you.
 
A quick word about carry/duty ammunition....

As noted, under proper conditions most modern ammunition can be stored for many years. It's not a strict requirement to shoot it up but, Id suggest any license holder or gun owner who carrys a duty weapon shoot the ammuntion periodically.
Grit, crud, lint, moisture, etc can work into magazines or speed strips(revolvers). Normal wear & distorted coloring may show up too, :( .
This may or may not affect the performance of the ammunition buy for defense or duty uses, why take that chance?
I carry & load handgun rounds for about 3/4 months then shoot them up & replace them. I have saved a box or two over the years that I didn't really use but I wouldn't keep carry rounds for years & years.
Many popular brands or calibers can be hard to obtain sometimes or the prices may have gone up in recent years but Id still shoot the carry ammunition up & replace it on a regular basis.

Clyde
 
I have some steel-case .45ACP, "EC 43". Still shoots just fine.

Hmm. I have a box of GI .38 Special. Haven't checked the date, but I imagine it's from back around WW II. Guess I oughta test it.

The only ancient non-fire I've run across was about ten years ago with some 1912 .45ACP.

I inherited some .223 reloads from my uncle, back in 1976. Still MOA ammo. Off and on through the years I've shot some of my reloads that were 20 and more years old.

Oh: My father gave me a bunch of pistols which had been in storage for over forty years. Full mags. All worked; no misfires. .25ACP, .32ACP, 9mmPara, .45ACP.
 
Your ammo should function to spec for the foreseeable future, probably long after you're dead from old age.

OTOH, there have been tremendous strides made in bullet technology within the past decade, so if it were me, I would shoot up the old ammo for practice and replace it with modern premium SD ammo.:)
 
Anytime you buy ammo and plan on using for SD loads you should atleast shoot one or two mags just to see if it functions well in your gun you plan on toting or laying on bed stand. Don't ever just but a brand and don't ever see for sure.
 
The only long term stored ammunition I have had a problem with were .38 reloads with cast bullets that my grandfather had stored in a garage bullet up for a long time. The summer heat had melted the lube and contaminated the powder.
 
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