Rimfire shelf life

BLE, just to prove how old I am, I used to load shotshells with the old Rem 57 primers. :) I have never had ANY old ammunition fail, not even any of my handloads. I recently found a couple of boxes of 38 Special, 165 gr hard cast bullets (my castings), light Red Dot target loads, that I loaded in the 70's. Still shoot just fine and accurate as ever. I don't have my casting stuff anymore, but after finding and shooting these old rounds, I wish I did. They are as accurate as anything I am loading today.
Chief
 
I & a buddy both bought a bunch of Remington back in the 1980s, he still shoots what he has left.
Mine was used up long ago.

I don't know who's saying rimfire doesn't store well, keep it relatively cool & dry and it can last for decades.
Denis
 
I think it is mainly how it is stored. Every now and then I come across an old box of .22 I bought in the 80s and it is fine. The price on the box makes me laugh of couse.
 
no guarantee

I have some new 22 ammo that has a few duds in it .I had a few boxes of 22 shells left over from a person who passed away that I think is 1960s era stuff that shot well with no misfires boxes were faded and falling apart though.
b
 
In my stash is some .22 WRF, .22 Winchester auto and .25 Stevens ammo. Some of that stuff was made before WWII. Had the guns out a couple years ago, every round fired at that time.
 
I will have revise my first post as even in the late 50's and into the 60's and 70's we had an occasional dud .22 round even then. I don't there ever was or will ever will be any kind of ammunition or explosive device that is 100%. Just look at all the unexploded ordinance from WW1 or even the Civil War that pops up. Or the dud US torpedo's in the first year of WW2.
 
I have some new 22 ammo that has a few duds in it .I had a few boxes of 22 shells left over from a person who passed away that I think is 1960s era stuff that shot well with no misfires boxes were faded and falling apart though.
b
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I really think they made better rimfire ammo back then. Duds, even in .22 rimfire used to be almost unheard of.
Of course, the price we paid for ammo back then reflects the quality. If you adjust for inflation, a $.79 box of 50 .22 LR back in 1968 would cost $4.60 today. A box of 25 shotshells that cost $3 back in 1968 would cost $17.50 today.
It used to actually pay to reload shotshells.
 
I just shot some PMC .22 stuff today that is at least 15 years old, maybe closer to 20. It is good stuff shoots to point of aim very consistently and no ftf/fte.
 
Life span of 22s

I used to work in the oil field and we used to shoot a ton of 22s. I moved to a better job and moved around the country. My 22s were stored.

I have a collection of 22s about 35 years old. The ones stored in ammo cans give no problems. There are a few bricks that were stored in my barn in the open that still function ~90% of the time. In this batch, the lead tips are corroded and cases will split because of the increased pressure.
 
We can do one test of the lifespan of 22 rimfire IF you can produce a Remington Model 16. I have a few rounds of ammo for one and since the ammo hasn't been produced since the end of WWII we know it is at least 70 years old.

I can't speak to the storage conditions of the ammo for more than the last few years as I am aways off from 70 y.o.
 
Have over 2000 rnds from the 80's that I am shooting and it works just fine. It has been stored in ammo cans all the time.
 
I recently shot some 22LR from the late 70's and no great care was taken to protect it from the elements. They were in a metal tackle box out in the pole barn. I had one dud but that is not unusual .. it is rimfire after all.
 
Recently I shot a several of boxes of .22lr from 70s and 80s and from a couple of manufacturers. All shot well with no misfires and was accurate.
 
There's been a case or two of 1970's Eley Tenex match ammo that's sold for more than what new stuff today goes for.
 
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