Is there a shelf life for ammunition?

[RECHRGD]

I bought a 357 magnum pistol over thirty years ago for household protection.  It rarely gets fired.  I still have a couple of boxes of shells purchased at the same time I bought the gun.  Should I be concerned about the reliability of the old bullets?  They still look like new with no corrosion at all.  Thanks, Bob

[Tilar]

As long as they've never been in high humidity, they will still fire like new. And even if they have they may still fire alright.

[areibel]

 
My dad collects guns and probably has ammo older than that.  We've only had problems twice, with some factory SKS ammo (7.62x39, cheap import stuff with steel casings) and some 30-30 that had been stored in a damp basement for years.  The damp stuff had a lot of corrosion around the primer, we shot up what we could and probably had 30% duds.  That cheap SKS stuff was junk, probably less than 50% fired, I'm not sure if it was primers or powder but it just didn't want to light.

[RECHRGD]

As long as they've never been in high humidity, they will still fire like new. And even if they have they may still fire alright.

Well they were in Hawaii for about 12 years but I've fired off a few rounds since leaving there in 1992 and they worked fine.  I guess they're good to go.  Thanks......

[John_Kunkel]

I've been discharging some 30.06 Garand ammo head stamped 1943.

[RECHRGD]

I've been discharging some 30.06 Garand ammo head stamped 1943.

Wow!!  That's five years older than me!!  I just bought a new Weatherby 30.06.  Need to go sight it in......

[twodko]

Yep, what the guys said. You prolly know this already but it's worth reminding folks who might not. Don't ever buy steel case ammo, it corrodes fast even when coated. The coating itself will gum up the receiver, bolt, barrel et al. This crap is cheap for a reason. 

[lloyd3]

Ammo shelf life is a variable, largely depending on heat and humidity. Cool and dry conditions will make it last almost indefinitely. The one exception that I can think of is the British Cordite loaded stuff from the early 20th Century. Other than that and some paper-cased stuff (like shotgun shells), quality metallic cartridges can go up to 100 years, and maybe more.  Long enough?

[areibel]

Yep, what the guys said. You prolly know this already but it's worth reminding folks who might not. Don't ever buy steel case ammo, it corrodes fast even when coated. The coating itself will gum up the receiver, bolt, barrel et al. This crap is cheap for a reason. 

I didn't know it at the time, but I learned fast!
We bought 200 rounds from a catalog, but didn't read the fine print.  We'd bought surplus ammo before with no problems, but it was US made.  This was Czech or Romanian or something, it came in those cheap pulp cardboard boxes with Russian writing on them.  After the first box we knew there was a problem, but our great "closeout" deal (read as NO RETURNS!) we just did what we could!

[AKcharger]

I keep my zombie ammo in Ammo cans with a dessicant bag thrown in 

[Todd Wilson]

I keep my zombie ammo in Ammo cans with a dessicant bag thrown in 

I went to the surplus store years ago and bought many M60 ammo cans and keep all my stock pile in these sealed cans. They work great!


Todd

[chargerboy69]

Keep the ammo no matter how old.  The last two days ammo is flying off the shelves and what is left is expensive.

I bought 1000 rounds of 223 Lake City green tip about two months ago for $389.00.  The same place now has it for $1000.00 a can.

I am curious why the prices of ammo is tripling. 

[moparstuart]

Keep the ammo no matter how old.  The last two days ammo is flying off the shelves and what is left is expensive.

I bought 1000 rounds of 223 Lake City green tip about two months ago for $389.00.  The same place now has it for $1000.00 a can.

I am curious why the prices of ammo is tripling. 

it always happens around election time  ,  any excuse to gouge you .

[JB400]

If I remember correctly, I made a statement similar in the gas prices and opened up a cuss bucket

[Tilar]

If I remember correctly, I made a statement similar in the gas prices and opened up a cuss bucket

Don't worry about it, in another 4 years those that are cussing about it will be rooting you on.   

[moparstuart]

If I remember correctly, I made a statement similar in the gas prices and opened up a cuss bucket

yup possible disasters , storms , holidays  , and thing as an excuse   .  

[Brass]

Keep the ammo no matter how old.  The last two days ammo is flying off the shelves and what is left is expensive.

I bought 1000 rounds of 223 Lake City green tip about two months ago for $389.00.  The same place now has it for $1000.00 a can.

I am curious why the prices of ammo is tripling.  

I looked into the increased cost of ammo the last time it happened.  Swarms of people were stockpiling after the election because they feared new laws that could make ammo harder to obtain.  What that actually did was drive the demand up, and therefore the cost with it.  Ironic.  Yet in actuality, gun ownership really hasn't been impacted during this administration.  With gasoline the issue is way, way larger than any single President.  Democrat or Republican, they don't control the price at the pump.

[twodko]

Keep the ammo no matter how old.  The last two days ammo is flying off the shelves and what is left is expensive.

I bought 1000 rounds of 223 Lake City green tip about two months ago for $389.00.  The same place now has it for $1000.00 a can.

I am curious why the prices of ammo is tripling. 

That price is for 2000 rounds, Natchez's price. 1000 rounds is less than half that. Gotta shop around. I just bought 500 rounds for $200.

[moparguy01]

ammo has gone up due to rising costs of brass, and increased costs in manufacturing such as the nickel plating on the primers. Also, it has gone up because of the huge demand. There are backorders of 1000's of cases of certain types of ammunition which will take  a year and a half to fill. When this happens manufacturers tend to raise prices to slow down the demand, which in turn slows down the backlog. Sound stupid I know. Supply and demand.

Your ammo should be fine. IMO the only reason to use steel case ammo is in something like my Ak-47. It really just doesn't care what you shoot through it. it'll fire. any of the guns I care about I won't shoot steel through. I have some ammo in sealed ammo cans, and some of the shelves in my gun closet, and some in the garage, and.....you get the point. I also use the desicant bags as well. Just to err on the side of caution.

[DixieRestoParts]

Keep the ammo no matter how old.  The last two days ammo is flying off the shelves and what is left is expensive.

I bought 1000 rounds of 223 Lake City green tip about two months ago for $389.00.  The same place now has it for $1000.00 a can.

I am curious why the prices of ammo is tripling.  

I looked into the increased cost of ammo the last time it happened.  Swarms of people were stockpiling after the election because they feared new laws that could make ammo harder to obtain.  What that actually did was drive the demand up, and therefore the cost with it.  Ironic.  Yet in actuality, gun ownership really hasn't been impacted during this administration.  With gasoline the issue is way, way larger than any single President.  Democrat or Republican, they don't control the price at the pump.

This administration did prevent the import of US made M1 Carbine and M1 Garand rifles from South Korea. We gave these to the Koreans during the war and they wanted to give them back. About a million of them. Would have been nice to buy one of these classics, but I guess not for the next 4 years now, if ever.

I'm currently shooting Greek Army 30-06 from the 1950's. Works fine.

[Charger74]

Keep the ammo no matter how old.  The last two days ammo is flying off the shelves and what is left is expensive.

I bought 1000 rounds of 223 Lake City green tip about two months ago for $389.00.  The same place now has it for $1000.00 a can.

I am curious why the prices of ammo is tripling.  

I looked into the increased cost of ammo the last time it happened.  Swarms of people were stockpiling after the election because they feared new laws that could make ammo harder to obtain.  What that actually did was drive the demand up, and therefore the cost with it.  Ironic.  Yet in actuality, gun ownership really hasn't been impacted during this administration.  With gasoline the issue is way, way larger than any single President.  Democrat or Republican, they don't control the price at the pump.

I beg to differ on the highlighted part....    Gun ownership has increased greatly under this administration.  Most manufactures have almost 6 months worth of back logged orders to fill for new guns and even had to stop taking order for awhile just to catch up.  If there is one industry that didn't take a massive hit after last tuesday, it was the gun industry.  In fact, they saw huge profits last week.   

[John_Kunkel]

Yep, the dealers I deal with say the BO has been a great stimulus for gun sales...even in the most "gun unfriendly" state in the Union. Expect sales to increase after last Tuesday because most enthusiasts know the lame duck prez will implement more restrictions.

[Brass]

What restrictions?

[oldgold69]

 a friend of my son is a manager at a gun store  on the day after the election they sold 70 000 dollars  worth of guns  over 400 ars   if was the most guns they ever sold in one day  this government is good for the economy

[John_Kunkel]

What restrictions?

Expect a new "assault rifle" ban and don't forget the UN small arms treaty.

[AKcharger]

So back to the original question...I think the answer is a definite YES, there is a shelf life, but how well its stored greatly affects it

[polywideblock]

don't forget that older mil. grade ammo used corrosive primers right up to the 70's  .not real good for you barrel 

[greenpigs]

RAAC Akdal MKA 1919 Mag-Fed is what I want next. Yes it shoots 12 gage shot gun ammo.

[Lord Warlock]

I had about 400 rounds of 9mm ammo that was bought in the early 80s when i was in the military and bought enough ammo to practice with prior to qualification with a sidearm, and never used it, keeping it around thinking it should be good.  About 5 years ago, i took my daughter to the gun range so she could experience shooting a handgun (done it with both daughters now) and went thru all 400 rounds.  Almost all of them fired but we did have a problem with them not ejecting or jamming the gun after firing.  Now i try to keep the ammo less than 10 years old, just to be safe.  Haven't felt a need to hoard ammo during the current administration, although i wouldn't mind picking up an extra weapon or two, before they make it illegal to own.

[myk]

I've been thinking about a revolver or a bolt-action rifle, as I don't have those types of weapons yet, but I'm in no rush; at this point I'd rather throw that money at the Charger...

[AKcharger]

....  Haven't felt a need to hoard ammo during the current administration...

You'll be sorry when the great zombie apocalypse hits! 

[Chargerguy74]

Wow, I missed this thread. I have done extensive research on ammunition storage. Extensive by my standards. I store my ammo in Fat 50 ammo cans. I also include an adequate desiccant bag with a moisture indicating card. Check on the contents every couple years, regenerate the desiccant, possibly throw in a new card too. I'll only do it when the humidity is low. You're ammo shouldn't be loose in the can, preferably in the original boxes or what have you to minimize metal to metal contact. Inspect the ammo cans rubber seal to make sure the lid seals properly. Store in a place to minimize temperature fluctuations. Don't stack ammo cans too high if full. You can damage the rubber seals. Do this and the ammunition will outlast you for sure.

In regards to stockpiling ammo. Stack it deep! Don't wait for a reason to stockpile to start stockpiling. Ammunition will only increase in value.

I rotate my stock. Currently going through military surplus from the 60s and 70s. It'll be a LONG time before I get into the 80s and 90s stuff.