Ammo lifespan / Best before date?

[xDom]

Wasn’t sure to stick this in the comedy section or not as I’m sure some will probably laugh at this question

Is there a “best before” date with ammo? I get it that if it’s kept dry it’ll probably work for decades but does it lose any of its ballistic specifications?
I’m thinking of buying up in bulk to save some money.
Thanks

[bladeracer]

Wasn’t sure to stick this in the comedy section or not as I’m sure some will probably laugh at this question

Is there a “best before” date with ammo? I get it that if it’s kept dry it’ll probably work for decades but does it lose any of its ballistic specifications?
I’m thinking of buying up in bulk to save some money.
Thanks

It'll depend on how well it was sealed, milsurp ammo is genarally sealed around the bullet and primer. I've seen tests of very old milsurp ammo that doesn't appear to have lost any of its potency.

[mickb]

You will get different replies but generally the answer is many decades. Do a search on the US survivalist boards, their preppers get right into estimates for different conditions of storage. I did research it at one point but data dumped the info some time in the past. Probably replaced it with learning to strip a new gun or memorising fish identification charts one year. So many subjects to learn, so few braincells to retain it I just searched some threads myself now below. One guy who had worked at US arsenals saying ammo packed directly into sealed cans, lifetime 125 years. Unpacked and exposed to elements, 75 years. One manufacturer said powders about 80 years 'ideal conditions'. Another guy ammo reasonably expected to last 80 years. Obviously powder type, temps, etc are all going to play a part in these timeframes.

Personally I have used 1950's packed 303 ammo which looked pristine and worked fine. Just this last weekend some of my friends broke out some Winchester 30-30 ammo from the late 1970's which looked good, some mild staining on brass, and no misfires. That would be 40 year old ammo. I also have filthy looking and rusted hi-wall 3" 12 ga shotshells which spent several years rolling about in rusty toolboxes in the 1990's, about 25 years old, which all still fire today. Id say quite a few fellas on enoughgun will be able to eclipse a lot of these examples time wise.


https://www.survivalistboards.com/showt ... p?t=244773
https://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=4420
https://www.survivalistboards.com/showt ... p?t=108798

[xDom]

Righto.. so no worries with a few years then!?

[sungazer]

check out this video 90 year old 22 LR . not to long and entertaining

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qex9VgsxWm0

[gunnnie]

Mate, as long as the ammo has not been subjected to extremes of temp or anything that affects the case, you can expect ammo to last for 50+yrs, even longer potentially!
Case in point: 7.62x39 military ammo would be stored in palm oil containers, which were often then filled with sump oil, and then buried for wildly varying time frames. The insurgents would re cover this ammo, wipe it off, load up the mags and blast away. I tested a lot of the recovered ammo, to research the viability of it. I only had one failure out of several thousand rounds tested.

I'd suggest you track down an old upright fridge/freezer, the ones with all the shelving, install a hasp & staple to lock it and use as your ammo storage. This will provide you with a good relatively stable storage environment for your ammo. I use three fridges for my ammo storage lockers.

[pomemax]

during 1980s i was shooting WW! 303 amo still fine n the old 303

[Blr243]

Ammo has a great life expectancy compared to other stuff..... think food , tyres, cars , houses , women , Nothing works so well after 80 yrs like and old 303 cartridge

[Oldbloke]

I'd suggest you track down an old upright fridge/freezer, the ones with all the shelving, install a hasp & staple to lock it and use as your ammo storage. This will provide you with a good relatively stable storage environment for your ammo. I use three fridges for my ammo storage lockers.

A bit OCD but would provide close to ideal conditions.
I just keep mine locked in a steel locker on the cool side of the man cave. A wooden cubard would be better though.

[gunnnie]

I'd suggest you track down an old upright fridge/freezer, the ones with all the shelving, install a hasp & staple to lock it and use as your ammo storage. This will provide you with a good relatively stable storage environment for your ammo. I use three fridges for my ammo storage lockers.

A bit OCD but would provide close to ideal conditions.
I just keep mine locked in a steel locker on the cool side of the man cave. A wooden cubard would be better though.

Maybe, but I'm in SE QLD & the temps in the building where I secure my ammo vary from -4Deg C to 50Deg C. I don't have the option of a cool side of the room. I also store all my powder & primers in the fridges.

You'll find that there will be a temp variation in just about every persons chosen storage spot. I use the fridges to keep that variation as minimal as possible, or stable if you will. You could even use an esky at a pinch. Depending on what the temp variation is, where you securely store your ammo, would determine if you needed to take extra steps to maintain a stable environment. The ultimate would be somethin along the lines of a cigar humidor, where temp & humidity can be controlled.

Now that would be OCD in my books!

[Noisydad]

There’s plenty of YouTube vids of people firing 140 year old .577-450 Mathis’s Henry cartridges.

[wanneroo]

I think a lot depends on actual conditions in the factory when it was loaded and the quality of the components involved. I'm hearing from people shooting 1930s and 1940s ammo increasing issues with hangfires or misfires from primer components degrading.

I am dipping into 1975 and 1976 7.62 NATO Hirtenberger Austria battle packs and 1981 7.5x55 Swiss GP 11 battle packs. Never had a misfire and have thousands of rounds of this stuff. Case necks are sealed and primers are sealed, ammo is packed in sealed plastic and wax paper and was clearly stored well before it got to me as surplus. I also shot some of this Hirtenberger through an M-60 machine gun and it worked great.

Even if stored well I think once you get to 75-80 years you should probably shoot it up.

[Oldbloke]

"Maybe, but I'm in SE QLD & the temps in the building where I secure my ammo vary from -4Deg C to 50Deg C. I don't have the option of a cool side of the room. I also store all my powder & primers in the fridges."

We wouldnt be much different here in Vic. Im still using shot gun powder i bought about 30 yrs ago. Man cave varies from about -3 to 46. But no idea what it gets to in the locker.

[Cooper]

Pretty sure I have some 303 ammo that is about 100years old. Pretty sure it will still go bang.

[Stix]

Righto.. so no worries with a few years then!?

Yep easy...

But ive had old (from the 70's) .222 Rimmed cartridges that have partially corroded the brass case, some fire, some dont, some go pop in which case i hold it in my shoulder for a minute incase it wakes up & continues to pop.
"s**t corrosine powder" i was told...

A long time ago ive also tried to pull old cartridges where the bullet has almost welded itself to the case...i found it easier to hit them in a seater die before pulling them.

If you shot stuff like this i wonder if pressure could be an issue...?

I was given a heap of 22-250 handloads im not game to shoot, so one day ill pull em & make rockets out of the powder up the farm & use the bullets for trailboss plinking...