Is there any good data about the effects of long term vibration on ammo
carried (in or out of a weapon) in a vehicle? Pickup truck in my case.
As a guess I would think the main negative effect could be on the primer
but have not seen this subject covered scientifically. I would also
guess the Army knows something about this.
Thanks to all who respond.
I didn't know whether to put this in Self-Defense or Ammo so I chose
the one with the most viewers at the time

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Nemo

In 50 years of carrying ammo in vehicles, I've never seen a problem that could be traced to vehicle vibration.

Must be a slow night to draw such speculation.

Heh.

It's a question that has been in the back of my mind for years.
Things are kind of slow here tonight.

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Nemo

I heard discussion of effects of vibration effecting the powder granules / coatings thereof , but always in the context of vibratory tumbler being used to cleanup loaded rounds.

If the question was in terms of a "car gun" , semiperminently left in the vehicle , I would expect temperature and humidity issues long before vibration could have any effect.

Yeah, it's the car gun.
Thanks for youse who responded.
I'll just carry on as if nothing happened

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Nemo

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If you feel concerned, just rotate it a little more often. My car gun ammo is expensive SD stuff in a couple mags. The backup ammo not in mags is usually range type ammo. So it's not too expensive to shoot the mags and rotate the bulk to the head of the line in the range ammo pile.

Good advice. I do like to practice occasionally with actual carry ammo.
Yeah, it's expensive but the confidence is priceless.

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Nemo

If vehicle vibration is a concern, try balancing your tires.

I agree. This post is stupid, if you car vibrates that much you have problems way beyond your ammo concerns.

Actually yes, I have heard of this being an issue.

When my department was still mostly revolvers and the carry load was a half jacket HP the issue was the tips of the bullets would flatten and deform when held tip down by the speedloaders. This was an issue for motor cops riding Harleys.

I can see how it could cause the powder in a less than compressed load to vibrate into a finer granulation. I rode around with a case of 5.56 in a truck box one year while ringing down a bunch of dirt roads. I never noticed anything out of the ordinary with the ammo but the thought did enter my mind.

I don't think it's a stupid question at all. Have you ever driven the roads up here in Maine, in March? It wouldn't matter if you had your wheels perfectly balanced on your Lincoln, everything gets shaken!
I think like the previous poster: Just trade them for new ones every once in a while.

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NRA Life Member
AF&AM #129

Thanks for the recent replies.
I was actually thinking about the primers disintegrating to some degree.
When I buy them I won't transport them by the thousand on the motorcycle because of the bumps.
I have the suspension set tight for 2 people. A little rough riding solo.
I like the idea of keeping the truck ammo fresh every month or 3.
Shooting the older stuff will get me out to practice more which I need.

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Nemo

It's not a stupid question but it's all bs but there still seems to be the belief that powder and such degrades to the point it will cause a kb. But, just think about the military. NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) were nowhere even remotely in the engineers mind when they designed military vehicles. There's usually a label somewhere on humvees and trucks (not even going into tracked vehicles) that says hearing protection required.... Your right if it were an issue you'd hear about it from the military cause guys would be blowing up rifles.


Also think about how much ammo and components travel in there life. Some come from other continents, then travel thousands of miles in the back of a truck. If they were so fragile they'd never survive transport.

Doesn't the military seal their bullets/case mouths against moisture and humidity?

I would think that if anyone is worried about this issue they are clearly not shooting their carry ammo as much as they should be. I could maybe see this being an issue if the ammo was left in the vehicle for 15+ years driving all over the place, but for you average person naw.
Nothing wrong with the question, its good to think out side the box

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Aim small miss small

Ask WW2 vets that rode around in old APV's if vibration hurt ammo they'd all be dead lol

There are some powders that are "position sensitive" so this can be a valid concern. It is a common topic in the reloading forums.

It's not a safety issue, but one of performance - which I guess, under the right circumstances, does become a safety issue.

Many years ago I read that long term ammo storage in a car trunk could affect the powder (it could turn to dust or be compacted). Since I was in Texas, I more concerned about the heat.

I always had a GI ammo can in the trunk with a box of every authorized caliber (revolver, pistol, shotgun and rifle). We qualified every quarter, so I would put the old stuff out to shoot up and replace everything in the trunk. I never had a problem with any of my ammo.

Occasionally someone else would turn in some ammo that was stored in the trunk so long that the Styrofoam trays were crumbling. Even that ammo fired every time.

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6/23/2022

LEO's in the US in many states carry M16's or other AR's in their trunks for emergency use as needed. Our Department issued 90 rounds. No long or short term ill effects. Over the years we had 12 gauge's in the vehicles that were carried loaded and a custom bandoleer was attached with velcro to the drivers door. No ill effects ever reported.

One thing we did was shoot the older ammo for qualification and practice periodically but that was mainly a hedge against weather.

With all due respect, when you've participated here a little longer you'll find that we prefer to avoid applying words like "stupid" to each other's posts.

One thing that keeps a lot of us here is the civility and respect even in disagreement. And there is disagreement!

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Oh well, what the hell.

Thanks everyone for the informative replies and discussion.
I consider my original question answered in the negative.
You guys with all the experience in the field sure do help the rest of us nimrods out!

Fun and safe shooting all. One of the guns involved:

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Nemo

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My family were commercial fisherman. The engines ran for 16 hours a day in the summer. When ever the weather was good enough to cross the bar.
They used to wear out coffee pots left on the stove, but I don't remember any problems with the ammo. Mostly .22LR and shotguns. I think corrosion would have been a problem before vibration. The guns were in pretty bad condition.

Best,
Rick

I believe that high temperatures would be a larger issue. I've seen photos of shotgun shells from weapons racked by the dash where the sunlight/heat softened the plastic case enough to distort from the spring pressure in the magazine.

I'd expect this to be a problem more in the deep south. No idea how long those shells had been in there.