Golden rods don't work from being hot. They work by being warm. Huge difference. I could always pick up mine and hold it in my hand. Sometimes it was warm enough to be uncomfortable, but not really hot.

If you really worry about it, put the ammo in ammo cans, .50 cal work fine. If there was ever too much heat, the can would disperse it and then to touching cans as well.

I don't even know why you feel the golden rod is needed. Ammo just isn't as sensitive as most people imagine. My poor old father died 32 years ago (and a couple of months). The last few years of his life he spent reloading shotgun shells. I assume that's where I inherited my constant urge to have more ammo. Anyway, when he passed away I carted out all the ammo I could before my mother threw it away. Sure wished I'd gotten the centerfire stuff.

Anyway, I've had a few thousand rounds of paper and plastic shells out in the unheated garage or damp basement on the old house. To my way of thinking, shotgun shells aren' t nearly as well sealed as metallic ones. Yet the stuff reloaded in the 1970s and stored under sometimes terrible condition still go off.

I'm not even sure what people imagine happens to loaded ammo over time. I know primers from the 1950s, open on the inside, always go bang. Or at least all of mine have. And do they think smokeless powders get a whiff of moisture and end up as puddin? They store the stuff under water to keep it from going off by itself. If the cases or bullets corrode, you see it right away. This stuff is an industrial strength chemical, designed and manufactured not to degrade. Its not like milk, it doesn't catch bacteria and go sour (with some exceptions).

I'm guessing American made ammo is about as good as it gets, anywhere (OK, too much nationalistic pride). Particularly military surplus from our military. In my ill spent youth money wasn't easy to come by. So we purchased all manner of nasty old ammo, most 8mm Mauser stuff. Some with South American headstamps, but the lions share had arabic scribbling on it. None of us knew what it said and we didn't even know anyone smart enough to tell us (or even guess). One old guy took mercy on us about 1965. He had a bunch of the stuff he didn't trust, so he just gave it to us. Back then old guys took care of young shooters. He made us promise that any shot that didn't hit the target or sound right we'd stop, pull the bolt, and look down the barrel. He didn't want it on his mind that maybe we'd injured ourselves. Thousands of rounds, a few guys and a summer. Stored for decades or so in the tropical desert sun.

Ammo does fail to fire. My guess is if you go to walmart, buy a brick or Remington brand 22s, you'll get more misfires from that bulk pack than from any other commercial brand stored for 20 years outside your safe.

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Dick Burg