Last week I was cleaning out all my hunting stuff that had been stored for several years, and found a box of 50 45acp handloads that I loaded in December of 1995. Why they were in the hunting stuff is anybody's guess, but they all looked good. These have been stored in a dry storage shed, unheated / uncooled. Too the backyard range they went. Every one of them fired as new, accuracy was excellent; I was surprised to say the least. I feel very safe shooting any of my other older reloads now.
Old reloads
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Cdog
Member
Early this century I loaded quite a bit more than I shot. In the last month or so I used .223 that was loaded about 15 years ago.
Last weekend I shot a box of .38 Super that has been riding in my truck toolbox for about 12 years. Both shot like they were fresh as a daisy.
Last weekend I shot a box of .38 Super that has been riding in my truck toolbox for about 12 years. Both shot like they were fresh as a daisy.
I found a case of reloaded12G skeet loads from the 1970s 2 years ago, all worked well. Also found a bunch of .45ACP reloads from the 80s all was fine. They were stored in a dry basement off the floor. I would say that is decent shelf life.
Fired some WW1 ammo a few years back, most of that was fine. Of course it was corrosive.
Fired some WW1 ammo a few years back, most of that was fine. Of course it was corrosive.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
I still have about 3000 rounds from the 20,000 I loaded in 1984 and they are still 1/4" at 100 yards. They shoot 1/2" @ 100 in my sons LH Stag M4 Clone.
Ivan
Ivan
flintsghost
Member
Most ammunition has a lot longer shelf life than anyone wants to believe. The new exception is ammunition that is loaded with the lead free primers made by CCI and factory lead free ammunition. Those lead free primers have a finite shelf life. CCI used to mention that. I believe the expected time was 15 years last I saw, but I might be mistaken. Non lead free primers have an infinite life with proper storage and ball powder has an unlimited storage life. As many of us have found out the hard way, granulated and flake powders that are non ball type sometimes go bad. You can recognize it by color change in the powder itself. Once loaded however, I doubt that it can go bad sealed in it's own cartridge case.
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I have a very few .30-06 handloads from the mid-'60s and maybe some .25-06 from the same era, when it was a wildcat cartridge. I have no doubt these would work just fine today.
Green Frog
Member
"Old ammo" reloaded from 1995? I'm old enough to regard that as "just the other day". It should be fine.
Froggie
Froggie
My only hang up with old ammo is when the lead bullets........
start to get a light gray film on them, or the brass starts to turn green.
I usually have to clean it up, before I shoot it in my guns.
I only have one old box of .357 left, now that is old and it has the old
Speer, 160 gr. SJSP lead tip bullet of old, in the 50 round box of ammo, that I used for deer hunting with my revolver.
I guess I will have to burn them up soon and load some new bullets?
start to get a light gray film on them, or the brass starts to turn green.
I usually have to clean it up, before I shoot it in my guns.
I only have one old box of .357 left, now that is old and it has the old
Speer, 160 gr. SJSP lead tip bullet of old, in the 50 round box of ammo, that I used for deer hunting with my revolver.
I guess I will have to burn them up soon and load some new bullets?
Rpg
Member
My son killed his first deer with ammo I'd reloaded 30 years earlier.
27 Man
Member
I still shoot 38 wadcutters I loaded in the early 70s to shoot PPC. They go bang every time.
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I've shot up some reloads on the target range that were up to 40 years old. All had been consistently stored indoors, in a temp controlled environment. All have functioned as they should. I did shoot up some old paper hulled shotgun reloads that contained paper wads. They did shoot, providing considerable entertainment effect from the paper confetti.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
I actually shot some 45 ACP ammo from WWI. It was still loads in the original magazines that were issued to the troops. Not only did every round shoot the mags performed flawlessly. That's right, loaded mags that were over 100 years old still worked well. The ammo was actually accurate too. My shooting buddy had at least a dozen or more loaded mags. We shot one mag each and he put the rest away for safe keeping.
As a side, I'm guessing the question if leaving your SD mags loaded for a year or more is not harmful to the mag springs lol. As I knew leaving this springs compressed doesn't ruin them but loading and unloading them will wear the springs.
As a side, I'm guessing the question if leaving your SD mags loaded for a year or more is not harmful to the mag springs lol. As I knew leaving this springs compressed doesn't ruin them but loading and unloading them will wear the springs.
brian_a_mcmillen
Member
I loaded over 15,000 45 ACPs in the winter of 1995-6 and have been shooting them ever since. In fact, I just shot a box of 50 last weekend and they went off and were just as accurate as they were 25 years ago. Like stated before, ammo will last a lifetime if stored properly. I only have a few boxes left so I suppose I should do my quarter century loading again! 
cgt4570
Member
I have NOS very early .45-70, .38 Colt, .45 ACP, .30-40 Krag, WW1 .30 cal, a bunch of various WW2 .30 Car and a couple thou 1943 production Remington .30-06. I have yet to have a FTF. Apparently, unless it was stored in VERY bad conditions, it's good for more than a lifetime.
I've also popped off a few 19th century BP rimfire rounds. .22, .32 and .41 Swiss. They all went bang and were accurate as expected.
I've also popped off a few 19th century BP rimfire rounds. .22, .32 and .41 Swiss. They all went bang and were accurate as expected.
DWalt
Member
I assume you mean half-moon clips for use in the M1917 revolvers. I have never heard of packaged pre-loaded M1911 magazines.
Some 20 years ago I came into over 100 .45 ACP military rounds (Remington) in original 20-round sealed cardboard boxes which were headstamped 1918. They were far from sure-fire, maybe 20% or so fired on the first try. At that time lead styphnate (non-corrosive) primers had not yet been invented. One other interesting fact about those WWI rounds (brass cases) was the primer pocket had a diameter slightly less than cases used at present, and more modern primers could not be seated in them. Same is true for WWII steel-cased .45 ACP rounds. The pockets can be reamed out to accept today's LP primers but it is quite a job and frankly not worth the effort.
Model19man
Member
About 40 years ago a friend of mine bought a military surplus British Enfield 303 bolt action rifle. He got a wooden box containing 1000 rounds of WWI vintage .303 British ammo.
It was pretty exciting stuff. Some rounds were hang fires that would go bang after a second or two. Most didn't work but it was scary business.
It was pretty exciting stuff. Some rounds were hang fires that would go bang after a second or two. Most didn't work but it was scary business.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
No, they were not factory preloaded magazines, they were loaded by someone in or just after the war and found in storage in an old house. Sorry for the confusion, rereading what I posted did sound I said like they were issued loaded.
Biggfoot44
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1995 isn't old .
If stored under not terrible conditions , the shelf life is not quite indefinite , but beyond anybody's lifetime . Smokeless ammo hasn't been around long enough to have yet established definitive limits . But I will make a couple observations not from personal experience :
From period sources , during transition from corrosive to non- corrosive priming , it took a while for the non- corrosive to be perfected .
Particularly around the early 2000's the younger widows of WWI Veterans were passing away / going into assisted living , and cleaning out the old family homes . Consequently , there were lots of print and early accounts Granddad's WW1 era guns being rediscovered , put away not fired since , along with period ammo either loaded , or in original boxes . A number of contemporary gun guys then tested said guns and ammunition in the interests of science , curiosity , and impressing their fellow gun and history buffs .
Going from cumulative memory , and oversimplifying :
Up thru +\- 2000 , aka about 80yo , most of the written accounts were to the effect of " Everything fired , seemingly normally .
As we progressed into 21st century , aka approaching 100 yo , we saw more accounts to the effect of " Most of the rounds fired " , and " They fired , but with noticeable variations in recoil , report , and slide cycling " .
My totally unscientific , wild guessing take :
Factory Ammo up to 75 yo is presumptively good , unless reason to suspect poor storage conditions .
Over 75yo needs to be tested , and preferably chronograph'ed .
Reality check - 100 yo ammo is more valuable as a collectible , or a refrence exemplar , than for shooting .
If stored under not terrible conditions , the shelf life is not quite indefinite , but beyond anybody's lifetime . Smokeless ammo hasn't been around long enough to have yet established definitive limits . But I will make a couple observations not from personal experience :
From period sources , during transition from corrosive to non- corrosive priming , it took a while for the non- corrosive to be perfected .
Particularly around the early 2000's the younger widows of WWI Veterans were passing away / going into assisted living , and cleaning out the old family homes . Consequently , there were lots of print and early accounts Granddad's WW1 era guns being rediscovered , put away not fired since , along with period ammo either loaded , or in original boxes . A number of contemporary gun guys then tested said guns and ammunition in the interests of science , curiosity , and impressing their fellow gun and history buffs .
Going from cumulative memory , and oversimplifying :
Up thru +\- 2000 , aka about 80yo , most of the written accounts were to the effect of " Everything fired , seemingly normally .
As we progressed into 21st century , aka approaching 100 yo , we saw more accounts to the effect of " Most of the rounds fired " , and " They fired , but with noticeable variations in recoil , report , and slide cycling " .
My totally unscientific , wild guessing take :
Factory Ammo up to 75 yo is presumptively good , unless reason to suspect poor storage conditions .
Over 75yo needs to be tested , and preferably chronograph'ed .
Reality check - 100 yo ammo is more valuable as a collectible , or a refrence exemplar , than for shooting .
It's your hunting stuff that won't work when that big one steps out.
