Old Ammo...How Old is Too Old?

[pinefd]

My father used to do a lot of reloading, and I have a bunch of ammo that he did himself 20+ years ago. He had some very nice, expensive equipment at the time, and was very meticulous in his craft. The ammo has been kept in a temperature controlled environment this whole time. Can it still be used safely (generally speaking)? What is the normal maximum shelf life on reloaded ammo, if any?

Thanks!


Frank

 

[NYlakesider]

After 25 years of not shooting skeet I again took up the sport last summer. I had about 1,200 loaded by me 12G rounds on the shelf. All fired and worked well. Only one sounded a bit low but it still broke the clay pigeon.

I also found a box of .38 wad cutters from about the same era, all worked fine.

If there in a stable humidity area even hand loaded ammo could outlast you.


I also shot up some military .45 ammo from the 1920s a few years ago. Had two out of 50 that would not fire.

Relax and have a good time and fire away.

 

[ronnie gore]

ammo

if it stored properly as you stated it was should be fine. I shoot a batch of 303 british that was loaded in 1917.

 

[JH1951]

If it was quality to begin with (and you suggest it is) things should be fine for you. I have shot rounds much older than that without incident.

 

[AlHunt]

Almost certainly, it's fine. If the data is written on them, you should check to see if they're maximum loads. If so, the absolute safest thing would be to try the first few in the specific firearm for which he loaded them, if you have it.

If not, try the first few in a strong version of that caliber and look for pressure signs. But all that is just an abundance of caution.

20 years is a blink in time for properly manufactured and stored ammo.

 

[pinefd]

Awesome! Thanks for all the responses...I had a feeling that was the case, but just wanted to make sure!

Thanks again,

Frank

 

[kaaskop49]

Just interested: What caliber is this ammo? Is there any load data on the containers? Some of our reloaders could give a more specific reply.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[mltndw3]

I inherited a SW 30-1 32 cal pistol circa 1973 that had never been fired and came with two ancient boxes of ammo. I shot both boxes and had zero issues. I have a Remington 22 that my father won over 60 years ago and fired his ammo as well with no issues. Like people have said, if it is stored correctly there shouldn't be any problems.

 

[pinefd]

Just interested: What caliber is this ammo? Is there any load data on the containers? Some of our reloaders could give a more specific reply.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

I've got a lot of different calibers that he did, and I do believe he listed the load data on some of them. The box that I have in my hands right now doesn't have that data on it, but it's .38 Special wadcutters, dated January '90. I'm sure he did these for his (now my) Model 52-1.


Frank

 

[Univibe]

I recently found a box of .44 spl handloads I'd put together 32 years ago. For the last 20 years of their lives, they sat in a garage in Humid City, TX.

240 grain Speer swaged SWC. 5.0 grains Bullseye.

I took them to the range. 50 accurate holes in the target. I could have made those rounds the week before.

 

[deyomatic]

Stop worrying. The concerns over ammo storage are greatly exaggerated. My father reloaded a bunch of stuff back in the '70s and I brought some to the range in 2010 or so and everything was fine, and he tool absolutely no precautions in the way it was stored- basement inside a gun cabinet for 40 years or so, maybe longer. Some of it smelled nasty and had a dark gray smoke, though.

 

[bmcgilvray]

It's not the age, it's the "mileage."

 

[robertrwalsh]

The crummiest ammo you own will almost certainly be the stuff in your carry piece. Carry ammo should be rotated out once a year, more often if you live/work in a very harsh environment. As far as range ammo, don't sweat it. It will almost certainly outlast you.

 

[max503]

I loaded some 38's for a friend back in the mid 80's. He recently passed away. I inherited his gun stuff. Those loads were in it. They shot fine.

 

[chief38]

Over the last 9 years I've been shooting , hunting and practicing with all kinds of ammo I inherited from my Dad. Many of the boxes are 40 - 60 years old and I've had no failures at all on any of the centerfire ammo! I just this season used the last of my paper hull shot shells - all went bang and the Pheasants didn't know the age of the ammo.

Other than a few duds with .22 rimfire, all ammo has functioned perfectly - and I don't count the .22 duds as even brand new .22 ammo has duds these days. Actually, the older .22's have had fewer duds than today's Winchester & Remington rimfire ammo they sell.

Hand-loads will also be fine as long as they were properly loaded in the first place and properly stored.

 

[stansdds]

As long as it is stored dry and temperature controlled, ammo will outlast you.

 

[DWalt]

Very early ammo with mercuric primers had a definite shelf life, which was fairly short (maybe just a few years) in hot climates. Later chlorate and lead styphnate primers have a near-infinite shelf life, as does smokeless powder, as long as ammunition has not been stored inside a hot oven.

 

[robvious]

we regularly shot late 1930's thru WW2 production ball in CMP practice... 30-06 & 30 carbine... some 45 acp... all of it went bang...

 

[Mike0251]

Shoots perfect!

 

[Skeet 028]

I shot most of a box of 1912 30-06 military ammo in an old 1917 Enfield I had. It all shot accurately and every cases neck cracked on firing. It had been sitting on my shelf since the 1960s when I acquired it. I also shot a few boxes of old Remington 20 ga paper shells from the 50s 3 years ago. And as a test of my own..Loaded 10 boxes of 12 ga target loads in 1970. Left them out in the weather(in Maryland on a work bench behind the barn) and shot a box a year. Every shell fired and shot like any others I had. The last box after 10 yrs in the rain snow hot cold etc fired just fine. If I remember the load was 17.5 gr of Red Dot Win 209 white AA wad 1 1/8 ounce of 7 1/2s in a AA case. The last one's box fell apart when I picked it up.