Shelf Life of Ammo?

[ECLIPZD95]

I am recently getting back into target shooting after taking a couple of decades off. I have a about 5 of boxes of CCI Stingers (250 rounds) that I had saved from way back when that have always been stored inside a cabinet in my home.

Visually the rounds look brand new, but I was wondering if it is safe to fire them off on my new A1.

 

[obiwankabaldi]

I would say fine so long as they have been dry, and not submitted to drastic quick swings in temp.....

 

[vector16]

Typically self contained cartridges will be good for a number of years. Be sure before you attempt to discharge any of them, you want to give them all a good shake. You do this because of settling. If the powder in the ammo has settled it may not ignite properly. So just shake the ammo. If the primers have gone bad, well we'll just say there will not be any "bang for your buck" so to speak, No fun intended.
I had some rounds from the Vietnam era I got from when my uncle had passed. I shook them around a little, all fired just fine exept 2 or 3 out of 1000. You should be fine.

 

[enfield]

I gave some 8mm Mauser ammo loaded in 1939 to a friend to use in his Mauser. He reported that the ammo was excellent and hot, and did I have any more?

 

[thacheese]

I got some 7.62x54r from the early 80's and despite the copper casings not being as shiny as they once were i haven't had a single issue with any of them (other than the fact that they are highly corrosive). I even managed to find a box of Remington from the 60's all fired just fine. as long as it's stored properly it will probably last forever.

 

[lkout4trucks]

i had some .22 rounds that were a good 20-30+ years old that my dad had laying around but he had always had then inside, in a box, in a drawer. all fired off fine. and out a nearly 100 year old rifle

 

[mn_doggie]

I have some CCI LR rounds that I bought from Kmart in 1973 (per the price tag) for $1.79 for 100.

Every round I've tried to use has fired just fine...

That's 38 years plus however long they were in the pipeline...

 

[JaPes]

I have some CCI LR rounds that I bought from Kmart in 1973 (per the price tag) for $1.79 for 100.

Every round I've tried to use has fired just fine...

That's 38 years plus however long they were in the pipeline...

When I inherited my parent's .22lr's, I also inherited their ammo stash circa 1971 - ?.

After my dad died, my mom put it in a metal box, up on a shelf, in the basement. The basement temperature is usually constant. Even with the crud on the outside of some of the paper boxes, every round I've tried has worked.

I'm not sure if it's just in my head or not, but I swear the old ammo is more accurate out of my Ruger 10/22.

 

[kennyb]

it will shoot fine...i shoot WW1 era ammo often and it's fine

 

[logictox]

From time to time I still fire off a box or two of military ammo I have from the 50's and 60's. I have some older then that but when you get to the WWII stuff you have some corrosive primers to watch out for.

A photo with some 1943 9mm.

 

[CoreyT]

I have some 22 ammo I use to shoot about 15 years ago with my Mossberg target rifle (brother has it now), and it is in Remington boxes marked WWII on the end flaps.

Yep, ammo from my uncle and dad they had got eons ago.
Stuff worked perfect 15 years ago, and I think I still have at least 100 rounds of it left.

 

[pb803]

I have some 22 ammo from the late 50's and early 60's......we have recently fired about 300 of them without any problems whatsoever.

so...I'd say.....if ya got 'em....shoot 'em.

have fun, be safe....pb

 

[Sebago Son]

I've shot alot of loose .45 military ball from my old man's stash that was marked "FA18". Frankfort Arsenal 1918. Aside from being corrosive requiring a more detailed cleaning, it functioned fine and seemed to be as accurate as modern ball.

 

[Majorlk]

I've never seen an expiration date on a box of ammo.