Ammunition shelf life?

[Jet19912]

I've heard from a few sources that ammunition has a shelf life, but I was curious if perhaps vacuum sealing ammo in a food saver could extend the shelf life exponentially. Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

 

[OutdoorDad]

I shot some ammo made in the 1940's not too long ago.

How long do you want it to last on the shelf?

 

[Wolfhound]

Keep it in a cool dry place and it will last a long, long time. I shot some Turkish Mauser ammo (8x57) the other day stamped 1938. no problems at all.

 

[BogWalker]

I'm shooting 1931 Kynoch .303. Temperature swings and moisture are the enemy so garages and out buildings aren't recommended. All of my ammo is in a closet and if left there would probably still be good for another century.

 

[indykid]

Reading these other dates my 1952 9mm Spanish stuff seems new.

As stated above, with proper storage, as in cool and dry, ammo could out live you.

 

[ScouT6a]

I have shot .45 ACP ammo from WW I (1918 head stamp) that went off like the day that it was made.
Stable environmental storage conditions are they key, as previously stated.

 

[bulletsmith]

I recently found 9mm in my garage that I made before we moved here. That makes it 17+ years old. This is really new, by comparison, next to the previous posts. Now consider that they are reloads that are made with virtually no quality controls like humidity on the day of assembly, no primer seal, and they have been in the garage with no temperature control for that many years. They shot like I just made them.

I have to believe that factory, and especially military, ammo has a virtually unlimited shelf life.

 

[2A_Tom]

If the cases aren't corroded through it is probably OK, then again if zombies are coming at you just use it.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Stored in a dry location that doesn't get really hot (temperature stable is more important than temperature) and commercial ammo will outlast you. Corrosion is the biggest enemy.

 

[slipnotz]

I think the shelf life is 1 year on ammo. So if you have any older than that, contact me and I will pick it up and destroy it for you. If properly stored, it will last longer than any of us.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

The military stores it in ammo cans in non-climate controlled bunkers in some of the worst weather conditions in the world. Their ammo seems to work.

 

[Markus]

I shot some 22 last year that I found stored in a box in my garage. It was a box of 50 and the price tag on it read $0.36 and it was fine. I figure it had to be close to 40 years old.

 

[halfmileharry]

The military stores it in ammo cans in non-climate controlled bunkers in some of the worst weather conditions in the world. Their ammo seems to work.

Yep. Clean and shiny ammo doesn't suffer from projectile dysfunction (pd)

 

[bigbaloo95]

I just bought a hundred rounds of early hornady .44 magnum from an estate auction. Shoots like the day it was made. Found a baby food jar of .22 shorts my old man had around critter control. Had "Remington Kleenbore" scrawled on it in grease pencil if that tells you anything. Stuff still goes bang every time. Btw who else had a dad that stored everything in old jars?

 

[BogWalker]

I find Whitman's chocolate boxes to be more space effective than jars, and the heavy cardboard holds up well. I've been using the same ones for five years now for whatever I need them for.

 

[Markus]

Btw who else had a dad that stored everything in old jars?

I love to store stuff in Glass jars. Hard to find a good glass jar these days though.

 

[Fullmag]

I just bought a hundred rounds of early hornady .44 magnum from an estate auction. Shoots like the day it was made. Found a baby food jar of .22 shorts my old man had around critter control. Had "Remington Kleenbore" scrawled on it in grease pencil if that tells you anything. Stuff still goes bang every time. Btw who else had a dad that stored everything in old jars?

my dad made spinning rack of baby food jars. Was a pretty good idea for storing little things.

 

[Dave A]

Done with a Food Saver just to see how it turned out.

 

[eatsnopaste]

Done with a Food Saver just to see how it turned out.

you need to date them to know which to use first.

 

[snapping turtle]

The old shotgun shells (pre plastic) can swell. Old 22 from trapping boats can get wet and fail to fire. Other than that all has been good for me.