Ammo storage - shelf life

[solidstate]

I want to know anyone's experience with long term storage of ammo and what anybody thinks the shelf life of ammo bought today is? i have shot plenty of WWII 8mm mauser surplus with virtually no problems, but im not sure if they still "make them like they used to".

Also what is the proper way to store ammo if you happened to stock up when we thought AB 962 was going to pass.

[Digital_Hate]

store it any way you want. just keep it away from moisture and you will be fine for years

[dieselpower]

With non-military grade (manufactured for a military) I would say 12-15 years is max. Some cheap stuff already looks bad when you buy it..imagine what it would be like a dozen years down the road... Higher end stuff I would trust for 20-30 years properly stored. I have seen some 60+ year old ammo shot fine...I just wouldnt trust it in my guns...your guns, no problem LOL

[paul0660]

In a conditioned space, longer than you will.

[Beelzy]

I've got ammo from 1944 that still looks brand new and shoots just fine.

The key is to keep ammo in a cool dry place.

[captbilly]

Military ammo is likely designed to store better

I do not know this for a fact but I believe that military ammo is designed to store better. Of course we know that military ammo has features to make it less susceptible to moisture and water (sealed bullet to case interface and sealed primer), but I suspect that they also pick their powder and primers for good shelf life. The military was slow to move to non-corrosive primers, partly due to reliability issues, partly due to how slow the military is to do anything, and potentially due to storage issues.

My own experience is that I have some Steyer Mannlicher ammo that actually has the German WW2 Eagle stamped on the boxes, and is probably from prior to WW2, and it still works fine. I also had a case of commercial 9mm, that I bought at least 25 years ago, that worked 100% reliably when I shot it a few months ago. Both of these types of ammo were stored by me in an unconditioned garage. The temperature ranged from just below freezing to well above 100 F. Humidity ran from probably 30% in summer to 100% in winter. The boxes were not inside of anything, or sealed with plastic, just paper boxes.

[Divernhunter]

I have mil surplus amm from the 1930's which is still shooting fine. I have commercial ammo I bought in the 1960's and some that was given to me that was made before the and it shoots well. I have my reloads left over from the 1960's and 70's which shoots just as well as current reloads.

My ammo has been stored in the garage as well as the house but has never been wet(flooded) while I owned it.

Any ammo you have will be good longer than you will be alive.

[Yugo]

store it any way you want. just keep it away from moisture and you will be fine for years

Just like some one above said "NO MOISTURE" and it will live longer than all of us!

[Yugo]

Just dont let them be stored in the hands of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozGwNzW07k

[luckystrike]

good ammo cans+silica gel packs and it will out last any of us here.

[solidstate]

Just dont let them be stored in the hands of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozGwNzW07k

wow...good thing she had on her eye protection.

I assumed the shelf life was pretty infinite with the the cool, dry climate. I just needed to hear it from people who had actually done it.

Thanks,

[Maltese Falcon]

I got some 40 year old 12 gauge bird shot with paper shells from a buddy who helped clean out a widow's garage.

Shot fine, except for 1 squib out of 75 during a class.

.

[rojocorsa]

Store in a cool, dry place. Done.

[Dhena81]

If you want to get really crazy vacuum pack it that way the moisture in the air when you pack it won't condensate when the temperature changes. Think of it like a glass of water with ice in it the cool temp of the glass somewhere around 32 degrees F cools the outside air around it and that's why your glass sweats.

[Antihero47]

I've shot 8mm through a Styr my uncle had that had the German eagle with head stamp of 1938. Came with the stripper clips that had the eagle. We shot it in 2010 and it worked fine. 72 Year old ammo...