How old is too old for ammo?

[Darryl Licht]

I have some old 9mm HP ammo (very similar to Black Talons with grooves around outer rim of the hollow) that I keep moving from mag to mag every few months for use as home defense ammo.

It has been kept inside in a safe and has to be 20+ years old. Is that too old, or do I even need to worry?

[OldShooter32]

If it has been kept in a cool, dry space, it will shoot. Oil (seeps into the primer) heat & vibration (breaks down powder) and dampness (corrosion and powder deterioration) are the worst culprits.
Ammo can last quite a long time, stored properly.

[knucklehead0202]

i'm sure it's fine, I've shot ammo that was 75+ years old without issue, so 20yrs in a safe wouldn't worry me a bit.

[meaty-btz]

The only time ammo is bad is if the case has decayed or water has penetrated the case around the bullet or primer.

Though... there are plenty of cases of severely corroded ammo being literally dug up and fired. Extremely risky but it went bang.

20 years in a environment as soft as a Safe? Please, plenty good.

Most ammo is actually good when stored correctly for more than a CENTURY.

I believe the short shelf life myth comes from the "olden days" around the turn of the last century. The primers were often mercury or sulfur based and those do indeed oxidize over time and will fail to ignite after a fairly short period. A properly sealed case will not suffer this fate.. but it can. I do not believe mercury based priming compounds have really good shelf lives. The powder will be fine but the primer is bunk. Modern primers are good for far longer than we can need them to be presuming proper storage. I've used primers that are over 20 years old that were stored in a damp basement and chewed and peed on by rats. Every single primer fired.

[A and O]

You are good to go Sir. I have some 230grn Ball ammo from WWll that I'm still shooting on occasion. I use it to impress younguns on how clean Bullseye is relative to the soot producer it was in a bygone era.

[hermosabeach]

If you have chambered a round multiple times, check for bullet setback.

Also if you did something silly with the ammo like drop a round into the cha per and dropped the slide on it, check the case rim.

I have shot ammo from the 1930s. It all fired. Some had the case split but it still fired and ejected fine.

[Mr. Gillious]

HAHAHAHA!!

Don't worry about it. My dad found me some 44 mag ammo he found in his foot locker in our storage. I shot it out my ruger and it worked fine.

Oh yeah, it was a box of 50 and I think the price tag on it said $2.09!!! It was from like 1968

[Gutz]

I shot some 8x56r from like 1930-something..... And it worked just fine....

[MontClaire]

It should be ok to fire, just check for corrosion, cracks on the casing where the bullet sits. If it looks ok then load it.

[NorCalDustin]

I occasionally shoot some .22 Winchester Automatic from 1913... Shoots just fine.

[Full Clip]

My dad gave me some primers he'd had stored in his closet for 30+ years. All worked fine. Modern components are incredibly reliable and stable...

[GeoffLinder]

You will die before the ammo does

[The War Wagon]

You will die before the ammo does

^^^^ THIS!

If it was made in the 20th century, it'll STILL outlive YOU!

[Darryl Licht]

Thanks everyone! Kinda what I expected but since this is my home defense ammo, I wanted to get your opinions!

[koehn,jim]

Much of the 50 cal our snipers are using was made during the Second WW or Korean conflict and seems to work fine. I would not worry about it working.