I have recently watched or read something, any way it’s in my head, about 22LR ammo storage. Something that suggests they are only good for few years and then go off, I suppose? Maybe moisture gets in them maybe primer compound neutralises, no idea… I usually take these things with a grain (read: very large sack) of salt.
Putting it out to the crowd here, what do you think? What’s a shelf life of 22LR ammo in good, moisture free environment (e.g. jar with desiccant or ammo can or whatever)? Mine doesn’t last that long anyway, but I am interested if there is some truth to that statement?
I’ve got ammo from when I got my first 22 at 6yr old an old single shot handed down to me at that age I was only allowed to shoot with an adult and you only shot to eat hence I still have bullets although I’ve unloaded quiet a few new 22 's since then so 6yr old to 64yr old =58yrs and my granddaughter fire a couple a few weeks back still good ammo
No quiet the opposite I do shoot plenty but I have kept 2 boxes of 22 from way back then sentimental thing that’s all they were made to last back then I don’t know how this new stuff would last but I presume if looked after it would be the same of late I haven’t shot much I’ve been fighting a few medical issues but hopefully will be back in full swing soon
I don’t think it’s a matter of the powder going “off”, but some types of lube (waxes) DO harden and go somewhat “chalky” with age. Exposure to a bit of moderate warming (NOT hot) can reverse that process, but if not, I wouldn’t worry too much.
So, is this suggesting that there might be a difference between the shelf life of rimfire and centrefire ammo???
I’ve got some .310 cadet ammo that dates back to the 50’s that definitely wasn’t stored well. Of the handful I did fire, about half didn’t fire. When I was a kid (late 80’s) we found a stash of WW2 dated surplus 303 ammo and blasted it all off. I don’t recall any “hang fires” or “fail to fires” but it was a long time ago. That ammo was 40 something years old…
Like the others said, good storage and the shelf life can extend to decades. I have several packets of various 22 that I use to find what ammo a new 22 likes, then buy that brand/weight combo and some of it is 10+ years. Some other plinking ammo is ex-comp that is 30+ years old and now and then a mate gives me stuff he finds in old farmhouses he demolishes and the good looking packets can be 50+ and still shoot. Storage is everything, even CF, I shoot 1910 and 1912 dated MkVI 303 in my Martini, only avg 1 in 10 misfires, the 70’s POF crap that was around a few years back wasn’t that good! Perhaps what you have in your head was placed there by a gunshop owner trying to flog you more ammo? Cheers.
I have some paper shotshells from God only knows how long ago (got em in a big box of random when a mate closed his shop) and they worked, well the couple I tried, some were pretty corroded and I didn’t try them.
I go a bit OCD if i’m packing ammo for long term storage, i put everything out in the sun for a bit to ensure there’s no moisture then vac seal it.
Years back i had some ammo for my M1 30 carbine that was stuffed from poor storage, it would’ve been about 10 years old & all went into the bin.
As others have said if you do it right it should last decades.
Nah, it was some YouTube video I was watching (pretty sure), I can’t remember what it was, but it was one of those passing comments. It lingered in the back of my mind, so I thought I’d pop it here.
