Does ammunition go bad?

Question

I have a box of Black Talons as well as another box of ammo purchased for home protection use. Both boxes are 14 or 15 years old, and kept inside the house. Are they still "good"? Are there any concerns about using them?

Answer 1

Your ammo should be fine. I would have no qualms at all about using them. I think the Black Talons are worth some serious bucks by the way so you might want to ask around at some of the guns and ammo forums. I've shot rounds that were 30 years old that performed flawlessly.

About the only thing I have heard other long term storage with moisture and humidity present is excessive vibration that breaks up the powder flakes and causes them to either burn too slowly or too fast. I heard this second hand from a chopper pilot many years ago. We were telling war stories in the O club and he was pretty toasty so I don't know if this is BS or not. He told me that he had a door mounted M-60 blow a barrel because of ammo that had been kept in the back and never got moved to the front to be used up. This caused a squib in one of the rounds that lodged in the barrel. I have never been able to verfiy if this is true or not, so if anyone knows, please post.

Answer 2

Does ammunition go bad? Most emphatically, YES. However, it does have a LONG shelf life.

What spoils ammo is climate. Stepping in an out of an air conditioned car can create condensation within the cartridge itself that will spoil the ammo. This can occur in as little time as six months to a year. Police department policy dictates that service ammo must be changed out every six month to a year.

A long, long time ago I worked for a small PD in the Valley. One of my officer friends responded to a vicious dog call. When the dog charged him he confidently drew his Smith & Wesson Model 10 .38 Special revolver, drew a bead on the attacking dog and pulled the trigger six times. The impossible occurred, his revolver misfired six times! The rason de etra for officers carrying revolvers back then was that they alledgedly never failed, unlike the new fangled auto-loaders!

My friend managed to climb on the roof of his patrol car before being bit and mauled by the vicious dog. We later learned that he had NEVER changed out the ammo in his revolver. His reaction was: WHAT DO YOU MEAN AMMO GOES BAD??? Of course in the Sixties muncipal policemen had very little training. But that incident served to enlighten us about heat, humidity and air conditioned patrol cars affecting ammo life. True Story.

If your ammo has been indoors all this time, it most likely is still viable. Try firing one cartridge at the range to be sure. In the future you might want to write on the ammo box the date of purchase. After five or ten years (just to be safe), burn up your old ammo at the range and buy fresh. I have ammo that is going on ten years but has been stored with dessicant packs, so I know it is still viable.

Best.

H

Answer 3

Eventually, but it may take 40-50 years if stored properly. Former Shooting Times handgun editor, Skeeter Skeltom was doing an endurance test on the Colt .45 Mk IV Series '70 autos, and he shot some ammo from WWII which were scaly green, and they had only about 2-3% misfires. This happened at about 1982.So if ammo which went around the globe and stored under who knows wat conditions still work, your Black Talons ought to be OK for another couple of decades at least

Answer 4

Smokeless powder cartridges will last many, many decades without deteriorating to the point of becoming unsafe to shoot, however if they are stored for a really extended period of time in conditions of extreme dampness and/or cold, this could adversely affect reliable primer ignition.
Some people will relegate ammo to practise use after a few years, just to be on the safe side, but don't neglect to test-fire and if necessary re-sight with the new ammo.

Answer 5

As long as it is stored properly, that is, dry, and cool, it rarely goes bad, I actually fired ammo from ww1 that had been stored and found it to be just fine. However, storing it in hot closets, attics exposure to moisture etc can ruin it quickly. Make sure you don't use those black talons for defense. Since being forced to pull them off the market (because the actually worked very well) it would guarantee you a lost lawsuit from the bad guys family costing you everything you own or will ever own. Make sure you use a defense load that is not controversial. I always advise people to find out what your local law enforcement office uses in their weapons and use it. It is much more defensable in court.

Answer 6

When properly stored, they will be good for much longer than the 14 or 15 years that your ammo has been stored.

Answer 7

Yes ammo can go bad but it keeps for a long time. Some things you need to look for is: 1) dented cases, 2) compare it to another round to see if the bullet has sunk into the case farther, 3) look at the primer to see if it has any corrosion around it, 4) check for dented cases. There are a few more things to check for but I can't think of them right now.

Always keep ammo stored in a dry place and AWAY FROM GUN OIL.

Answer 8

Ammunition can go bad... but it takes years, especially if it is stored the right way. As long as you keep it dry,and it doesn't get too cold or too hot you should be alright. I was in the Marines back in the mid-ninties. We were shooting machine gun ammo that was manufactured back in 1963. It worked like a charm.

Answer 9

Yes, they are bad.....send them all to me immediately!

Really, unless left wet and they have become corroded, it's very likely still good. A dry place is the only requirement for it to last decades. I have shot 75+ year old ammo and it performed well.

Answer 10

id shoot them ammo takes about35-40 years to go bad