# Shooting Older Ammo



## madmag (Jan 29, 2007)

What are your thoughts on keeping older ammo? My feelings are that I have no problem with shooting ammo that is 30 years old. In fact, in the early 1960's I shot some surplus Army .45ACP ammo in an old Remington Rand 1911. The ammo was dated 1917. It actually fired. Did have some that you could hear the hammer fall first...then bang. But that is an extreme. I have on many occasions fired ammo that I have stored for over 25 to 30 years with complete reliability. I guess I am saying that I think the worry about replacing ammo after a short time is extreme. Also, while in the Army in 1959 I had the chance to shoot up WWII surplus (dated early 40's) ammo in my .45ACP grease gun. Shot thousands of rounds with no issues (lots of fun). But maybe someone has the experience that they had failures with older ammo.


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## jeepgirl (Jan 17, 2007)

I have been wondering if ammo expires..not that I can afford to stock up a surplus, just curious.


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## scooter (May 9, 2006)

Most of it will be ok but do watch for squibs, If the ammo has been in a damp place at some time it could make for some misfires or squibs.
I would probably use the old stuff for plinking/targets while I spent my money stocking up newer stuff.
And I would DEFINATELY avoid using real old ammo in a full auto.....ever!!!


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## madmag (Jan 29, 2007)

jeepgirl said:


> I have been wondering if ammo expires..not that I can afford to stock up a surplus, just curious.


That's also the issue for me. I just feel that based on experience, if you control the ammo yourself and know how it has been stored, then I think it can be good for self defense for years....not months. Just keep the ammo in a reasonable cool dry place.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

Well, I keep extra ammo on hand now - but I cycle thru it. I use the oldest, and after I shoot, I stop by the store on the way home and buy more to replace it.


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## madmag (Jan 29, 2007)

Shipwreck said:


> Well, I keep extra ammo on hand now - but I cycle thru it. I use the oldest, and after I shoot, I stop by the store on the way home and buy more to replace it.


I agree with you about cycling thru. The only thing is am retired and I cannot afford to cycle thru too soon on my expensive defense ammo. Of course I make sure it operates, so I just shoot a few rounds of each type just for testing. This means I keep some ammo as personal defense for at least 10 years. So the time before cycling is the issue.

I probably did not ask the original question well. I should have asked if anyone has a cutoff age on ammo they store. What do they feel is the longest they would keep defense ammo before replacing with fresh supply?


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## scooter (May 9, 2006)

madmag said:


> I probably did not ask the original question well. I should have asked if anyone has a cutoff age on ammo they store. What do they feel is the longest they would keep defense ammo before replacing with fresh supply?


I personally would only keep defense specific ammo for 2-3 years at most . buy the cheap stuff for plinking and use your defense ammo every so often(2-3 years) and replace it with new:smt023


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## 2400 (Feb 4, 2006)

madmag said:


> I probably did not ask the original question well. I should have asked if anyone has a cutoff age on ammo they store. What do they feel is the longest they would keep defense ammo before replacing with fresh supply?


As long as you keep the ammo cool and dry it should outlast you. :mrgreen:


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## S&W Tiger (Feb 9, 2007)

*Incredible!!!*

I just came from the range. I shot some reloads I found that I had in storage for *31 YEARS*. EVERYONE PERFECT!!!


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