Long Term storage of Ammunition

[masek77]

Ive noticed that some bullets that are of good quality when purchased arent so good if stored for a year or two.

Ive got some of the moisture absorbing powder so Im thinking of using that.

Any ideas on how to keep ammo "fresh".

Before you make a snide statement yes I am new to reloading/ammo/shooting. Ive been out of shooting for several years and am trying to get back into it.

[jhalcott]

  What do you mean about being "not so good" ? what are the problems? I have ammo sitting on the shelf that I loaded 10-12 YEARS ago! I recently shot up some 1909-1911, 375 ammo. My granddad gave me a case of WW1 30-06 ammo before he died. Only a few of these rounds ever failed to go off! A cool dark DRY place will keep ammo for many decades.

[masek77]

By "not so good" I mean every other round misfiring.

I dont know about the conditions the ammo was kept so I would assume based on what you said that the ammo wasnt stored correctly...

Thanks for the help.

[kyote]

  I am with jhalcott,I have ammo that is from the 1935 ect.the stuff stiil goes bang and is accurate.when I reload now.I get the military ammo cans.clean the inside really well.litly sand the out side and paint them a color other then the o.d. green they come as.normally with a rust preventing primer paint.then I put the reloaded ammo in them.it seems to store well.I do reload a lot..it is something I enjoy doing.and reload way more then I shoot.specificly hand gun ammo.why you are having problems might not be just a storage issue.good luck.

[Questor]

Considering how some ammo is warehoused, it's amazingly durable stuff. I keep mine in the house, where climate is stable and it's relatively dry.

[jpsmith1]

Ammo...Storage...?  I've never been able to hold onto it long enough to worry about long-term storage.  By maintaining an even climate for anything, you minimize the possibility of condensation forming and will increase life.

I have to say that I've had more problems with GUN storage than with AMMO storage.

[beemanbeme]

Was the stuff you were having problems with factory ammo??  What brand??  While milsup ammo is sealed at the primer and bullet, considering how long some of that stuff has been around and still goes bang, I would think that modern ammo stored in any reasonable location would be good for several years. 
The other day I shot up some homemade .300WM ammo that was loaded in '99.  And it was sitting out in a unheated shop (temp swing 100+ in the summer and single diget in the winter) the whole time. 
Help us out here.

[masek77]

The ammo in question was .22LR.

I asked an it was purchased in 1961 or 1962. The only reason my friend knows is the ammo was purchased with a rifle bought the same day and the rifle was purchased then.

It was about half a box and out of about 25 rounds we had 11 misfires. I THINK it was one of the Remington products. Not sure though but since the .22 rifle was a remington Im pretty sure the original purchaser bought remington ammo because it would supposedly work better.

Pistol was an OLD RG14 pistol. I thought maybe it was the pistol as it is nealry 50 years old but once we switched over to CCI ammo it fired every time.

BTW RG pistols are the most inaccurate pistols every made.

[jpsmith1]

A year or two or 40? 

maybe there was a problem with the priming compound.  I'm not sure when the priming material was changed, was it corrosive in '61-'62.  I haven't been around long enough to know. 

[masek77]

Yeah I originally thought the ammo wasnt that old.

[beemanbeme]

The primer compound in the rim of the old stuff could have gotten a little "tired" and that explains the difference when you switched to new ammo.  Also, your  hammer fall could be part of the problem.  Did you re-try any of the duds? 
Let's see 1962--2006 = "a couple of years"..  ROFLMAO

[masek77]

To restate....

I only knew it to be "older" ammunition and I assumed it to be just a few years aol when I made the first post.

I have since learned that that ammo was most likely made in 1961 or 1962.

ITS NOT MY AMMO AND IT WASNT MY GUN AND I DIDNT EVEN SHOOT IT...

[stimpylu32]

I have some Rem. 22 mag ammo that was made 2 years ago and have over half of one box that needed 2 or 3 hits to fire , yet the next box from the same lot # had no FTFs .

Some times its just the priming compound that they use .  

[jhalcott]

 Mas, don't throw it in the fire to dry it out!! I'd CARE fully pull one of the duds and pour out the powder to see if there was any moisture or other obvious problem with the powder. BUT I AM NOT RECCOMMENDING THAT YOU DO THIS!! Some times if you turn the shell in the chamber so another part of the rim is hit many misfires will go off. Especially with cheap rimfire ammo! There was a case in some western statewhere a guy dropped some misfired .22 on the concrete floor of the range and some one else stepped on one causing enough pressure to set it off!

[Questor]

If it's only lasting a couple of years before you get misfires, then I suspect something wrong with loading technique, like contamination during loading.