Club Platinum .. the Blade Show Trimester

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Well mangs I got curious about how much ammo I have. Lets just say in .40 cal I have 1,000 rounds and over half of them are Golden saber 165 H.P. I have right around 400 to 500 rounds for all of my other hand guns 45,44 mag,357 mag.for my 22, 22 mag I have 1000 rounds of 22 mag and no clue how many 22 rounds. As far as rifles go I have at least 200 rounds for each caliber I own. I do not have any AR's or AK's or there would be more. Now I have to stock up on 454 rounds. My wife saw how many 12 gauge rounds I have and she said you will never shoot all of them in 2 lifetimes. I guess I am anal about if the world goes to shit I am going to be ready.Bad thing is that i did not realize I had so many rounds for each caliber.
 
morning men,, hope everyone made it out of the hurricane with all their fingers and toes,,,

got another half day off today, going to a friends BBQ to do some eating and drinking. it should be awesome,

@ Cheebs,, someone else on this forum can probably give better info on this than me, but I'll start, in theory, ammo does go bad, but not like eggs or milk. I took a class years ago, and IIRC I think the instructor said 1 year in "improper' storage , (i.e. an open 5 gallon bucket in your garage) and up to 5 years 'properly stored, I.E. a properly sealed ammo can. that being said, I've never had ammo 'go bad' on me, but I've never kept it around longer than a couple years. hope that helps...
 
Chibbi said:
I always wondered,,, does ammo stay 'fresh' forever ? If kept in a dry place ?
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Data,,,


Properly stored ammunition can last at least 40 years or more without any problems. However, the caveat here is "proper storage."

The method the military and ammunition industry use for long-term storage of ammunition is very old and very simple. Make a concrete bunker with walls about a foot thick. Then cover the whole thing about a yard deep with dirt. This construction is called an "igloo". The igloo produces a remarkably constancy in temperature and humidity inside, requiring neither power nor adjustment. Using this technique, modern small arms ammo may be stored for 40 or more years with no material degradation. Conversely, ammo "stored" in a hot car trunk may be dead as a mackerel, or wildly inconsistent in a single summer. However, not all of us have an "igloo" handy. Given even moderately consistent conditions most modern ammunition components are fairly resistant to degradation in the short run, say 10-15 years, absent high temperatures and/or constant temperature fluctuations.

To hit the high points of home storage very generally

1. In general, it is the PRIMER that you are worried about. Absent excessive high temperature and/or humidity, modern smokeless powder is very resistant to degradation in storage. As an interesting aside, corrosive priming compounds that use to be commonly in use have longer storage lives and are more resistant to degradation than comparable non-corrosive priming compounds.

2. No matter where you store ensure there is "dunnage" (i.e. 2x4 wood) under and between each layer stacked. Also ensure there is air space between stacked cases on the same layer. These provide air circulation which is crucial.

3. Humidity--Drier is better, but in sealed cans will make little difference if dunnage and air space are maintained. The ammunition should be packed with a desiccant. You can purchase a commercial product or go the "do-it-yourself" route. Go to any construction site and ask the straw boss if there are are any broken sheet rock boards around or some wallboard scraps. There will usually be. Sheet rock is gypsum and hydroscopic. Get a few pieces and cut them to about the size of a deck of cards square. Cook them in the oven at about 200 - 225 degrees for a few hours to drive the moisture out of them, then put one in each of your ammo cans. The piece will absorb what little moisture there may be in your ammo can, giving you a nice dry environment.

4. Temperature--This is a big one with lots of details. Good ammo is like good wine. Both like a constant, even temperature around 65 degrees F. The constancy of temperature is more important than the temperature itself. (This is a dandy excuse to build a wine cellar to store both.), And, as a wise man once said, "you can never have too much of either."

For short-term storage of general-usage ammunition, the most important factor is to keep the ammo out of excessive heat--say over 85 degrees. Excessive heat degrades ammunition. Ammo stored in car trunks is the most common victim here. Low temperatures do not harm ammunition per se. What degradation may occur is caused more by repeated temperature fluctuation than by the cold. (As an aside, double base powders can perform erratically when USED in very cold temperatures, but this is not a function of storage.)

At this point we probably should explain what we mean by "degradation" If you're storing MG ammo or "rattle battle" ammo, for a few years, the garage should suffice nicely, given the constraints above. The standard deviation of the velocity may go up slightly, but I suspect you will not notice a thing. On the other hand, if you are storing match ammunition, I'd recommend keeping the stuff in a place with a more even temperature. The bedroom closet, where the temperature stays nice all year, for instance. With something as precise as match ammunition even a little degradation could be of consequence.

Invest in a "min/max" thermometer that shows both the minimum and maximum temperature recorded. They run 10 bucks or so. Check your storage area monthly for signs of excessive temperature (check the min/max) or other degradation (rust on cans, etc.). There are no magic procedures. Just remember that equipment respected is equipment that will be reliable.

Thanks to John Nichols for supplying this information--courtesy his stint with Uncle Sam.

As an example of what is possible, some years ago I fired some 60+ year old GI .45ACP ammo (FA 18 headstamp) that had been found in a military storage bunker. Of 40 rounds fired every one went off and 5 rounds over a chronograph averaged 788 f/s. -- [FF A friend recently found some loose, original, .30-40 Krag rounds in a box in his parent's home in Virginia. The head stamp on them was FA 10 95. In a spirit of adventure he fired two rounds and both went off with what appeared to be a normal report!]

To sum up.

Store ammunition and components in a temperature stable area (ideally 60 +/- 10 deg F)
Store in GI ammunition cans of good quality with good seals with a desiccant pack included
Have plenty of ventilation around the stored ammo cans and keep them off of floors.
If dampness may be present you can coat the ammo cans with liquid Alox to prevent long term rusting
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Paulis revolver ammo storage:

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BTW: he uses stainless materials. :)
 
On Feebay you can buy military cases they use to store night vision goggles. They are air and moisture tight and you can find them pretty cheap. The larger ones will hold a lot of ammo. That's what I use,but I don't have the inventory Mike does.
 
Chibbi said:
I always wondered,,, does ammo stay 'fresh' forever ? If kept in a dry place ?
Click to expand...


Ive found that 22 ammo dosent fair well with age. The lead seems to break down with time, even the copper coated stuff. I had a 30 carbine ammo can full and after 5 years the lead looked really shitty. It fired but the bullets looked like the had swelled some. It was mostly plain lead bullets, but i did inherit a brick of cci copper washed stuff that had started to flake under the copper coating . I have fired pre 1945 military ammo that fired every time. Except for the carcano stuff...... im not sure it all went bang when it was new..........

Ive got a couple cases of ww2 Winchester 303 that i expect will fire just fine........All the old 7.62x54 iv fired went bang, except some Polish shit with hard primers......... all surplus military ammo have salts in it to keep it fresh. But you still need to keep it dry ....

I may be rambling.....i been in Nashville all weekend... im plum tuckered out.........
 
Ok, i picked up a used aimpoint comp ml2 and i dont like the mount. You guys have any spares? I need a killflash too.

And yes, ill take stainless ones............

THANKS GUYS
 
^that's some mighty interetsting data right there,,, I'm surprised that a stable temperature seems more imporatnt then moisture,,,

I'm just storing my ammo in my vault along with my firearms, but it's not very much and isn't stored more then a few years max before getting shot and replaced with newly bought, so I think I'm good,,,

BTW, can you recognize 'bad' ammo by looking at it ? (apart from the obvious, corrosion etc,,,)
 
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