So lets talk about storing extra ammo

[Reloadron]

I read things like this repeatedly on gun forums. Which leaves me to wonder; a) why does powder sometimes deteriorate in cans, but powder in cartridges doesn't seem to?, and b) even if it shoots, does anyone have any data to suggest the velocity or pressures are similar in 40 year old ammo to what it was when it was new?

While I can't speak for forty years I can speak for twenty to twenty-five years. Some of the .308 Winchester and .223 Remington I shot this summer I loaded twenty to twenty-five years ago. Some of the ammo boxes were 50 round boxes half full and many had the original Oehler 35P Chronograph print outs still in the ammo containers. Any velocity difference was negligible. I saw differences of maybe 20 to 25 FPS and even that could have been a result of where the sun was or temperature and humidity. Anyway, the stuff didn't change much to speak of. My goal is to get all this old stuff shot this summer so I can focus on making new ammunition this winter when my range is under a few feet of snow and ice.

Ron

[surg_res]

i recently destroyed hundreds of rounds of .30 caliber and .30 Army (.30-40) ammunition with deteriorated powder. It was all made prior to 1930.

Was that the smokeless stuff?

I appreciate the information. Sounds to me like moisture is the greatest culprit, if any. I've stumbled across old '06 with the bluish-white crust, which mostly wipes off, but I've been reluctant to shoot. I'm assuming its mostly moisture-related oxidation--something that a simple moisture-proof container should prevent.

The next challenge is to figure a way to condense the ammo out of the original packaging. When you own 20 different chamberings, and only a handful of boxes of certain wildcats, its funny how challenging it is to organize the stuff, water-tight.

Oh well, sounds like a good winter project

[Oldman11]

I bought two boxes 45/70 at a flea market about 15 yrs ago. I don't know the age but one box was 405 blackpowder and the other was 500 gr smokeless in the two piece box. I've shot four of each without any trouble. I don't know the age of the two piece box or the blackpowder ones but they have to be at least 50 yrs old,I just wished I had more of them.

[kilimanjaro]

I collect full boxes of classic .22 shells, and a buddy collects empty boxes. So between us, we've got some partial boxes to share, what I can't use to make up a full box we just take out and shoot it up. This stuff is 1920s-1940s .22 shells. Most of it shoots just fine.

[xcc_rider]

Last year I shot some 45 ACP loads that were 20 yrs old. They fired well but we're really smokey, almost like shooting with Purposes in my cap and ball revolvers. They were lead RN, bullseye powder and win primers stored in an ammo can with diseccant pack.

I've also recently shot some incredibly old 22 LR that shot just fine. I have no idea how old it was but the price tag on the 500ct brick was just over $6.00. It also has been stored in an ammo can with diseccant.
Good thing is I still have another 5k of that vintage 22 LR to shoot

[P5 Guy]

All ammo should be stored in ready reach.