Long Term Storage of Completed Ammunition

[ZakAttackMan]

I want to store a large amount of .38 SPL and possibly other types of ammo with cast boolits.

I like to cast a lot shoot a lot and reload a lot. I often find more time to reload and cast than shoot (sad I know). Which is why I have the question of how long and how do I store completed ammunition with cast boolits. I understand that lead can soften in long term storage. Does the lube on bullets degrade or degrade powder when loaded?

My plan was to load 4 or 5 30 CAL ammo boxes full of 38 SPL throw in some desiccant packets store inside a closet in my house and call it good. I plan on doing this with other calibers as well later.

Thanks for the help and ideas,

Zak

[rhead]

20 years is the oldest of my handloads that I have ever tried. A box with some 30-30 and 270 cast boolit handloads got mislaid while moving. They all shot fine but I did notice a higher incidence of split necks. Apparently time will degrade brass as well as work hardening.

These rounds had been ABUSED. 20 years in an attic in south Arkansas. Probably reaching 120* plus in the summer and near freezing in the winter. Humidity hovering around 60 to 90.

[Shiloh]

Cool and dry, consistent storage conditions.

That is best. Temperature, swings like mentioned above, have detrimental effects.
Rapid temp swings are even worse.
WHen stores as mentioned, ammo keeps fresh and lasts a long, long time.

Shiloh

[870TC]

I put mine reloads in heavy duty zip lock bags, then put these in good ammo cans. I skip the desiccant, and keep the cans in a place where the temperature stays even. Lasts for many, many years.

[ZakAttackMan]

Will the lube on the bullet have any effect on the powder?

[HangFireW8]

Cool and dry, consistent storage conditions.

That is best. Temperature, swings like mentioned above, have detrimental effects.
Rapid temp swings are even worse.
WHen stores as mentioned, ammo keeps fresh and lasts a long, long time.

Shiloh

Agreed. Also avoid high humidity.

An ammo can, throw in some rust inhibiting vapor paper and a desiccant pack, and store it in a conditioned air space, you're set.

-HF

[MT Gianni]

Will the lube on the bullet have any effect on the powder?

I have heard of lube migration from high temps moving to the powder. In MT i haven't experienced it. I store loaded rounds bullet down whenever possible.

[lwknight]

They will keep just fine unless you store then in some really bad bad conditions. Even if they turn ugly (and they will not in ammo cans) they will still be good in 30 years.

[acoilfld]

I would suggest waxed bullets (should seal that end) in a case, point down, with the primer sealed with thinned out lacquer (your wife's old nail polish thinned with acetone - a drop on the end of a toothpick will do).

[Crash_Corrigan]

A buddy of mine finally got his hands on his granddads WWII 1911. It had been stored in a bedroom drawer since 1945 with a fully loaded clip of ammo marked FC 43.

He took it to the range and all seven shots went bang and grouped pretty well at that. I have bought and fired ammo Turkish 8 MM ammo from the 40's and most of it worked ok. Some of the necks split after firing. Some was corroded and failed to fire. It depends on storage conditions. I chronoed some of that Turk stuff and it was pretty hot. Ran from 2,850 to 2950 FPS with a FMJ bullet.

I tore some down and they contained 48 grains of a squarish nasty looking black flake powder. I reloaded the bullets into my cases and only put in 35 gr of powder and it was much nicer to shoot. A little slow and bloopy but I raised the sights and was able to group pretty well at 200 yds with reduced recoil and blast.

I have ammo from the early 60's in .38 and they all worked when fired almost 50 years later. The enemy is moisture and high temps. Absent from that the ammo should last indefinitely I believe.

[jdgabbard]

Ammo, lube with LLA and other like lubes shouldn't seem any lube migration. And isn't an issue with powder or primers. However, most people don't really use it much. I own some, and I NEVER use it. I don't like sticky ammo...

[XWrench3]

i think there are 2 major areas that could hurt you here. 1) is the bullet lube you use, and how careful you are to make sure none of is left on the bottom of the bullet. i always wipe off all the lube from the bottom of the bullet (unless i am going to shoot them that day), so the powder does not become contaminated. and 2) is the actual storage conditions. if it gets hot where the ammo is stored, you could be in for bad news later on (heat will melt the lube, which will allow it to migrate). cool and dry is what makes ammo live a long time. being in a good ammo can, with a good seal helps also. if no air can get out, no air can get in. air will carry moisture, which is your enemy. keep it cool and dry, and it should last a good 50 years or more. let it get hot, or wet, and all you will have is weights.

[Shiloh]

Have some of the same Turkish as Crash Corrigan. Hot, Loud, big muzzle flash. Looks like a naval gun going off. Haven't got around to reducing the powder charge yet.

A shooting buddy reduced his by 10%. Helped a LOT!! Quite a few of the necks still split so it may be the brass.

Shiloh

[243winxb]

Use only virgin brass, chemicals produced from burning powder may have an effect of brass life, mostly in high pressure rounds. Reloaded ammo, 10 years max. Virgin ammo, longer. Bullet lube, as long as its in the grooves, no problem. Lube left on the base of the bullet not a good idea.

[Cherokee]

I'm still shooting 38 Special ammo I loaded in the 70's using cast bullets. Stored in ammo cans in good environmental conditions.

[Big Boomer]

I have ammo I put together in the mid to late 1980s for a Rem 788 in .223 and a Ruger Mini-14. Stored in good conditions - cool and dry. Still using it today to knock out ground hogs, crows and coyotes in southern Ky. Same for my stout hunting loads for a .45 5-shooter, though storage has not been quite as long for them. 'Tuck

[Shiloh]

I have .38 brass that is older than some of the folks I work with. I'm 53.
It has been loaded countless times. Every once in a while one splits.

SHiloh

[JDL]

I found some .30-30s in 2005 that I had loaded in 1977 with Lyman 311466. When I fired them over a chrono they gave 1916 fps, an extreme spread of 32 fps, and 10 went into 1.564" at 100 yds. They were not stored in an ammo can or plastic bag but, were kept at room temp.
JDL

[gwilliams2]

This subject just come up a while back... About a month ago I shot the last of some 9mm boolits that I had reloaded some time prior to 1995.. The ammo had been mostly stored in the garage in plain old plastic ammo boxes with tempuratures ranging from the teens to 110 or so, some times very humid others very dry... The brass looked a little tarnished, but no major corrosion of any kind... All went bang and hit the target as best as could be expected with me squeezing the trigger...

[Kraschenbirn]

I'm currently shooting .45 ACPs and .38 Spls that were loaded in the mid-90s. Back when I was shooting competition seriously, I'd load both calibers 3000-4000 rounds at a time and store in .50 cal. ammo cans.

Late last fall, I found a dozen or so rounds of .243 JB reloads labeled "04/88." Took 'em to the range just to empty the cases (rounds were a varmit load I haven't used in years...don't even think Sierra makes bullet anymore) and, off sandbags, put the last five rounds into just under 1 1/2" @ 200M. These were stored in an MTM plastic ammo box with no dessicant.

Bill

[Blammer]

make sure you use new or once fired brass, I've found that brass that has been fired many times if stored a long time will have a higher rate of split necks.

[rhead]

So far from the anecdotal statements from personal experiences the primers and powders will outlast the brass, even when stored under abusive conditions. 20 years of heating and cooling and the brass has only the one more use. Kinda hard to anneal the neck of a loaded round.