KCSO
07-10-2007, 03:00 PM
Every so often we see questions about how long will ammo last and how do i need to store my ammo. For what it is worth...
Today we decommissioned a car that had been in use since 2002. In removing the duty gear boxes and equipment we found a box of 45acp ammo that had been reloaded in 2001 and had fallen into a wheel well and was covered with oil that dripped down from a leaking can of 10W30. Now I had reloaded this ammo for practice and labled it in 2001 and it was 230 TC cast bullets in once fired cases W/W primers and 6.0 of Unique. The primers were NOT sealed and no special steps were made in reloading to weather porrof the ammo. The wheel well had not been opened since 2004 sot the shells sat soaking in oil for at least 3 years.
I pulled out 47 rounds that looked like they would still chamber and threw away three that were dented. I dried the rounds off with a paper towell and fed them into my 1911. 46 fired first hammer fall and one round took two hits. Shooting offhand from 7 to 25 yards on the Nebraska Qualification target all rounds went into an 8" group. Only one round failed to feed and it, on close examination, had a burr on the case mouth and was slightly ovaled. Tempretures in the trunk would have run from 130 degrees in the summer to -15 in the winter. If you add the oil soaking for at least 2 years and that is amazing.
Today we decommissioned a car that had been in use since 2002. In removing the duty gear boxes and equipment we found a box of 45acp ammo that had been reloaded in 2001 and had fallen into a wheel well and was covered with oil that dripped down from a leaking can of 10W30. Now I had reloaded this ammo for practice and labled it in 2001 and it was 230 TC cast bullets in once fired cases W/W primers and 6.0 of Unique. The primers were NOT sealed and no special steps were made in reloading to weather porrof the ammo. The wheel well had not been opened since 2004 sot the shells sat soaking in oil for at least 3 years.
I pulled out 47 rounds that looked like they would still chamber and threw away three that were dented. I dried the rounds off with a paper towell and fed them into my 1911. 46 fired first hammer fall and one round took two hits. Shooting offhand from 7 to 25 yards on the Nebraska Qualification target all rounds went into an 8" group. Only one round failed to feed and it, on close examination, had a burr on the case mouth and was slightly ovaled. Tempretures in the trunk would have run from 130 degrees in the summer to -15 in the winter. If you add the oil soaking for at least 2 years and that is amazing.