Can ammo be to old??

It won't "blow up on you" or anything, if that's what you mean. But, unless it's been stored in a reasonably cool and dry place, it may give some inconsistent ignitions, hangfires, duds, etc. If it's original ammo, in the box, it may be worth more to a cartridge colector than to a shooter, so you could sell or trade it for some new ammo.
 
Too old

I think it would depend on the cartridge (size/type) and what condition it's in. If its been stored under a floorboard at the hunting camp for 40 yrs. then you might find prob. with it. Alot of time when you buy a case of surplus militay ammo 8mm Mauser for instance you can get some pretty old stuff, I've had ammo over 50 yrs old that shot perfectly. That being said , if the ones you have all seem to be growing some sort of green fuzzy material on em or if they look like the battery terminal of your grandmothers car, you might reconsider putting in the chamber of your gun, laff.:eek:
 
I have a friend on the site here (who shall remain namless or he'll beat me:wave: ) who seems to think ammo isn't good untill it's ripe (ie. green and fuzzy) I love to tease him about it but most of the time it's fine stuff, just wipe it off. The best thing is that he ALWAYS has some of what ever oddball you want to shoot if it was ex military. It may hang fire sometimes (pull trigger, click, 1-2-bang!) or just click-nothing, but he'll always have a bit. I think he has a magic basment that makes odd ball ammo some how, :eek:
 
I got some old Imperial 12 gauge shells and 4 box of 30-30 Win. and they still shoot really well (except for the strange smell and the dirty barrel they leave after only one shot). Never had any hangfire and they are at least 25 years old.
 
Shot some old Imperal paper at crows my dad bought in the sixties that worked but lots of paper from wad floating in the air and a dirty barrel.
 
My grandfather owned a hunting store in the late 40's early 50's and when he moved on he just took everything with him instead of selling it off. For the last 10 years all I have been using is 50+ year old ammo. Never any problems at all. Although, like stated, it was well looked after, only moved once, every box looks brand new when you open it :D

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i acquired these .44 mags from a friend, who figures they're very old :confused: . i found two cracked casings out of the whole full box.
the CCI .22LR Mini-Mags were purchased by my father, some time around when they were first released? just look at the old orange plastic box they come in...

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Put them in the sun for a few hours prior to shooting to make sure gun powder is completely dried just in case some maybe damp.I fired 100 round of Winchester Wildcats (WDLR22) 22LR that were 20 years old out of my Remington Nylon 66 semi-auto and only noticed that there was excessive unburned gun power hence smoke out of muzzle and ejector port when firing quickly.As a result dirtier gun.
 
corrosive primed ammo also tends to store better. ive shot some over 60 years old without a problem. Good storage is what matters.
 
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