Does ammo have a shelf life like a can of soup?

I have fired ammo dated from WWI. It depends on how it was manufactured and stored. Most of the surplus that we buy and fire is 20 to 50 years old.

The manufacture of powder requires acid, and if the acid is not fully neutralized then the powder tends to break down.

That said, most ammo these days should be good for 100+ years if stored in a cool dry location.
 
SandRoad said:
I have fired ammo dated from WWI. It depends on how it was manufactured and stored. Most of the surplus that we buy and fire is 20 to 50 years old.

The manufacture of powder requires acid, and if the acid is not fully neutralized then the powder tends to break down.

That said, most ammo these days should be good for 100+ years if stored in a cool dry location.
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Yeah, but I'll bet you never ate soup from WW1! Like a can of soup? That's funny.....!
 
yea it can deteriorate over time but mainly when its improperly stored if it keep cool and dry it will last for 100+ no prob i hav 7.62x54r from the early 40's and it still goes bang everytime.....my firearms course instructor during the course said that once your shells get more than 2 or 3 years old "dispose of them or fire them off" i definatly dont think 2 years is going to cause your ammo to go bad!
 
CSI must be right, or else that bullet would have not been stopped by his Shirt LOL. The shirt had a hole and what looked like powder burns or something, yet never penetrated the guy. Its on TV so it must be true.:rolleyes:
 
Cool and dry and ammo is ok for a long time. Powder can go bad. I have some WW2 surplus powder in various containers that all went bad over about 5 years.

If cases necks were not properly annealed the encks can split while in storgae.
 
Yeah, I've never had a problem with WWII surplus .303, and I've fired a lot of it. However, I did pick up a box of approx. WWI .455 Webley and not a single one would fire. I tend to think some one at some point did something pretty stupid with them though (oil or water soak). I could see a few misfires, but all 50? Slim.
 
josh1976 said:
This is what they just said on CSI......so it must be true...LOL, Is it?
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In theory yes. Most militaries and commercial companies will suggest an equivalent of a best before date. Commercially the norm used to be around the 15 year mark. As said here, storage is key, but so is the ammo itself, and its components, some casings will corrode, some will become brittle, etc etc. In general good modern ammunition will last 50 years or more. YMMV
 
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