shelf life of ammo?

What it says on the package...

-winchester super X.
-22 long rifle plated hollow point.
-powerpoint HP.
-40 grains High velocity.
-1280 FPS.

does anyone know the shelf life of such ammo if kept in a cool,dry,dark place?
thx.

If the ammo is kept in a properly dry and sealed container it will last decades literally. I have shot remington .22 rimfire shells that were more than 40 years old that my grandfather had stored in a sealed box. They functoined flawlessly. I have some that I have had for more than 10 years and just shot some of them recently and those were also flawless.

keep it cool, keep it dry and it should last at least 50 years unless the governement outlaws it first, which is more likely then the ammo going bad....

Thanks for clearing that up guys.
cool and dry.

For centerfire cartridges it is important that you have bullets
that have non-corrosive primers. Much of the sale ammo you
can find from online discounters has corrosive primers that
are past shelf life. This is why governments dump them onto
the market.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
For centerfire cartridges it is important that you have bullets
that have non-corrosive primers. Much of the sale ammo you
can find from online discounters has corrosive primers that
are past shelf life. This is why governments dump them onto
the market.

Nothing sold commercially is corrosive.

Nothing commonly known as corrosive has a shelf life any longer or shorter than non-corrosive ammo. The reason it's referred to as such is that the primers contain a salt compound that can eat away at steel if not cleaned off with a water-based solvent. Corrosive ammo will last many, many years, as will non-corrosive.

For (very) long term storage, pick up a big bag of dessicant at the local craft store and pack some in with your ammo cans or whatnot.

Originally posted by pernox


Nothing sold commercially is corrosive.

I must respectfully differ. Most of the surplus ammo from the old Warsaw Pact countries, as well as other 'client states' is most certainly corrosive. Further, it is also not reloadable. A quick check of surplus ammo at sites such as Sportsman's Guide or Cheaper than dirt will confirm this.

Originally posted by Viking04

Originally posted by pernox


Nothing sold commercially is corrosive.

I must respectfully differ. Most of the surplus ammo from the old Warsaw Pact countries, as well as other 'client states' is most certainly corrosive. Further, it is also not reloadable. A quick check of surplus ammo at sites such as Sportsman's Guide or Cheaper than dirt will confirm this.

What he means is COMMERCIAL AMMO....as in Winchester, Remington...etc....not SURPLUS ammo as you have pointed out.


Either way, ammo if properly stored will last a VERY VERY long time. I have cartridges that where made for WW1 that still shoot just fine.

Originally posted by bismarcksea

Originally posted by Viking04

Originally posted by pernox


Nothing sold commercially is corrosive.

I must respectfully differ. Most of the surplus ammo from the old Warsaw Pact countries, as well as other 'client states' is most certainly corrosive. Further, it is also not reloadable. A quick check of surplus ammo at sites such as Sportsman's Guide or Cheaper than dirt will confirm this.

What he means is COMMERCIAL AMMO....as in Winchester, Remington...etc....not SURPLUS ammo as you have pointed out.

He may have meant anything, but he wrote 'sold commercially'. surplus ammo, purchased through a dealer has been purchased COMMERCIALLY.

I agree, corrosive or not, pretty much any ammo will last for decades as long as it's kept dry. Steel or brass-cased, it doesn't matter. They call it corrosive because of what it does to your gun when you shoot it, has nothing to do with shelf life or whether the ammo will corrode faster in storage.

Many forms of mil-surp ammo comes in sealed tins or cases, especially the foreign stuff, and may already be 20-30 years old when you get it. I have a sealed "spam can" of Russian surplus 7.62x54R ammo that was manufactured in the 1980's, I cracked the case a year ago and have yet to have one round fail to fire. The paper boxes the ammo was in and the ammo itself looks brand new.

If anything I'd say mil-surp ammo probably has a longer shelf life than commercial ammo (and when I say commercial I mean major manufacturers like Remington, Winchester, etc). They sometimes have an additional sealant around the bullet and primer to help keep out moisture.

Dessicant works great in ammo cans to help keep your ammo dry. It's those little white packets that say "Silica Gel" or "Dessicant - DO NOT EAT" inside the boxes or shrink-wrap packages of all sorts of things you buy. Keep them, toss a few in with your ammo in sealed ammo cans or tupperware containers, it'll last pretty much forever.