Life exectancy of a bullet

[paratrooper]

I have heard a lot about storing up food and ammo . I don't think it can hurt to be ready . I do have one question . If one stores up ammo how long will the ammo be good for ? I have heard about "old" ammo but never knew how old that would be . Does the caliber or primer vs. rimfire play a part ?

 

[C.R.Sam]

Ten to twenty years with no discernable derogation. With reasonably stable conditions of temperature and humidity, fifty years it would probably still be functional.

Some lots of ammo have been stored for even longer and still work well.

Sam

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've fired ammo that is well over 100 years old with very good results.

I've fired WW II-era ammo loaded in the United States with 100% reliability.

A lot of it is in the storage.

If the conditions are good, modern ammo is pretty much immortal.

 

[40ozflatfoot]

I just finished a lot of .303 British that had was made in 1949. One of my best iron sighted 100 yard groups. Wish I had more.

 

[Vladimir_Berkov]

A lot of it has to do with storage. If it is stored in a low humidity environment with stable, moderate temperatures it should last a LONG time.

However, when you start talking about high humidity, very high temperatures, etc you start lowering the shelf life.

 

[Mikul]

I've fired 3,000 rounds of .308 from 1979 without the slightest problem.

Idea conditions seem to be dry, cool, and motionless.

 

[Justin]

I've heard that there is a difference in shelf-life of ammo depending on whether it is corrosive or not.
Any truth to this?

 

[Tropical Z]

And i'm very curious about .22lr.
I've read (here) that .22lr isn't good beyond a couple of years (people running tests on guns etc.)I would love to at least have several thousand rounds of it on hand.Is .22lr more likely to become unusable?

 

[croyance]

But only one use.

 

[TexasVet]

I've fired a LOT of Spanish American War surplus ammo over the years. Most all of it worked. I heard that the non-corrosive primers may deteriorate at a faster rate than the old corrosive primers, but can't verify it yet.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

And i'm very curious about .22lr.
I've read (here) that .22lr isn't good beyond a couple of years (people running tests on guns etc.)I would love to at least have several thousand rounds of it on hand.Is .22lr more likely to become unusable?

I'm working my way through about 500 rounds of .22 cal Federal power-flite soft-noses and 100 rounds of Win Super-X I found while cleaning out the family home. They are around 30 years old. I'm about half way through and so far I had one dud.

 

[Ewok_Guy]

Hell, them really old 8mm and .303 surplus rounds shoot great!