How do you check he age of ammo.

Maybe he is worried his ammo is not pre-ban and he can't put it in a new high cap mag.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk
 
Mark the date on box when purchased, can help if ammo is bought from a high-volume source.
Also helps you follow First-In-First-Out storage.
 
older ammo has a much different flavor, kind of tastes like fermented oranges or prison wine. fresh ammo has a much more pleasant lemon-lime citrus taste.
 
When I first got into gun I purchased some guns and ammo and all of it was at least 30 years old, some older than that. I had no issues with any of it.
 
Thanks Guys, I'll call the manufacturer. I purchased the box of ammo a couple of days ago and the box looks beat up. I was in a rush and didnt look over the boxes like I normal do. The reason I'm concerned is that it is defensive ammo. I heard the shelf life of defensive ammo should be no more than six years.

Mike
 
mikes45 said:
Thanks Guys, I'll call the manufacturer. I purchased the box of ammo a couple of days ago and the box looks beat up. I was in a rush and didnt look over the boxes like I normal do. The reason I'm concerned is that it is defensive ammo. I heard the shelf life of defensive ammo should be no more than six years.

Mike
Click to expand...

I never heard about the shelf life of any ammo. Merely issues wrt how it stored, regardless of age.
 
jasons said:
Interested in where you heard that. Gun shop counter?
Click to expand...

A friend of mine said you shouldn't keep ammo for longer than a certain period of time. I think maybe its because of people unloading and reloading the same round, not sure what he meant by it.
 
mikes45 said:
I heard the shelf life of defensive ammo should be no more than six years.
Click to expand...

This is total bullshit probably pushed by someone who wants to feel important or sell you ammo that's probably overpriced.

Whoever the guy was that told you that, make sure you forget everything else they said too, because it's probably crap.

-Mike
 
mikes45 said:
A friend of mine said you shouldn't keep ammo for longer than a certain period of time. I think maybe its because of people unloading and reloading the same round, not sure what he meant by it.
Click to expand...

What he probably meant is that a round that is re-chambered a bunch of times in a semi-auto could get the bullet pushed back into the case a little which could cause an over-pressure problem. If it is crimped properly, there is very little risk of that and it is easy to check.

Plus why would you pull the ammo out and then re-chamber it a bunch unless swapping it out for range use?
 
ipscdrl said:
Plus why would you pull the ammo out and then re-chamber it a bunch unless swapping it out for range use?
Click to expand...

I don't even do that. When I go to the range and want to shoot whatever I'm carrying, I just do an admin reload, and shoot the HP round that's in the chamber. Solves that problem at the cost of a box of ammo per year.
 
mikes45 said:
Thanks Guys, I'll call the manufacturer. I purchased the box of ammo a couple of days ago and the box looks beat up. I was in a rush and didnt look over the boxes like I normal do. The reason I'm concerned is that it is defensive ammo. I heard the shelf life of defensive ammo should be no more than six years. Mike
Click to expand...

Whoever told you that is full of crap.

I've got surplus 30-06 military ammo from the 50s that I would bet my life on.
 
I was told that over time that the impurities in the gun powder settle to the bottom of the case resulting in poor ignition,
possible squib or an FTF.

To remedy that, you need to shake older ammo before you use it (or run it through it in a brass tumbler or dryer
if you have one), to redistribute the powder grains.

Another solution is re-stack any boxes of ammo (bullets pointing up, then bullets pointing down), every six months or so.

Seems to work as I have a shitload of older/ancient ammo and haven't had any problems so far.
 
ipscdrl said:
Plus why would you pull the ammo out and then re-chamber it a bunch unless swapping it out for range use?
Click to expand...

I take my defensive ammo out of the chamber and re-chamber it every time I go to the range. I solve the problem of having the bullet push into the casing by A) putting a good crimp in my hand loads and B) putting the first round into the chamber manually, closing the slide and then inserting a magazine. Seems to work pretty well.
 
inerlogic said:
shoot it, if it doesn't go "bang" it's too old....
Click to expand...

Kind of...

Old ammo can be dangerous. Anybody that says it will last forever doesn't know what he's talking about. There actually is an expiration date (of sorts) on ammo. The powder begins degrading on day one, and continues to degrade over time. The rate of degradation depends on the temperature at which the powder/ammo is stored, whether it's single or double-base, and the chemical additives used in the manufacture. It takes a fairly long time for powder to go bad enough so that it begins to affect performance (about 20 years for double base, and about double that for single base).

Do some research - you can find accounts of dozens of KABOOMS caused by old surplus ammo. There's a reason why the gov't makes ammo "surplus" to begin with - it's at or very near the end of its useful life, and the military doesn't trust it anymore.

Here's a post I found a while back that was so good, I bookmarked it. It's worth reading:

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5860901
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Help me ID this bit of ammo
Replies
10
Views
430
straightshooterjake
S
How would you rate KTP trade in pricing?
2
Replies
41
Views
846
PatMcD
PatMcD
What not to do with your new gun.
2
Replies
42
Views
1K
Coyote33
Coyote33
For those who question the strength of M2A1 vs M2A2 ammo cans, here's an interesting article on the subject.
Replies
12
Views
397
Uzi2
U
Russians want your ammo
Replies
0
Views
301
watchman
W
Back
Top Bottom