How long will my smokeless powder be good for if kept in a dry and cool environ? How long can I expect my reloads to last and be safe to shoot? I've been loading for 10 years now and wonder is some of the powder I originally bought is getting "old". Your input will be appreciated.
JB

John,

I have used ammo loaded over 20 years ago. It still works just fine. Also, we have had powder for about that long, and it still functions fine.

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

John: I agree with Saeed. Properly stored, ammunition and powder has an almost indefinate shelf life. I've fired reloaded ammo that is over 25 years old with very good results. The same with powder and primers. The key is HOW it's stored. COOL and DRY is very important. Nothing will kill off components faster than heat and moisture. Bill T.

I date all my loads and just shot some that was loaded in 1981 same vel. as the newer stuff as long as you keep it dry and cool it well last a very long time.

Last year I shot several hundred rounds of 308 ammo that I had loaded in '74 or '75. I still got sub-MOA groups, no fliers or squibs.

The ammo had been dragged all over Texas, including the Gulf Coast for those 25+ years. It was in a GI ammo can that had been stored in various sheds, barns and carports for that time.

Don

A couple weeks ago, I shot some 1950's Egyptian 8x57, that has been sitting in a cardboard box, in a tool shed for 10years. My M48 Yugo put 5 shot's in less than an inch at 100yds.

JB __

"Cool and dry." I use defunct refrigerators for storage. Good seals. Clean. No holes. Our temperatures here in the California High Desert range from 20F to 115F. More of the latter. Humidity ranges from near zero to 100%. More of the former.

To counter the flak I've received over the years regarding this practice, I've checked the interior temperature and humidity at various times; including during the exterior extremes. 50F to 85F were the interior extremes. Humidity never got over 35%.

The other flak I've received was regarding the risk of fire or explosion in the confined space of the refrigerators. Simple logic tells me that storage in a sealed, insulated container is far superior to open explosure to sources of ignition.

I have yet to experience a problem with gunpowder, primer, or loaded ammo deterioration; some of it over 20 years old.

Good shooting.

Robert

[This message has been edited by bobshawn (edited 12-26-2001).]

The military standard is an ammo shelf-life of c.20 years. The weak link is the primer. Each year they pull a considerable number of rounds from a stored lot and subject them to examination and a primer-drop test. Failures signal the time to withdraw the ammo from storage and decommission it one way or another.

All that being said, be aware that a primer CAN (maybe) stay okay for a century and more. It may not ignite as well, but the results will be academic if someone's standing in front of the muzzle.

I was also concerned about shelf-life so I started to use freezers for my ammo storage. They seem to have stronger shelving than refrigerators and they are lockable. Surplus GI ammo cans fit very nicely on the shelves and in the door.

My friends and neighbors think I'm the ultimate carnivore because I now have three freezers. They are probably under the impression that the freezers are filled with moose, elk, deer, pigs and bear.