I thought I would post this because so many people at one time or another ask how long reloads will last. Yesterday I took my new Savage Model 110 FCP-K out to the range to wring it out. I gathered up a lot of different .300 Win. Mag. ammo I had laying around. I found a yellow plastic box of handloads I had loaded up way back in 1975! These rounds were loaded in a Lee Loader because I didn't have a press until I bought my first house in 1976. They were loaded with 220 grain Hornady round nose soft points that, if I remember correctly, I loaded up in anticipation of an upcoming bear hunt that never materialized. So the rounds just continued to gather dust until I found them yesterday.

After all of the serious shooting and grouping went well I decided to get rid of this old ammo. My club range has steel plates set out at 200 yards. I loaded up the Savage with the old handloads and went to work. Every single one went bang, and accurately too I might add. These rounds were stored in a 20 MM G.I. issue ammo can for literally decades, (34 years to be exact). They got no special treatment such as sealer on the primers or case mouths. I loaded the powder, then tapped in the bullet with a plastic mallet, per Lee's instructions.

This should lay to rest any worry about handloads "going bad" with age. At least from my perspective it does. If stored in a dry environment the shelf life of most any kind of modern ammo is all but indefinite. Bill T.

I've read (on this site) there are guys still using surplus powder from WWII & Veitnam.

I know powder will eventually degrade to nitric acid and some other nasty things, but how long does that take?

quote:

Originally posted by akalinin:
I know powder will eventually degrade to nitric acid and some other nasty things, but how long does that take?

Longevity of powder depends on storage conditions. If it is kept in cool, dry conditions the shelf life of powder is all but indefinite. If it is kept in a hot, humid state it will deteriorate much more rapidly. Bill T.

I`ve used shotshells loaded ~20 years earlier that worked just fine. A couple years back I shot some 38 spcl my dad loaded and forgot about in the early/mid 70s. All of these were basement stored.

I finished all of my old stuff this last summer. I had some 30-06 and 308Win rounds I loaded back in '76 and '77. The '06 was loaded with IMR4350 and the 308 had Win748. I had some fresh stuff for the '06 to campare with and both old and new punched holes in the same location of the target at 100 yards. The old 308 rounds grouped well and no adjustments were needed when compared to my fresh rounds with IMR4064. The 308 was shot out of the same rifle (Rem Model 600) used back in '76, but the '06 was used in Win Model 70 Featherweight in '77 and a Tikka T3 this year.

Bottom line - No problems for me, especially at the range. Dave

Finally had a bad experience this past week with some powder that was purchased in the middle 80's.
Loaded up some practice rounds for my 375 Ruger with CCI 200's and IMR 4320 about a month ago and went to the range last week. Started experiencing hangfires right off the bat. About 7 out of 40 wouldnt even fire.
Saved the remaining and went home and pulled the bullets. Powder came out in clumps (not a compressed load). The one's that misfired had denotated primers which was weird as I never heard them go off, not even a tiny pop.
Powder was stored under ideal conditions and right along side of every other can of powder I own. Luckily that was the last of that powder.

The only possible problem with looong stored powder (that's assuming it looks and smells normal) is that it will degrade over time and not be as potent as new powder. This is where a chrony comes in handy. A load worked up with old (now we're talking about 10-15 years or more) powder could result in an overload with new powder.

I shot at least 200 rounds of 8mm Mauser factory ammo from the 1920's this past summer and every one of them fired without a hitch. I still have about another 150-200 rounds left but no longer have a gun to shoot them thru. Who knows what this ammo went thru as I go it around 1998. Goes to show if loaded right ammo can last 100 years.

I love the smell when you open a ammo can that has been sealed for a long time,with handloaded ammo inside.I have some that was loaded in 77 that i still use.Good Luck

My friend was out with me this past Sunday popping off some 22-250 he loaded in 1964. The things were hittin' the little orange spot quite well...

I misinterpreted the title of this thread to be raising the question of at what age should an old boy quit handloading (for safety's sake). Probably whenever they take my driver's license away would be a good time to make me quit playing with explosives, also

I just shot up a box of 8X57 that I loaded in the mid "60s" loaded with HiVel #2, they shot fine and accurate.

I wrote a story about this last year. If anyone would like it, please send me your e-mail address to

TBlauwkamp@superior-sales.com and I will attach the story by return mail.

I do have a procedure I follow before firing older ammo. (ammo that wasn't crimped) I like to take them and put them into my seating die and see if I can seat them about .005-.010 deeper. What I find sometimes is that some of the bullets have sort of "bonded" to the case over the years. I guess it depends on powder residue or traces of lube left in the neck when seating. Sometimes it's surprising how much effort it takes to "crack" some of them loose. It seems to make them more uniform at the shooting range if I do this.

quote:

Originally posted by kraky:
I do have a procedure I follow before firing older ammo. (ammo that wasn't crimped) I like to take them and put them into my seating die and see if I can seat them about .005-.010 deeper. What I find sometimes is that some of the bullets have sort of "bonded" to the case over the years. I guess it depends on powder residue or traces of lube left in the neck when seating. Sometimes it's surprising how much effort it takes to "crack" some of them loose. It seems to make them more uniform at the shooting range if I do this.

AMEN, works like a charm.