Ammo Shortage Affecting .22LR Too?

[MossRoad]

Originally Posted by Ken45101

Manufacturers store powder under water for safety. When they are ready to use it, they dry it out.

Ken

I've read they stored some components of gunpowder under water, but not the completed powder. Maybe I need to read more. Anywho, my dad used to shoot WWII .45s every year up until the early 90's when he ran out of it. So I bought him a couple boxes of new. Then he passed away in '95. I still have that ammo. I keep it in a dry place.

[ToadHill]

Moisture may not ruin the powder but it corrodes the daylights out of primers.

[RoMo]

Will old ammo become dangerous or just useless?

[Ken45101]

Originally Posted by RoMo

Will old ammo become dangerous or just useless?

Depends on how it was stored.

[tomd999]

Hiya,

Old ammo is a tricky thing. Depends on the primer type and power in it.

The real old stuff with black powder and mercuric primers does become unsafe to fire as the mercury reacts with the brass and causes it to become brittle. Sometimes the black powder will absorbed enough moisture and then dried out to change it's burn rate to the point that it could be unsafe in antique arms.

The modern caliber surplus mil ammo from before 1950 for the most part has mercuric primers and does suffer from the same brass degradation however, the more modern arms will normally handle a split case easily, use your own judgment.

The current commercial ammo has a very long shelf life if kept warm and dry. I store my bulk reloads in vacuum heat sealed food storage bags. I have match ammo that I loaded 15 years ago that is as accurate and reliable as this years loads.

My 2 cents,

Tom

Afterthought: I'm in the good graces of the local Wally World ammo man, he told me that Walmart only does one huge ammo order per year from the manufactures for all the stores anticipated sales. They base the buying trends on the prior 3 years of sales. After everyone went knuts after 1-20-09, they were left with empty shelves as they sold all the ammo for a year inside of 3 months. The upside of this is that he said this year will be in trends for 3 years, the result, more ammo available at Wally World.

[valley]

In a post on this thread There was a picture of a compensator that cut down the crack. Must we get a stamp for that too?

[tomd999]

Hiya,

It may cut down on the shooters perceived muzzle report however, as long as it does not lower the report on a DB meter from the same distance as an unmodified firearm, it should be OK. However, one DB difference and your in NFA land.

Perceived sound is an odd thing, I used to shoot highpower at a National Guard range that had a drop off right in front of the firing line, shooting prone with a M1 or M14 with earmuffs on all you could hear when you shot was the operating rod and bolt cycle however, if you stood behind the shooter you would hear the full report.

I would check with the maker to see if they if they have an BATF&E approval statement on file. Or just go out and get a can, they are a great conversation piece at parties.

[Soundguy]

Originally Posted by RoMo

You guys that are talking about getting rid of old ammo, How old does it have to be to be too old. Also what kind of danger is there in shooting old shotgun shells? How old is too old to shoot?

I have ww1+ ammo in sealed cans I regularly shoot. looks like it was made yesterday if you keep it dry and clean. it's corosive and mostly berdan primed.. so you have to clean good and discard the brass.. but it's sure cheap milsurp..

soundguy