shelf life of ammunition

[k0ua]

View attachment 301622

I reload.

I have 3 presses. 2 lee, 1 rcbs. I relaod for more than 25 different pistol and rifle calibers last count I made. I have a nice automated case prep center that trims, ID/OD mouth debur, trues the primer flash hole, primer poctet, and removes military crimps in primers..

here's an old pic of my setup when i first started. there are 2 more shelves now holding near 3x the gear. I probably have 30# powder, and as of this weekend. a stock of about 20K primers., though only a few thousand projectiles. i'm low on those. My brass stock is probbaly around 6000ps of various types, cleaned, trimmed, bagged and sorted by caliber, weapon it was shot in ( for bottlenecked brass ), and # times reloaded. I usually keep a baggy of 50 pcs of each caliber primed and ready to load up at any moment..

I'm quite familiar with the old kinetic hammer-bullet puller.. I'v pulled many, many old milsurp rounds i got free or for pennies a piece to reclaim projectiles and in some cases a small percentage of brass.

for cleaning I use a few ultra sonic cleaners and a vibro tumbler. I still have my old manual case trimmer I use for limited runs and 1/of jobs like the larger calibers.. 375 HH, 416 rigby, 458 winmag/lott, 45-70 etc... stuff i may oly load up 5 rounds at a time.

in fact.. i have a box of 50 45-70 someone gave me that I plan on pulling down to get the projectiles. at least 30-40 of the cases are coroded. I might be able to use 10 of the cases.. the rest will be recycled.. I will probably use those projectiles in. at least some of them in my 458 lott, as some are jacketed.. the cast lead 405gr RN/FN will be digested by my 4570 double rifle.

I've been a lil slow on reloading as of late so as to conserve resources. as of now.. I'm lacking in projectiles. I have plenty of brass and primers.. but projectiles probably only a couple thou.. over various calibers from .224 to .458

I meant Daugen, I knew you were a reloader Soundguy.

 

[k0ua]

Daugen, another thing you can do, is not have a trigger lock on it, but keep the action open and the shells handy nearby, you can drop one in the chamber very quickly, and thumb another couple in the mag in just 2 or 3 seconds with a little practice. So you are fireman safe, and still pretty quick if the wolf comes to the door.

James K0UA

 

[daugen]

Sometimes someone else has to tell one the obvious...
lock now off the shotgun. Thanks guys.

 

[k0ua]

Sometimes someone else has to tell one the obvious...
lock now off the shotgun. Thanks guys.

We got your 6 buddy:thumbsup:

James K0UA

 

[forgeblast]

Well I was taking a look through some of my supplies and I was thinking of using the food saver to keep moisture out of the bullets but after reading a ton of posts i decided against it. Using the vaccum sealer can pop the primers out. Everyone just said keep it dry and ammo boxes with a gasket are great.

 

[milkman636]

It expires when you pull the trigger:thumbsup:

 

[creekbend]

Thoughts on ammunition by Massad Ayoob

 

[nybirdman]

I was watching a show the other day;some U.S. snipers were shooting the 50 BMG and had a couple of miss fires;the ammo was surplus and had been loaded in 1943.

 

[IkeRoberts]

I like to travel so I bought "The Traveler's Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States". For NY it says-Anyone may transport standard rifles into NY without a license as long as the weapons are unloaded and secured in commercial gun cases." A handgun requires the possession of a NY license unless your are only traveling through the state and then you must have proof(copy of your reservations) of your final destination.

 

[Jaeger]

I routinely shoot Israeli surplus 147gr FMJ 7.62x51 (.308) manufactured in 1980.

Most ammo will be more than fine for your shooting lifetime if it is kept in sealed GI ammo cans in a cool dry place. High heat and or humidity will dramatically shorten the lifespan of ammo.

My friend always vacuum seals 5-10 rounds of rifle or shotgun ammo to keep in his pack when hunting and has never popped a primer