quote:

Originally posted by rburg:
So where on the loaded ammo would I find that kind of code?

If it was US military or military style ammunition sold commercially, its headstamp would indicate the manufacturer and year of manufacture. The caliber/cartridge designation is not on the headstamp.

M41 38 Special ball of the sort that was once issued to Army counterintelligence and CID agents for their Colt Detective Special or S&W model 10 revolvers. The box is marked Olin, and “WCC” was the code for Winchester Western Cartridge Corporation (according to my Cartridges of the World book). “74” indicates it was made in 1974.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

quote:

Originally posted by Brazos Dan:
IMO, as long as military or commercialy loaded ammo is kept clean and dry, it will last a lifetime.

I think the whole idea of changing out your ammo every few months, years or decades is planted by the manufacturers to sustain their markets.

Strange that the same folks that advocate disposing of perfectly good ammo every several months will also brag about never cleaning their firearms.

Right?? I’m glad that someone else feels this way. How many times have we all told someone that their ammo/primers/powder will outlive them? But yet, the process of taking it out of the box and plugging the rounds into a magazine reduces its useful life to 6-12 months.

That said I do rotate my SD ammo butter timeline is not measured in months. Maybe every other year, depending.

There’s something I’m noticing in some posts in this thread. Storing ammo is not the same as carrying ammo. The conditions that ammo will experience in a sealed ammo tin, at home in your closet, are very different from the conditions that same ammo may experience while riding around in a magazine carrier on your belt. Some folks live in climates with lots of heat, or cold, or swings between the two, and dampness and humidity to go with. Now, I’m not arguing that ammo DOES degrade from being carried, but I am pointing out that storing military ammo for 75 or 100 years in sawdust is a far cry from that same ammo being carried around for five years or even longer. Yes, the stuff is sealed and should last just about indefinitely, if stored properly. The question seems to me to be “how long can you carry ammo?”

For me, I try to minimize rechambering as much as possible and try to get some longevity out of it. Not uncommon for me to make a few boxes worth last a few years or more. I’ve got some Hornady .380 XTP that’s probably been in the same G42 mags for a good four or five years now, but that pistol hardly ever gets carried so I’m not that worried about it. I had wanted to replace and shoot off all my old carry ammo earlier this year, but 2020, so I’m still carrying it. I’m not arguing this is a great or even good practice, just honestly contributing my $.02.

My confidence in premium carry ammo is pretty high. Years back my 3 yr. old, 3 yr. warrantied front load washer AND dryer both died (hecho en Mexico).
So for awhile I was going to a laundromat. One of those trips I had left a spare P239 mag w/ JHPs in a pants pocket. It went through the wash and got nice and clean in the pants pocket.
The dryer, though, started ejecting some of them from the mag but I didn't think much of the clanking until everything was done and dryer hot.
I set those 7 aside until a later range trip and they all functioned fine.
Seven rounds is a small sample but I think it's more the norm.

ETA: We see handgun torture tests all the time. I guess I've never paid attention if they were loaded or not and exposed to unfavorable conditions for the ammo. It would be nice to see some specific ammo torture tests just to see what it takes to get a few misfires.

quote:

Originally posted by asonie:

quote:

Originally posted by Brazos Dan:
IMO, as long as military or commercialy loaded ammo is kept clean and dry, it will last a lifetime.

I think the whole idea of changing out your ammo every few months, years or decades is planted by the manufacturers to sustain their markets.

Strange that the same folks that advocate disposing of perfectly good ammo every several months will also brag about never cleaning their firearms.

Right?? I’m glad that someone else feels this way. How many times have we all told someone that their ammo/primers/powder will outlive them? But yet, the process of taking it out of the box and plugging the rounds into a magazine reduces its useful life to 6-12 months.

That said I do rotate my SD ammo butter timeline is not measured in months. Maybe every other year, depending.

I'm with you guys. I'm carrying a BUG with rounds in it that are now 4 years old and when it hits 5, I'm going to shoot them and report back.

My regular carry I change around every 3 years at this point and I'm pretty sure I'm wasting the ammo.

The rounds in my "BUG" are over 5 years old, and I still have confidence that they will perform if called upon. JMHO

Waaaayyy back in the day (1968, I was 13 yrs old) My Grandmother found a plastic container, no lid, of about 4-500 rounds of loose, mixed, mostly .22 long rifle ammo in the kitchen cabinet. She told me it had been my father's. Left there before my parents got married.
I'm sure this ammo had been not been well cared for. As a 13 yr old I was in hog heaven and thought I had enough ammo to last for years. That was not to be. LOL. I shot all of that ammo. I don't remember but a VERY few not going bang.
Back about 1977 I loaded around 400 rds of .38 Special target ammo. 3.2 grns of Unique, 148 grn wadcutter ammo, CCI 500 primers; I shot 300+/- rds of that about 8-10 yrs ago. It ALL went bang. I shot the rest about 3 years ago. Same story. It ALL went bang. This ammo had been stored loose in a Milsurp ammo can stored in the basement.

I got a bunch of odd lots of ammo when my father in law died. A lot of it was shotgun shells, but there was some rifle ammo and some rimfire ammo, too. Some were cartridges I have no gun for, and all of it was from the 1970s and earlier. They had been kept in garages all over the country, and spent the last 20 to 30 years of their lives in a hot, humid, Houston garage.

Every single round I put in a gun fired. All of it. Killed some ducks and doves with the shotgun ammo. Had fun plinking with the rimfire, but saved a box .22 shorts and .22 longs. Now, if I can just lay my hands on a .250 Savage and a .222 Remington . . .

Back in the late 59's I loaded a bunch of 45 long colt cartridges, put them in a box with no cover and the sat around until the late 70's. Mice had moved in an build a huge nest in the pile of cartridges. Naturally the cartridges were caked with mouse urine and feces. I decided to clean them up and see what happened, soaked them in soapy water, scrubbed them with steel wool until they would chamber, then let them dry in the sun.

After a couple days I loaded them up in my fathers WWII colt and shot them up. All went off except one. Some were weaker than others, many cases split, but after over 30 years of the worst storage conditions, that was not bad.

A lady brought in a WWII Luger her grandfather had left on the mantle. It was loaded and completely rusted tight. Soaked it is diesel fuel striped it down cleaned and loaded the old ammo back up, it all shot.

I have a case of WWII corrosive 45 ammo, I believe it will be more valuable this next gun show!