question about ammo going bad

[The Swede]

As you can see I live in the great state of IL so I can't leave a loaded gun in my car or on my person. It's Irrelevant, just throwing it out there. Anyway I do keep a gun in my car. It is in a case along with a loaded magazine. Both stand alone of course. I was wondering does ammo go bad When exposed to all sorts of temperatures? Mainly sitting in a hot car all day in the summer or a below zero car in the winter? Should I dispose of the ammo after a certain amount of time? I wouldn't want the ammo to fail should a dire situation arise.
Thanks-

 

[scrat]

heck no. in cases, gun powder can last a heck of a long time. think about what the troops go through during wartime. Heck there is still some ammo from ww2 being fired. all goes bang, that ammo was subjected to extreme heat, cold same thing. look at the boys in iraq, extreme heat, they shoot guns in russia, those troops took that same ammo in russia from the extreme cold to other parts of the world.

Now in a container gun powder can go bad if it is really exposed meaning not in a tight container. signs are smelling and turning to sludge, this cant happen in a sealed cartridge, meaning a bullet

 

[The Swede]

Thanks scrat. I was having visions of the troops driving around in the sandbox over there in their Humvees. I was thinking to myself, "hmm..this may be a stupid question". But good to know for sure!

 

[scrat]

let me guess with their ac on full blast drinking a glass of iced tea

 

[Chihuahua Floyd]

Swede,
I have seen a partial box of .308 go bad in a vehicle. BUT, it was left on the dashboard for a couple of years. First round was extremely loud, second round blew the primer and I had to beat the bolt open with a piece of 2X4.
Luckily this was a 98 Mauser action. Did not have reloading equipment so the rest of box went into a pond.
I figure a combination of heat, cold and mostly vibration caused the problem. Powder was probably just so much dust.

 

[The Swede]

Interesting...

 

[kingpin008]

That could also just have been a bad box as well, to be fair. The powder isn't going to "turn to dust" as it were, simply from sitting on a dashboard. If anything, the heat would get to it over time, but even then it's unlikley at best in most cases.

 

[NukemJim]

Do not know for sure but have heard that ammo exposed to a LOT of heat and vibration can cause the powder to breakdown mechanicly inot smaller particles which supposedly could cause an overpressure condition.

NukemJim

 

[3 gun]

Ammo lasts for a LONG time when stored in a stable, cool, dry and dark place. Your car is few if any of these. Direct sunlight, vibration, temp swings and dampness are all big problems you'll find in keeping ammo in a car.

You might be OK if you only exposed the ammo to one variable, like storage in higher heat within a limited range. A car can reach 120+ in sunlight on a day that only reaches 80 for the record. Then with the drop off at night you could be looking at swings of 60 degrees or more every 24hrs. Crates/pallets of ammo stacked in a warehouse would be vary stable compared to this example.

I'd be hard pressed to trust ammo for even 3 months in the extremes you'll find in a vehicle.

 

[jakemccoy]

Your ammo is undoubtedly bad. I have facilities to dispose of it properly. I can send you my address in a PM. I will pay for shipping.

 

[Dark_Harvest]

I have had no problem with ammo found in what most people would consider "horrible" conditions... i.e. stored in unsealed cardboard for 40 years (!!) in a barn exposed to temp ranges from sub-zero to plus 100 degrees every year. actually had to clean dirt out of some of the boxes... But, no rust or degradation of the rounds, and they fire just fine! (yeah, i'm brave... and lucky... )


But, a car does tend to concentrate extreme ranges of temperatures, so i'd try to limit that exposure...

 

[rodregier]

Prudent law enforcement agencies have their officers "shoot up" their carry/duty ammunition load periodically, typically during qualification/practice. At the more forward-thinking agencies, that would likely be a 3 monthy cycle. That ammunition would have been exposed to more thermal cycling and moisture, but less vibration and extreme heat than in a vehicle.

I would suggest rotating every 3-6 months, you can use up in practice time.

First rule of a gun fight - have a gun.

Second rule - have ammunition that will go bang (not pop or boom)

 

[DRYHUMOR]

I got ahold of some reloaded wadcutters with a trade recently. The guy had had them for 4 years out his shed.

Assuming... the stuff was reloaded consistantly. I think the temps did a number on it. I only went through 2 mags of it. Had two stove pipes, one failure to eject. Glock 22

All of my ammo stays in stable consistent temps, except for about 500 rounds of 308 that I peridically
shoot off just to practice with.

 

[Shear_stress]

When all else fails, just remember what Steve Martin says in "LA Story" after he remembers it's the first day of spring (i.e. "open season on the LA freeways"):

Marilu Henner: Do bullets go bad?
Steve Martin: No it's not like milk! They don't have an expiration date or anything!

 

[teknoid]

Ammo CAN go bad with age. I have no idea how old the stuff was I had issues with, but it was inherited along with some guns. Half of the .32 longs were duds, and the .380's wouldn't cycle the slide. I thought there were issues with the guns, until I fed them fresh food. They worked fine, so the ammo was disposed of. I haven't had a problem since. This was stored in a closet at room temperature, too.

My brother tried to use some 12 ga. that belonged to our grandfather to hunt up a squirrel or two. He came back empty handed. Seems the pellets left the barrel, but they were rolling at the time. Not quite enough velocity to do any damage. He said he was pretty sure the squirrel he shot at from 15 feet away was laughing as he scampered off.

 

[gym]

I had ammo that my uncle left when he passed in the 60's, and I have no idea how long it had been in storage, maybe 20yrs before that. I shot some last year, 22lr, and in a couple hundred rounds of lead, not one failure. I shot it at the local range. He must have left a couple thousand rounds. I mentioned him before, he had this disease that caused him to forget what he had bought, and keep buying and storing stuff in steamer trunks. When he passed we found stuff that in todays market would set a man up for life. Aside from 2 Parker shotguns and 2 Pietro Baretta shotguns. I have no idea what those guns are worth today, but have heard in exess of a hundred grand. I got the Browning 22, in grade 2, and still have it. I think if stored properlly it can outlast most of us.

 

[Zip7]

Last week I shot a couple of boxes of 30 carbine ammo that were at least 40 years old. No problem...

 

[CBS220]

I've got ammo from the 40s and 50s, British made .303 and Nazi 8mm especially, and it all goes bang.

Ammo stores exceptionally well. Vibration has NOTHING to do with it; that's an internet myth. If cartridges blew up when shaken too hard, there would be a few more blown guns and a few fewer shooters.

I'm not seeing how the sort of heat that is present in a car could cause ammo. Sounds like that one guy just had a bad box of ammo, because I leave ammo in the truck all the time, for long periods of time, with no bad effects.

 

[W.E.G.]

Do not know for sure but have heard that ammo exposed to a LOT of heat and vibration can cause the powder to breakdown mechanicly inot smaller particles which supposedly could cause an overpressure condition.

Die internet rumour! Die!!!

__________________
__________________

Question: Is it safe to tumble loaded ammo?

From: [email protected] (Norman F. Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: **** WARNING TO RELOADERS ****
Date: 2 May 1995 21:19:15 -0400
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 47

This has been a practice of many of us for a good many years
despite the advice of many on this net.


Our police range which is open to the public, and sells its
reloaded ammo to that same public, has for at least 20 years used
a regular cement mixer to tumble the loaded ammo to remove resiz-
ing lube. The media used is ground corn cobs and mineral spirits
which shines the brass like a mirror.

In the ancient past, I have run test batches of .38 and .45 ACP
ammo, increasing time, for up to a number of days (no records
here) in my TEC vibrators. Each day I would remove a sample of
the ammo and use Ken Water's method to indicate any pressure
increases.

There was no pressure increase after a few days so I stopped the
test knowing that there was no hazard to that practice if kept
within reason - the time required to clean off the lube being a
VERY small percentage of my test times. In practice I leave mine
in from a couple of hours to overnight.

This is yet another piece of "conventional wisdom" that the gun
writers pass back and forth without ever trying it for
themselves. We have enough real but little understood hazards to
watch for without adding false ones.

For those who still do not feel comfortable with this practice,
simply clean the brass after sizing but before charging.

God Bless!

Norm"

 

[mainmech48]

While I have ammo that's anywhere from 20 to 50 years old that still works just dandy, it's been stored in reconditioned GI ammo boxes and/or factory/arsenal sealed cases in climate-controlled conditions (my basement) since I obtained it.

My carry loads and the emergency/BO stashes in my truck and car get shot-up and replaced at least every 6-8 months. While I've not as yet experienced an untoward number of problems in the process, I'm a "suspenders-and-belt" kind of guy so I'd rather not gamble the least bit where they're concerned.

It might not be strictly 'necessary', but it can't hurt and gives me one less thing to worry about.