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Monday, September 20, 2021

Shelf Life of .22 Rimfire Ammunition: Test of 65+ Year Old Ammo

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- How long can ammunition be stored before it degrades? Much depends on the storage conditions. With reasonable care, ammunition has a shelf life of many decades, as verified by tests done with military centerfire cartridges. 

But how long does .22 rimfire last before it starts to degrade? There has not been much systematic long-term storage testing of .22 rimfire. It tends to be used as an expendable item. Some people have found an old box or two of ammunition and checked it for viability.
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 20, 2021 at 1:33 PM

    I have thousands of rounds of bulk box Federal I bought in the early nineties for under 10 dollars a box of 550 rounds. We use it all the time. I also have several 50 round boxes of Federal, Winchester and Remington that do not have bar codes on them. Everything I have works. No special storage. On a side note I have several boxes of .303 British rounds charged with extruded cordite, not powder. These rounds, if not 100 years old, are approaching 100 years old. They work also. Never had a problem with them other than being corrosive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SwrichmondSeptember 20, 2021 at 5:21 PM

      I have also fired aged cordite rounds without failure.

      Delete
  2. pkerotSeptember 20, 2021 at 2:34 PM

    I have a box of .22 shots with a 15 cent price tag. They always fire

    ReplyDelete
  3. SteveSeptember 20, 2021 at 3:26 PM

    I've spent thousands of rounds of old ammo, all which worked except for some newer Remington Golden Bullets that had 3 in 10 that were missing powder. Remington never made good on it. They lost me forever.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 20, 2021 at 6:09 PM

    My dad once had a box of 9mm for an old WWI German Luger I still have. It was so old it was green with corrosion. I'm guessing 30 years or so old. As I recall, it all fired.

    ReplyDelete
  5. John the RiverSeptember 20, 2021 at 8:06 PM

    When I went for my live fire test for the Massachusetts firearms license, about five rounds of the roughly fifty I shot were misfires. I don't know the maker or vintage.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2021 at 5:07 AM

    I have some .22's my dad had back in the 70's- early 80's. Out of a box of 50, maybe one or two didn't fire so yea, it's a thing. Ohio Guy

    ReplyDelete

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