Old ammunition safe to shoot?

I have a box of 9mm ammo that is 2 years old. It was stored safely but I am not sure how that will perform? Is old ammunition safe to shoot?

 

Depends on how it was stored and for how long. If under reasonable temperature controlled conditions, clean and dry and free of oil, it should be fine. If it got wet, the cases can corrode and it may not be usable.

Ammunition stored properly should be good for years, even decades.

A few years back an old guy gave me a small gym bag full of '06 military surplus stuff. Some of the headstamps indicate the year of manufacture to be in the mid-30s. Some day I'll try it out with the full knowledge that the firearm must be cleaned shortly afterwards, as Mil ammo from before about 1952 contained corrosive primers.

 

I have 8 mm and 30-06 ammo from the 40's in sealed cans still good

 

Even stored in a challenging environment, it should last decades.

I have .22 ammo that got lost in a tin box in my barn twenty years ago and it's been just as accurate as newly purchased ammo. It survived the Carolina summer heat and winter cold just fine. I have 8mm from 1939 that shoots like new too.




Military ammo storage bunkers have not historically been climate controlled. They're just a concrete box covered with dirt. This keeps them dry and at reasonably stable temperatures.
They get cold and hot with the seasons, but don't suffer extreme rapid temperature changes that would cause condensation on metal.

Considering that most ammo manufacture's earliest customer was the military, they didn't want to deliver a product that would go "pffft"
after making it all the way to a battle somewhere far away after months or years of being jostled around in trucks, stored in less than optimal conditions aboard ship or in ammo cans under canvas in "every clime and place."

It's safe to say that ammo, stored in the original container, protected from extremes of humidity and rapid temperature change is a safe investment that should last a lifetime or more.

Does Ammunition Have A Shelf Life? Let's Take A Look – Concealed Nation

This being the Survival Monkey I have to recommend that you do your own research. You must not just think your ammo will be okay. You need to get out and shoot it so you'll KNOW it works. I see lots of shooters at the range with the right ammo for their gun, but with the wrong bullet weight for their rifling twist, or wrong bullet design to feed from their magazine. When you need it to go BANG is not the time to learn that your ash tray hollow points slam into your feed ramp and jam every time.

No such thing as too much range time.

 

Nah, Stuff will look like a roman candle coming out the barrel, Better send it to me for safe disposable!

 

If you don't see signs of corrosion, it's perfectly safe. The shelf life of ammunition is only exceeded by Twinkies and Uranium.

 

If it was stored decently and looks good I would use it. I have shot early 1940's production ammo through the '03, Garand, M1 carbine with no problems at all. Same for late 40's-50's '06 through the 1919A4-A6 as well as war era and early post war era 8mm through both the MG34 and MG 42.

 

I found a civil war era flask of Holy Black that had to be over 100 years old ( the power), poured a dram into a pie tin and touched it off, worked great, dumped a 1 3/4 Dr charge down the barrel of the .54 and seated a 500 grainer over top and packed it slightly! She went Bang and rocked me back like she should, power was fine! Those old flasks didn't have any seals or weather protection at all, and yet that powder was as fresh as the day it was corned! Point is, it was stored in a clean and reasonable cool and dry place all those years and that kept it fresh!

 

2 Years old LOL

 

What? 2 years old, that's it?
I use world war 2 surplus ammo. So yeah.

 

In the 1940's I shot civil war powder and caps that my Great grand dad had brought back from the war. Have shot Turkish Mauser and ammo in the 1980's that was surplus from WW1. Corrosive as heck and once in a while it would seem to take a fraction of a second to go off. Neither of those items were stored under the best of conditions. Oil seems to do more damage to ammo than anything else and the old lead bullets can corrode very badly and at least look like heck. Go down the barrel though. Store my ammo in air tight cans in cool basement, oldest I shoot is surplus 30-06 surplus from either Korea or WW2. Shoots well but very corrosive as well.

 

I remember seeing Lee Ermey firing ammo from World War 1, and it still went BANG! Keep the ammo in a cool and dry place, and your great-great-grandchildren will be able to shoot it! I'm still shooting from a brick of .22LR that dates back to 1985. The ONLY reason not to shoot old ammo is that the value of the ammo to collectors could be quite high. For example, a WW! or WW2 re-enactor might want period ammo for each of his weapons, not to shoot but to complete his impression. Some of the rarer headstamps can be worth a lot of money!

 

I have surplus India production 308 in sealed ammo cans (as in they have the wire seals from the manufacturer still on them) I’ve had since 1986 and the stuff was 5-6 years old then. So its over 40 years old. Still shoots fine and I have zero issues with it.

 

In 1962 my mom's brother gave me a Springfield. we spent the afternoon shooting it. Only later did I learn the import of the NC18 headstamp.

 

When the brass starts turning green and a white powdery substance starts growing out around the primer....... then ya know its questionable

 

HA, I have a couple hundred rounds of .45 Colt that was hand loaded WAY back in 1950 by my Grand Dad. I know his load data he used and all that so I have no issue shooting it, some of the ammo at the bottom of the can was pretty green, and the lead had turned white and kinda powdery, but it all shoots just fine, it's loaded to rifle spec, so it's only shot through the Metaba or the Ruger's!
Boy does that Metaba really like it, recoil is snappy, but oh so satisfying. the Ruger Hawk Eye loves it too, Great big ol Fireball and a good fire ring from the Hawk Eye, pretty cool! Just have to clean a little extra to get all the green gunk out of the Metaba!