Shelf life of defensive ammo

[crusader rabbit]

There was a bunch of noise and chatter about WallyWorld ammo not being good because they use so much WD-40 on the transfer ramps in the warehouses that lots of it gets splashed up on the boxes of ammo and creeps into the cartridges resulting in misfires.  

Box o' Truth did a series of tests using various penetrating products.  They sprayed Kroil and WD-40 and various other penetrants on boxes without any subsequent failures.  

Then they sprayed the stuff directly on various cartridges and let them sit for a period of time--again, no failures.  

So they put some ammo in a plastic buckets and covered them with the various penetrants and let 'em sit.  Would you believe:  no failures.

A couple of years ago, Haz and I ran through a box of .22 long that I got from my FIL.  He'd bought the box back when he was a young whippersnapper around 1935.  Over the years, it had not received optimum storage care.   I recall we had only two or three misfires and I think at least two of those fired after we rotated their position in the revolver.

IMHO, ammo is rather resilient stuff.  It will probably last longer than we will.

But, all that said, I run through a magazine or a revolver full of my defensive ammo each time I go to the range.  

Knowledge is one thing, but trusting your life to something that is supposed to go bang is a whole different story.

[sledgemeister]

I have read several articles by folks like John Taffin where he used 50+ year old powder to reload for testing. He claimed to have no problems.....BUT, I agree with Solus and probably wouldn't do it....powder ain't that expensive.

I would be more concerned with solvent/oil contamination to primers/powder. I have heard of folks using penetrating type oil, such as Kroil or PB B'Laster, and it could (if not removed from the internals of the weapon properly) contaminate ammo.....rare, I know, but possible.

$45.00-$50.00 a pound is plenty expensive!!

Thats about a bazillion dollars in US currency now isnt it? 

[tombogan03884]

$45.00-$50.00 a pound is plenty expensive!!

Thats about a bazillion dollars in US currency now isnt it? 

Sucks to be you, $21 a pound last time I checked.