They will last for longer than ten years but if you haven't shot them up in that long you need some practice.

 

I had a friend who gave me some .44 mag shells that were over 20 years old. I just wiped off some of the tarnish and shot them, they all went bang.Q

 

Ammo is practically immortal as long as it is not subjected to temperature extrmes or something that causes it to corrode. But if you haven't fired that gun in 10 years it may not matter whether your ammo is good or not. If you are depending on it for self defense, you need to be shooting on some kind of a regular basis, even if only a few rounds a month.

 

Even if we assume that you do practice regularly (with cheaper ammo) and keep the "good stuff" for serious social engagements, it's probably a good idea to not depend on ammo that old. There's a 99.9% probability that it will still be good for many decades, but most self-defense experts recommend that you swap out duty ammo at least annually.

I don't keep quite that rigorous schedule myself, but I do keep a full box of factory defense ammo in cool, dry storage. Once a year I shoot the ammo in the gun and replace it with fresh stuff from the box. For my truck gun, I'm replace the duty ammo much more often, as the vibration and heat of driving probably isn't good for ammo.

 

I have .38SPL handloads that I loaded 20 years ago (I know, because I label the boxes with all the data including date loaded) and I've never had a FTF. I keep them in a cool, relatively dry basement in military surplus ammo cans. Short of fire or flood, I fully expect them to last another 20 years.

Except, of course, for two factors: Chances are I won't last another 20 years, and barring some sort of catastrophe, I fully intend to shoot them up before then and reload 'em again...

 

If you have stored your factory ammunition in a cool dry place, it should keep far longer than the ten years that you've had it. IIRC, the military expects their ammunition to have a shelf life of forty years. Any ammunition, whether new or old, can misfire however the odds are that older ammunition will be the first to fail. As previously stated, you would have more peace of mind if you practice with your Smith & Wesson regularly and replace your old ammunition with new accordingly.

 

It's probably a good idea to test ammo periodically. I had a box of factory Remington .44s go bad over a period of about 4 years. It worked fine right after I purchased it. The ammunition stored on either side of it was fine so I have to assume something happened at the time of manufacture that caused the primers or powder to deteriorate over time. I've never had any other ammo do that.

It was kind of funny. I'd fire a round and it would go off with a gentle pop. Then, the powder would whistle out the cylinder gap like a fireworks fountain while the bullet worked its way out the barrel. When the bullet finally left the barrel, it would travel ten or fifteen yards downrange when it would hit the ground and bounce a few more yards. I would then open the cylinder and blow all the unburned powder clear, check the barrel to make sure it was clear, and load another round. The guys who were with me still laugh about it.

 

Ammo, while expensive, isn't THAT expensive, especially if your betting your life on it

 

I found something online the other day when I was trying to find out when Bullseye powder was first introduced and was pretty surprised at the quote in the article:

"Unique was first manufactured in about 1898 and was one of the first powders Du Pont turned over to Hercules. A jar of Unique powder sits on the shelf at the Alliant Powder plant in Radford, Virginia. The powder in the jar was made in 1899 and still performs to original specifications."

http://www.gunsandammomag.com/techside/pick_1028/index.html

We're talking powder that is 109 years old that is still good an peforms to original specs? Amazing.

I inherited some guns of my father's just this last February, and I also brought home a fair amount of ammo for the guns that I got. Considering my father passed in 1997, none of the reloads I have fired were less than 11 years old and it has all peformed flawlessly. That said, I would want to have fresh ammo in a gun I intended to use for self defense because even though propellants that are stored properly can last a lifetime, I'm not sure about the shelf life of primers, and who knows what the conditions were when the rounds were put together? Rocky's suggestion of replacing it once a year at minimum is in my opinion a good yardstick to use as a measure.

 

I just shot some 357 mag ammo this weekend that I bought in 1972 (Remington and SUPERVEL) when I was in the Louisiana State Police academy. I found it on my shop shelf while looking for something else.

 

If its kept in a car/truck year round I would definately freshen it at least 1x per year. Just presenting a handgun will send some significant # of bad guys packing but if you have to use it you sure don't want to hear any 'clicks' with someone rushing or lunging at you.

Ammo stored for a lengthy period of time in an oily chamber (not a good practice) can absorb enough oil/vapors through the bullet/case or primer/case juncture to affect it. I have had that happen - resulting in a squib load. This ammo had been in the pistol's chamber for about 4 years. The other identical rounds in the mag fired fine. Lesson learned...

 

I'll confess a casual rotation schedule for the ammo in my carry gun. Basically, about once a year a bullet gets put in a deer or varmit or whatnot that needs to be put down.

The spent shell gets replaced. That's it.

Honestly.... other than pocket lint getting blown out of the barrel, that's about all the upkeep it gets. Titanium guns sure are nice for low-maintenance!

No oil in the chambers, FYI.

I bought several boxes of Cor-Bon ammo when I got it, and have been carrying the gun for 6 or 7 years now.

I probably should spring for a new box!

 

Dunno, Mike -- Waste not, want not. . .

Grins,

The Old Guy

 

I can't seem to leave ammo sitting around that long... I shoot a lot, easily 3-4K rounds per year.