[HOSSFLY]

Originally Posted by GlockRenegade

Ive had many answers in this so please give me your $.02. Is there a point where my carry rounds are no longer any good? Can i carry the same 15 rounds for 6 months? A year? 2 years? I do switch out mags occasionally. I rotate between 3 mags, each is a different type of HP or JHP. I live in south Texas, lots of heat and humidty, what effects can this have?

Whats the shelf life of a Twinkie?

[axxe55]

i believe moisture is going to be one of the biggest threat to the ammo. plus maybe salt in the air if you live in a coastal region. i believe keeping an eye on it and possible even cleaning the ammo itself on a regular basis maybe?

i shoot fairly often so having to worry about fresh ammo isn't a concern for me. i think that some of the other members have posted some good ideas about this.

just a few months ago, i shot some of my fathers rifle reloads that had been stored for over twenty years. 3/8" group at 100 yards! still worked perfectly.

[Wiseman3]

Originally Posted by HOSSFLY

Whats the shelf life of a Twinkie?

fifty years past the nuclear blast if no nuclear blast then 'till Jesus comes

[gollygee]

I had ammo over 30 years old, in east Texas humidity for over 20 years & with no special storage which fired fine. But I wouldn't rely on that with my SD ammo. I rotate it at least annually, but if my carry pistol is not on my belt, it's in a safe with a dehumidifier, so is not subjected to the humidity more than 2 months out of the year.

[phildenton]

I would recommend once or twice a year cycling your carry ammo.

[dsheppard]

I carry everyday and I change my hp loads out atleast once a month for the simple fact of I put myself in real life situations and want to use my ccw ammo so I know exactly how it will fire in that situation

[jdkinman]

Originally Posted by hiwall

I would rather carry target ammo that I knew would fire instead of some super duper ammo that had been in the gun for a couple years.

*shrug* I trusted my life to ammo that had been sitting in depots for who knows HOW long when I was in the military. Same for our issue practice ammo when I was with the feds.

It all went *bang* without fail, every single time.

But this is definitely a "to each their own" decision and I highly recommend making it based upon YOUR comfort level rather than anyone else's.

I've still got Federal Hydrahok +P+ 9mm that is over 20 years old I was issued. I carry it, test a few rounds every once in a while, and have yet to have a malfunction, failure to feed or to have it ignite.

For my other guns, I generally carry my handloads and keep them swapped out pretty often.

JD

[HOSSFLY]

Originally Posted by Wiseman3

fifty years past the nuclear blast if no nuclear blast then 'till Jesus comes

You forgot to answer in the form of a question but CORRECT

[danolator]

I just found some 3" 12 ga ammo that I had when we moved here 18 years ago. Cycled it down range the other day. Performed like a champ. My SD pistol ammo gets chambered and unchambered several times and maybe I'm superstitious, but I think this may cause a higher chance of an FTF versus the ammo actually not being capable of firing. For this reason, I cycle through my SD pistol rounds frequently.

[Sniper03]

As long as they are kept dry and not in excessive heat they will last for years. I shot some Federal Gold Medal Match ammunition the other day that I have had on the shelf for at least 10 years and they shot flawlessly. Climate is the issue!
However as some of the folks here have advised if they are for CCW or Duty I would at least switch them out every year just for safety sake. Since you or someone else's life could depending on it. Also the other thing that can damage them is case damage by being loaded and unloaded due to extractor damage on the rim! Any sign at all of slight burrs on the rim shoot them up.

03