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Ammo Test left outside for three years

GilWilson1
Not a scientific test by any means LOL but I found three boxes of Federal Ammo I had left outside, protected from direct rain and sun but not temperature or humidity. They have been outside in South Carolina weather for three years.

All three boxes were decomposing but easily read. Two boxes of 40 and 1 box of 9.

First box of .40 had quite a bit of green on the brass and on some of the primers, most would not fire.
Second box of .40 had green on brass mostly at the area the extractor would pull, a small amount on some of the primers. ALL OF THEM Fired!

The box of 9mm was similar to the second box of .40 and all of those fired as well.

No Crono so I don't know any data other than they made holes in the paper targets where they were aimed at as well as I would normally shoot. Seems if the primers are green no go brass green primers OK these seemed to fire OK.

So while certainly not recommended modern ammo even left outside in high humidity and temps still mostly fired.
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Comments

13 comments

Date Votes
  • Smitty500mag
    I found a couple of full brass 12 ga. shotgun shells in my great grandpa's attic that had been there at least since the mid 1930s when he had his stroke. They were in temperatures well over 100 degrees in the summers and at times below zero in the winter through all variations of humidity.

    They both fired like new ammo. Hard telling how old they were. They were at least 60 years old when I shot them. I guess it's possible they were surplus WWI ammo since they were using full brass shotgun shells at that time due to the paper shells swelling up with all the moisture in the trenches.
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  • bustedknee
    I flipped my canoe in a silty river in Alaska. I spent almost 30 minutes in the water.
    Wet and cold, I left my Glock and spare magazine on the kitchen table.for over a week.

    Since I felt I could no longer trust the cartridges to fire I dried and cleaned the gun then fired all rounds - no problems!
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  • Sam06
    I have shot some sketchy ammo in my time.

    I have found that as long as the ammo has not been in wet to dry wet to dry a bunch of times, Has been in salt water or subjected to oils or solvents it will fire.

    But its best stored in ammo cans with a descant pack in a cool dry place.
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  • Cornflk1
    I would just be careful of squibs. :shock:
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  • llama
    Had 5 Ruger Mk II magazines sitting loaded in a gun case in the back of the closet for 14 years, was CCI Blazers and they all fired and fed reliably, and i'm still actually actively using the mags 8 or 9 times a year every year for the past 5 years.

    Tip for y'all - if you stick extra mags under the foam in a case (or under another layer in a multi-layer pistol case) be sure to remember that they are there...
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  • Warbirds
    Cool. About what I would expect.
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  • buschmaster
    I think the primer is the thing to worry about. gunpowder is more resilent. oil kills primers. here we see that corrosion can get in there and kill it too.

    had two rounds of .38 RNL from my grandpa's house. he had been a national guardsman and a cop starting in the 40's and retired as a detective in the 70's so I have no idea how old they were, but then they were sitting on a shelf in our garage for 10-12 years and it got down to (at worst) -15 below in the winter, 110+ in the summer. then 5 years later I rented a .38 and shot them off. they went bang.

    plus, how much milsurp ammo has been sold that you have no idea what conditions they were stored in. cold or hot, humid or dry. you don't hear anybody complaining that there are duds...
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  • JasonV
    I picked up a 12 gauge shell out in my pasture. Been there a couple years.
    It fired just fine.
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  • buddyb
    I found a 45-70 round that had a government headstamp and a 90. I pulled the lead bullet and tried to dump the powder but it was a solid clump,Finally got the black powder broken up enough to get it out of the case and it lit off and burned like it should.Put the case in a rifle to check the primer and it was dead. I wish I would have left it intact because after I took it apart I came to the conclusion that it was probably a government round from 1890.
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  • us55840
    I've used/fired ammo that was well over 50 years old, stored inside so didn't get wet buy in wide temp ranges.

    It all fired just fine.
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  • jimdeere
    ", I left my Glock and spare magazine on the kitchen table.for over a week."
    The advantages of a plastic gun. :lol:
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  • Toolman286
    Cheapo LEOs would bring every old round of ammo they could literally dig up to the range for qualifications. We had to inspect what they brought to avoid squibs & keep an ear out for misfires. We drew the line at green or purple mold. One Rocket surgeon couldn't figure out why his revolver wouldn't fire. Could it be the bullet that was lodged in the forcing cone with it's tail end still in the chamber? Yep, purple mold.
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  • hillbille
    got 2 rounds of 38's that went threw the washer and dryer, gonna try em this weekend, can say though they do make a racket in the dryer.....

    on a side note, when my son was small he had a little glow in the dark walkie talkie set we used when hunting, as we were going threw a briar patch one year, climbing over logs, dodgeing briars he lost it. we looked the rest of the week whenever we went threw that hollow, never did find it. it was either a year or two later a cousin found it late one evening, it was glowing in brush from the days sun, pulled the back and the batteries had leaked all over it. got it back to cabin wiped it out and put two new batteries in it , it came on and worked for the rest of the season, he lost it the next summer for good.
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