ammo storage question and value question

[mommabronco79]

first of all how long is it ok to store ammo? does it ever go bad? Is it ok to sell 13yr old ammo? If so, how does it affect price? I need to know what the fair price would be on 44mag ammo, 20 count box's, in elderado starfire and federal premium. I have probably 10 boxes of each.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

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[NK777]

How long doe sit last? Seems like it last a really long time. I have shot 100's of 22LR that was more then 20 years or more old stored in damp garages. It seemed to feed and fire fine accurately. However it does degrade over time if not stored well. If your planning on storing it for a long time you should dry pack it in a sealed container. Here the basics on how to do it properly:

Buy a small amount of dry ice CO2
Buy a sealable container
Put a small chunk of dry ice in the bottom of the container
Fill the rest of the container with bullets, dry food, or what ever you want to store for a very long time.
Place the sealable lid on the container but DO NOT SEAL IT YET! The dry ice is there to purge out all the air with CO2. If you seal the container before the dry ice has completely melted the container might explode! Check the containers bottom every 15 minutes until it no long feels ice cold. If it no longer feels ice cold SEAL the container all the air will be purged out. Note the lid should completely cover the container while the dry ice melts but not sealed until ice is gone. It is very important that you do not seal it to soon. CO2 gas is a lot larger in volume then CO2 ice.

Is it okay to sell 13yr old ammunition? I'm going to say yes as long as you are honest and state that it is 13yrs old and how it was stored for the last 13yrs. Price should be lower then fresh ammunition. It's not dynamite, as it degrades it become less potent. Dynamite becomes less stable because the nitroglycerin breaks down and becomes very shock and temperature sensitive over time. Modern smokeless powders are very stable and have a sort of preservative in them to slow the degradation. On the other hand Gun Cotton which is where smokeless powder was derived from is very unstable because it is simply a basic nitrocellulose product that does not contain the inhibitors, preservatives, etc. It is simply cotton soaked in nitric acid and sulfuric acid for a short amount of time and then rinsed with like a 1000x the amount of water. If it is allowed to dry without proper rinsing it will spontaneously combust. WARNING DO NOT MAKE GUN COTTON UNLESS YOU WANT TO BLOW YOURSELF UP! I'm not sure why I included this information in this post. I guess i just got off on a tangent.

 

[mommabronco79]

thanks for the info, and tangents are ok by me, it made me laugh. Lets hope no one is that stupid...but we all know there is allways someone...anyway thanks for the info, and I will be posting it for sale here on the forum.

 

[Grizzly_A]

Gun cotton eh? I hadn't seen that combined with storage of ammo/food before...

Good tangent.

http://www.publicbookshelf.com/publ...dia_of_General_Information/guncotton_cfc.html

 

[NK777]

Gun cotton eh? I hadn't seen that combined with storage of ammo/food before...

Good tangent.

How to make gun cotton

Sorry... some of us hillbilly's can read and like to share information occasionally.

And yes I know everybody thinks I'm weird.

 

[HappyRoman]

properly stored ammo should be fine.. you might try shoot a box and see that all go off , no delay fires, misfires or bad primer flows.. If all is good, then it should be fine.

the market place will tell you if pricing is to high. It won't sell. 44 mag should not be a problem to sell. Maybe marketing 2-lots of 5 boxes each or except an offer for all.

 

[Oohrah]

STORE IT COOL AND DRY HEAT AND DAMPNESS WILL DETERIORATE AMMO
RAPIDLY I have fired US ammo that goes back to the 50s and can't recall not having it perform as it is intended. Purchased Boo Coos of 30-06 ammo from CMP that is dated back in the 60s. Some Greek NATO stuff, with no clue how it was stored, but no failures of any kind. A few lots may have a few rounds with a little brass corrosion, but fires fine. and the cases clean up for reloading. Also have some from LC armory that I think maybe from the 70s
Reloads and 22 ammo that goes back further than you want to know. In fact some of that old .22 stuff is more reliable than what is being put out now. as fewer failures to fire in the old stuff.