When does ammo go bad?

**nailer** · August 29th, 2009, 11:04 AM

I have loaded guns around my home(no kids here). Yesterday I noticed some green(mold or corrosion) on some brass. It wiped off easily, but it got me wondering how long will ammo keep like that. Anybody know? Thanks.

**dc dalton** · August 29th, 2009, 12:04 PM

Sounds to me like you have a humidity problem in the house ... don't know how you would go about stopping it (short of AC) but I'd personally be a tad leary about ANY ammo that had green corrosion on it

**wa3ra** · August 29th, 2009, 12:16 PM

When it starts hanging out with the wrong crowd, sneaking out at night, drinking beer when it should be studying, cruising around in cars, cutting school and hanging out at the mall...these are all signs that you ammo is going bad...

get some desiccators, keep it dry. My WWII surplus stuff held out until '07, and ir was still good when it ran out.

**GRIZ** · August 29th, 2009, 07:04 PM

If you keep the ammo dry and relatively cool it will last just about forever. I've fired and chronographed ammo I reloaded over 30 years ago and it was as good as when I made it. I've fired military ammo made in the 1930s that worked well.

**Don T.** · August 29th, 2009, 07:19 PM

This just brought to mind an article that I read awhile ago about some corroded ammo. The guy decided to take a peek inside. Here's his link: http://carteach0.blogspot.com/2008/1...nd-images.html

**levib** · August 29th, 2009, 08:55 PM

The best way to keep ammo in good condition for extended periods of time is to keep it cool and dry. You want A/C in your house if you're going to keep ammo out, and keep it at a pretty constant temperature. In my basement where I have most of my guns and ammo, I have a big dehumidifier that keeps relative humidity to below 40% which seems to work fine.

Probably the best thing you can do if you can't meet these conditions is to keep your guns in an air tight safe with desiccants.

**fingers80002** · August 29th, 2009, 09:11 PM

I wouldn't worry too much about it, if it is light surface corrosion.

If it gets to the point of pitting, pitch it.

**d90king** · August 29th, 2009, 09:13 PM

When you run out of it...

**drakageM4A1** · September 1st, 2009, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by d90king

When you run out of it...

+1
I keep all my ammo in surplus cans, I still need some silica gel in them though. I've only been building my stash for about 2 years now though.

**rovert97** · September 1st, 2009, 03:13 PM

ive got some 1940 FNH made 8mm Mauser ammo that i have in an ammo can. havent had a single problem with it shooting even if when i bought it, it had light green corrosion on the brass. feeds and fires good. justs needs a good polish.