Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: grundy53 on October 05, 2010, 05:05:38 PM

Title: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: grundy53 on October 05, 2010, 05:05:38 PM: How long can you store reloads before you start getting concerned with them going bad? How long would you trust them to shoot everytime you pulled the trigger? Thanks .
Title: Re: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: AWS on October 05, 2010, 05:47:12 PM: I shot some 243's the otherday that were loaded in the early 70's. I shot them up for the brass so didn't check how accurate they were but they all shot fine and none sounded funny. I shot some 250-3000 stuf that I got from someone and the were older than that, had a few split necks but they all went off I didn't worry about them as they were for his Savage 99 and I was shooting them out of a custom 250-3000 modern bolt action. If they are store in a cool dry place thay should last a very long time.

AWS
Title: Re: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: cwuwildcat on October 05, 2010, 06:52:30 PM: :yeah:

It shouldn't be any different than the factory stuff, and that stuff lasts decades when stored properly.
Title: Re: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: C-Money on October 05, 2010, 06:57:51 PM: Yup...ammo lasts a long time. If you have some older ones, shoot some and see how they group!
Title: Re: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 05, 2010, 06:59:19 PM: i have shot some stuff that was around 40 years old. most loads you should be fine with for a long time, if stored right. only a few powders out there that should not sit for more then about 5-10 years.
Title: Re: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: grundy53 on October 05, 2010, 07:49:05 PM: Thank you everyone. You've been very helpful.
Title: Re: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: Jamieb on October 06, 2010, 07:43:18 PM: Last summer I shot up a bunch of Misc. reloads I had so I could use the brass, some of those loads were put together in the early 90's.
I keep a lot of loaded ammo on hand and most of the ammo I shoot has been loaded a year or two. I've never had a handload misfire.
Title: Re: a question for all you reloaders out there.
Post by: BlackRidge on October 06, 2010, 07:57:17 PM: Depending on how you've stored them, they'l easily last a few decades

BUT

Its always best to try to keep your stock somewhat fresh. What I usually do is cycle my batches. Continue to make batches as needed, but when shooting, use the oldest rounds. They'l rarely get to a point in age where you should be concerned, it keeps you busy, and gives you a chance to make room for your new special loads.

I have so many different types of .223 rounds laying around here its ridiculous, I feel like an honorary Somali (-06, .270 & 12gauge to follow)