Reliability of 65 YO 22LR ammo

[Magyars]

Interesting article.

Shelf Life of .22 Rimfire Ammunition: Test of 65+ Year Old Ammo

How long does .22 rimfire last before it starts to degrade? There has not been much systematic long-term storage testing of .22 rimfire.

www.ammoland.com

 

[Audie Murphy]

Good article

 

[DadSmith]

My Y2K stash I've been working on was sealed in good 50 cal cans good seals from 1999. I opened it up last year it was mostly Winchester bulk pack HP 36gr. Approximately 1 out of 30 is junk. As in will not fire on any part of the rim.

I wonder if CCI Mini Mags stored in the same condition but original boxes and in the 50 cal can would have different results?

 

[Magyars]

My Y2K stash I've been working on was sealed in good 50 cal cans good seals from 1999. I opened it up last year it was mostly Winchester bulk pack HP 36gr. Approximately 1 out of 30 is junk. As in will not fire on any part of the rim.

I wonder if CCI Mini Mags stored in the same condition but original boxes and in the 50 cal can would have different results?

Ive got more confidence in CCI than other brands.
You could get back to us in twenty years

 

[armalitesheepdog]

I helped a elderly neighbor lady clean out a garage prior to selling her home for a retirement village (ugg) while doing so came across some old ammo her late husband had stored. He had been gone 25 years. Ask if she minded if I kept it. This was in a uncontrolled environment. I shot a few of each and they went off fine and hit the target with full force. I got about 10 boxes of each but don't plan on shooting any more.

 

[Leo]

My Y2K stash I've been working on was sealed in good 50 cal cans good seals from 1999. I opened it up last year it was mostly Winchester bulk pack HP 36gr. Approximately 1 out of 30 is junk. As in will not fire on any part of the rim.

I wonder if CCI Mini Mags stored in the same condition but original boxes and in the 50 cal can would have different results?

I never shot Winchester bulk pack, but was shooting Winchester T-22 for small bore practice in the 90's. I would buy cases of 10 bricks at a time since no one stocked them. The last case had about that many failures even new. Some of the others I shot with were having trouble also. That was the last.

Not long ago I took the boy shooting and used CCI mini mags I bought in Texas, which would have been before Dec 2010. Stored in the original 100 ct plastic boxes inside a cardboard box in the hall closet since then. No special storage. No dead or weak sounding ones.

 

[DadSmith]

I never shot Winchester bulk pack, but was shooting Winchester T-22 for small bore practice in the 90's. I would buy cases of 10 bricks at a time since no one stocked them. The last case had about that many failures even new. Some of the others I shot with were having trouble also. That was the last.

Not long ago I took the boy shooting and used CCI mini mags I bought in Texas, which would have been before Dec 2010. Stored in the original 100 ct plastic boxes inside a cardboard box in the hall closet since then. No special storage. No dead or weak sounding ones.

That good to know. So gives me confidence on CCI long term storage.

Still if you think about it. Cheap Winchester bulk pack back in 1999 was really cheap. So 4 dead rounds out of 100 really isn't that bad in a SHTF world. Still very trade worthy in that world. Come to think about it very good in today's world lol.

 

[snapping turtle]

I have fired ammo older than I am. Worked mostly. I have fired ammo left in my canoe after a hunt. It got wet. The next weekend only 50 percent would fire. (Rem thunderbolts)

 

[KellyinAvon]

.22 LR in Mason Jars... I like it!

 

[2in1evtime]

I have some winchester wildcat i bought back in the 80"s and it still goes bang, had some winchester bulk that was about 4 years old and had lots of failures. I typically rotate my factory ammo that is in long term storage, have quit buying any rimfire or centerfire pistol made by winchester. sold all my 9mm bulk packs to my neighbor, the ammo was made by winchester.

 

[Bugzilla]

Same here on the 80 vintage ammo. Starting to use it more. As I recall, 2 cents a round was the going price.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

sold all my 9mm bulk packs to my neighbor that was made by winchester.

You have a neighbor that was made by Winchester?

 

[Bugzilla]

You have a neighbor that was made by Winchester?

And did he live in a Cathedral?

 

[foszoe]

You have a neighbor that was made by Winchester?

quit stealing my jokes!

 

[DoggyDaddy]

quit stealing my jokes!

Snooze, ya lose!

 

[Cameramonkey]

I was shooting some 80s era ammo today. Outside of a few rounds that got a bit bigger due to corrosion, they all went bang. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[m82mike]

Back in the late 70s, I bought a wooden case full of very old 22 short hollow points. Parts of disintegrated whiteboxes and green and red Remington boxes were in with the ammo. Bullets are plain lead, no plating. Fired a bunch of them in my wife's High Standard flite king 22 short pistol. Worked fine then, might dig them out and try some more.

 

[binkerton]

I've still got a half brick of 22 golden that I've been milking for close to 20 years now. Stored most of their life in hot, humid conditions. They still fire.

 

[DadSmith]

.22 LR in Mason Jars... I like it!

Do you think he canned them.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Do you think he canned them.

That would've been hard on the pressure cooker.