What is the shelf life of 22 LR?

[geobru]

After reading the thread on Gun Show Prices for 22 LR, I started wondering how long 22 rounds remain viable.

I have an old brick of CCI mini mags that I bought in ~1968. I had a few hundred packs from the same vintage that I had shot out of, so I ran a few rounds through the chrony to see how potent they are now. The original speed was ~1200 fps or so. They are now sub sonic at the muzzle. The average speed was 976 fps. The rest of my stash is a lot newer. Anyone have any ideas on when 22 ammo starts to degrade?

[1894c]

I've shot about 200 rounds of WWII vintage .22cal shorts and longs that a woman that I worked with gave to me after her Father passed away...it was Winchester, and the old man kept it on shelf in his cellar. Shot fine, no issues, all of it went bang (this was 15 years ago so that would make the ammo to be about 54 years old).

Others will tell you that it will keep if you have it in a cool dry place... :)

[flatnose]

if its a walmart shelf, about 60 seconds.
I have 22 ammo from the 60's. It still shoots good.

[EdinCT]

I've shot 50 year old ammo that my Grand mother gave me when I was a boy with no issues. It was accurate and had plenty of snap. If stored properly its a long time.

[FWiedner]

I'm thinking that 900fps would kill a squirrel, rabbit, or feral cat pretty dead.

[AJMD429]

The decrease in velocity is disturbing, almost more than if it failed to work altogether.

[6pt-sika]

I have a little bit of "Western Pistol Match" my father and grandfather bought back in the early 60's and it fires fine in my little Colt Scout Buntline .

[Udy]

I've never had an issue with any rim fire regardless of age unless it says Remington on the box.

[mikld]

Lots of "success stories" (I've got one too, and I have a lot of 22 ammo from the '80s), but has anyone else run any through a chrony? It would be interesting to confirm/duplicate geobru's findings on his old ammo...

[Blaine]

I've never had an issue with any rim fire regardless of age unless it says Remington on the box.

I bought about 5 Value Pacs of Rems perhaps 20 years ago...They still fire as poorly as they did 20 years ago...they are in a tupperware with other loose .22 ammo. I use them for plinking with the Single Six as I don't think a "pfffft" will stick in that short barrel....

I got hold of some old, old .22 shorts that my erstwhile Grandpa had. It was marked 29 cents a box and had the old waxy lead bullets. They fired just fine...how old were those? From the 40s, fifties?

[Gaucho Gringo]

I don't know but I have some LR from the 60's that fit that description.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

After reading the thread on Gun Show Prices for 22 LR, I started wondering how long 22 rounds remain viable.

I have an old brick of CCI mini mags that I bought in ~1968. I had a few hundred packs from the same vintage that I had shot out of, so I ran a few rounds through the chrony to see how potent they are now. The original speed was ~1200 fps or so. They are now sub sonic at the muzzle. The average speed was 976 fps. The rest of my stash is a lot newer. Anyone have any ideas on when 22 ammo starts to degrade?

Was this all fired from the same gun? Barrel lengths, bore dia. and twist rates can all have an effect on ammo.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I think any ammo you buy today will be still good for your great grandkids to shoot.
I still have a couple bricks of 20 yr + Remington gold bullet ammo that I have never had a dud in several thousand shots with. Many complain about Remington .22`s but I have never had one that was a dud. Should I buy a lottery ticket or was I just lucky enough to buy a good lot # of them?

[Sixgun]

.22 ammo is very dependent on how it is/was stored. Extremes in temperatures will degrade it, just like extremes in temps will degrade smokeless powder. Moist conditions will also put a hurtin' on it. As most of us know here, the best storage conditions are dry, dark, with consistent temperatures between 55 and 70. Keep it in the original boxes if possible. A lot of guys, because they listen to the whims of their wives, store their ammo in the garage or some other unheated building which will degrade it much faster, depending on what part of the country you live in.

Some highly competitive smallbore shooters have told me that high grade match ammo (Green Tag, Eley, etc.) will degrade after a few years even after good storage conditions. The extreme accuracy potential will degrade, not the ability of it to fire.

If regular .22 ammo is stored properly, it will outlast you and your grandkids. If you have a stash that you want to keep for a long time, do what I do......keep it in sealed military ammo boxes and put the boxes in your dry basement, away from any sunlight that may heat the box.

I've shot original blackpowder .22 ammo with total success. it fouled the bore fairly fast, but it worked.

For some reason, I've been told that rimfire ammo will last longer than centerfire ammo. About 20 years ago, there was a murder in Canada and the bad guy used original blackpowder 56-50 Spencer rimfire ammo, made during or right after our Civil War.-------------------6

[Blaine]

the bad guy used original blackpowder 56-50 Spencer rimfire ammo

I hope the dead guy felt suitably honored....

[jcw]

The 1950's vintage .22's I have still shoot just fine. Wax lube and all.

[Malamute]

I recall reading a piece by a guy that tested some ammo before and after hot storage. He had chronographed it when he got it, then stored it in his attic for 20 years. The temps got over 100 in the summer, and whatever winter was, I don't recall. It slowed down some over time, but the consistency of that lot he tired was the same before and after that long attic storage.

I think they were still manufacturing Spencer ammo into the 20's or 30's.

[Buck Elliott]

I still have a couple bricks - and several boxes - of Remington .22 LR ammo my Uncle brought with him when he left Remington near the end of WWII. He was a chemical engineer, and worked on new priming compounds, which were loaded into small lots of rimfire ammo for testing.. Remington told him to take all he wanted.. Whatever he didn't take would be destroyed, due to the 'experimental' primers..

Uncle gave a bunch of the ammo to my Dad, and he and I used up a pile of it as I got older and started shooting.. It never failed to fire, and was as accurate as anything I could buy.. When Dad passed, I inherited all the ammo he had.. Still shoots great when I break out a box..

[Chuck 100 yd]

From all of the complaints about Remington .22 ammo I have heard, there was obviously a period of time when it was less than great. I have evidently been lucky enough to have never bought any of that stuff. All of the several bricks I have had in the last couple dozen years has been reliable and as accurate as standard HV .22 ammo can be expected to be. All .22 guns seem to be ammo selective as far as accuracy goes. Target shooters will test all brands and lay in a supply of the brand and lot number of the one they find shoots best in their rifle.

[Paladin]

The only problem I have had with Remington .22 was not the ammo's problem. I had bought 2 cases 10,000 rds ($128 ea) of Remington .22 LR HPs in 1982 (3 of us went through 4 cases that year) that would not feed easily in a (then) new model 17 S&W. a match in .22 lr to what I carried at work in .357 Mag. The chambers on the model 17 were so tight they had to be pushed firmly to get them in the cylinder but then shot great. I went back to CCI Mini Mags after that.
I have shot lots of old 22 ammo and have not had as many problems as I have had with some of the new stuff.

[Sixgun]

Ok, I've had enough of this bickering. This weekend I'm going to shoot up this box of original blackpowder .22 Longs from the 1890 period. Let's take a guess and see how many go off.

And then I'm gonna start blasting off this stuff from the pre-war/early post war period. Much of this stuff still looks new, especially the sealed bricks.

Let the fun begin. ----6

[Blaine]

Ok, I've had enough of this bickering. This weekend I'm going to shoot up this box of original blackpowder .22 Longs from the 1890 period. Let's take a guess and see how many go off.

And then I'm gonna start blasting off this stuff from the pre-war/early post war period. Much of this stuff still looks new, especially the sealed bricks.

Let the fun begin. ----6

In the days before electric lights ( ) I had a 7mm Argentine Mauser (a 93?) and I had bought some Spanish/American war surplus rounds for a buck a box. Probably shot a thousand of those, and not a one ever failed to go off.