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Three Month Ammo Shelf Life?

Aknazer

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Mar 6, 2011
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I was talking with someone today about guns and she said that her and her husband got a notice from the NRA stating that there's a push to make ammo have a 3mo shelf life. Has anyone else heard about this? I tried to Google it but I couldn't find any more info on it other than a few other people have also heard this and that something similar was tried in the 90s but didn't go anywhere.
 

Wyldhog

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Apr 22, 2011
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Louisiana
I heard the same rumor several years ago by word of mouth but I've not read or seen anything that backed up the rumors.
 

GF

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If that is true it sounds a bit dangerous, doesn't it? Could cause some firing issues and whatnot.
 

Aknazer

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It does sound dangerous and I would be curious how they could get it passed everyone who would be against it. I don't even see a 1year shelf life flying for various reasons but I can see antis pushing for it and wasn't sure if anyone else had heard about it; especially since the person I was talking to heard about it in a letter from the NRA.
 

thebigsd

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Mar 23, 2010
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What purpose would a shelf-life on ammunition have? Are they attempting to keep people from stockpiling? Anyone know the illegitimate reasoning behind this stupid idea?
 

Sig229

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I call BS.
Has anyone elver seen what it looks like at an ammunition factory?

Hell, ammo stacked on pallets are sitting for a full year sometimes before it goes out to a wholesaler, then it could be another few months until it gets to the store shelves.

Also, what chemical could they use to make the powder go inert at the 3month mark?

There's no way.
Besides, the NRA doesn't have control over ammo manufactures. They are a lobbying group, nothing more.
 
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xxx.jakk.xxx

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Feb 16, 2010
Messages
467
When I was buying some ammo one of the guys behind the counter tried to tell me something kind of like this.

He told me that I should get Self defense rounds and normal shooting rounds. The self defense rounds should be in my gun for self defense for a year or until I have to use them. He told me that when the year was up, run down to the store and buy new rounds for self defense and go shoot off my last years rounds.

This was when he was telling me that I needed to buy rounds that were $35 for 20 because they were the ultimate self defense rounds...
 

Darkshadow62988

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Oct 17, 2010
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Location
Iowa
I have a hard time believing shelf life, however, after less than a year or carrying my SD ammo all the time, taking it out when replacing it with practice ammo and putting it back in after a good cleaning I can see the difference on some of the bullets and cartridges. I think the total count is 5 out of 37. If anything, I believe this is due to the residue left over from the cleaning chemicals(Hoppes No. 9 and CLP for me). When it comes to carry ammo, I consider it good practice to make sure that the ammo is in the same condition when I carry it as when it is fresh out of the box, so any rounds that appear different/inconsistent get cycled out with the target ammo at regular range trips.
 

Aknazer

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From what ive heard from other people i would recommend cycling carry rounds after so long but you dont need to use rounds that expensive. The issue was more in long term stored ammo as the rumor is that there is a push to add something to the powder or primer to make it start to break down after so long and thus only have a reliable shelf life of 3months. But as i said it is only a rumor and that was why i was asking if anyone here had heard about it.
 

KBCraig

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Granite State of Mind
I cycle my carry rounds every six months as the constant movement cannot be good for them.
The only danger in "movement", is breaking down the powder. It's only a very slight risk; reducing powder to a finer grind requires much more than the jostling of everyday carry.

Regardless, the solution isn't "cycling" it, it's to fire off ammo you consider "past the safety date", on your next trip to the range.

I have milsurp ammo from 1939 that is 100% sure-fire. I once fired commercial name-brand ammo less than 20 years old, that split the neck and gave me a nice taste of hot gas in the face.

Storage is key.
 

4angrybadgers

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Aug 24, 2009
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411
Location
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA
I cycle my carry rounds every six months as the constant movement cannot be good for them.
As KBCraig said, the movement of daily carry won't do a thing to the rounds.

The danger with carry ammo is that if you re-chamber a round enough times, it can push the bullet back into the casing and raise chamber pressure (when it's fired) to potentially dangerous levels. It's called "setback". http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-438996.html There are varying opinions on how likely this is to happen with various guns and calibres. I don't re-chamber very often (don't get out to the range very often), but I tend to fire off my EDC mag every year-ish just in case. My carry rounds are <$1 apiece, so it's not a huge expense.
 
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Dreamer

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Sep 23, 2009
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Grennsboro NC
The technology already exists to give ammo a "shelf life", that could be precisely controlled, and not activated until AFTER the ammo leaves the manufacturer's warehouses.

Nano-machines could be programmed to activate at a certain time, and chemically or physically render the ammo unusable, and these nanomachines could be integrated into the powder charges of any ammo.

It's not a matter of "can they do this yet", its more a question of "when will it start"?
 

Gunslinger

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Mar 6, 2008
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Free, Colorado, USA
I was talking with someone today about guns and she said that her and her husband got a notice from the NRA stating that there's a push to make ammo have a 3mo shelf life. Has anyone else heard about this? I tried to Google it but I couldn't find any more info on it other than a few other people have also heard this and that something similar was tried in the 90s but didn't go anywhere.

Sounds like BS to me. Who's "pushing" it? No one would have the authority to interfere in free commerce failing legislative action. And this Congress doesn't **** around with gun rights, clearly. Plus, it would be chemically, virtually impossible to do. Ammo now can last for decades. And what about handloaders. BS.
 

Gunslinger

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Free, Colorado, USA
The technology already exists to give ammo a "shelf life", that could be precisely controlled, and not activated until AFTER the ammo leaves the manufacturer's warehouses.

Nano-machines could be programmed to activate at a certain time, and chemically or physically render the ammo unusable, and these nanomachines could be integrated into the powder charges of any ammo.

It's not a matter of "can they do this yet", its more a question of "when will it start"?

And ammo would cost $400 a box. I say again: BS.

Unless we use Borg technology, of course. We do have it at Area 51...
 
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rotorhead

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Sep 18, 2010
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Location
FL
I can imagine ammo manufactures pushing something like a shelf life more than I could the anti's.
 

Gunslinger

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Free, Colorado, USA
I can imagine ammo manufactures pushing something like a shelf life more than I could the anti's.

Don't see it, as the majors make most of their ammo for the military, Winchester and Federal, or cop market, Speer and Hornady. (Speer is owned by the same company as Federal but have different product lines and market places.) I would never trust a shelf life for ammunition that is meant to defend me and my family.
 
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