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Posted: 11/18/2004 11:09:41 AM EDT
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Just wondering. Would it be possible for ammo to be functional after, say, 100 years or longer under any storage circumstances? If so, what sort of storage procedure/storage conditions would be needed? Regards. |
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Probably. There is still some WW2 surplus around that's pretty reliable. Your main enemies are going to be moisture, contamination and temperature cycling/extremes. A sealed ammo can placed in a temperate and temperature stable environment would be a good way to do it. |
Probably. in the late 1980's I used to shoot some 1921 surplus 7mm Mauser ammo. Most of it went bang and it wasn't stored very well from what I could see. You're best bet is to keep the ammo in sealed ammo cans, with some dessicant. Also keep the temperture relativley constant and lowe (say 70 or under). |
Not enough, at least with modern powders, to make a significant difference. Older nitrocellulose production methods left a lot of acid in the finished product. This would continue to react and could eventually lead to badly degraded powder or even---when stored in bulk---to the powder spontaneously igniting. Powders produced since approximately WW II are much more stable. Improved washing methods were developed to remove more of the residual acid, and neutralizers were added to take care of what was left. Under all reasonable storage conditions, modern smokeless powder is stable and will not degrade in any noticeable way. Powder produced in the 1940s and '50s---recovered when surplus ammunition was torn-down for components---is being used today to assemble "new" ammunition. Primers were and are the weak link. Older "corrosive" primers using potassium chlorate are very stable and long-lived, a large part of the reason the Russians/Soviets and such used them. Old "mercuric" primers using mercury fulminate were not as stable, and neither were the early "non-corrosive/non-mercuric" primers that were developed in the 1930s. Current primer compounds are fairly long-lived; 60-year-old .30 carbine ammunition loaded with primers similar to those used today will usually fire reliably. Ammunition's greatest enemy is heat. Most chemical reactions will proceed much more quickly at elevated temperatures, and this includes those reactions that lead to primers degrading into uselessness. This is the reason poorly stored surplus ammunition can be prone to hangfires and misfires, and why storage sheds, non-air-conditioned garages and attics are poor choices for ammo storage. Keep it comfortably cool and dry, and modern ammunition will outlast you by decades. |
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