Ammo with an Expiration Date?

[Grizzlyatoms]

A guy at work is convinced they are going to make ammo that is only good for a few years, I never heard of this. It would make sense if you don't want the peasants hoarding ammo. Has anyone else heard this?

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[chrismartin]

A guy at work is convinced they are going to make ammo that is only good for a few years, I never heard of this. It would make sense if you don't want the peasants hoarding ammo. Has anyone else heard this?

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My $.02...

Ammo manufacturers are running their machines 24x7 and producing as much ammo as they can. They are still selling out immediately. They have huge back orders and are struggling to fill them. Why would a company invest in new gun powders and go through all the testing needed right now? They would then need to change their product lines, packaging, etc. etc. etc. all costing huge amounts of money, and all when they are in the middle of the ammo rush of the century.

They would only hurt their current bottom line and companies don't do that. Ammo companies have no interest in PREVENTING hoarding. They would want this situation. If they really wanted to prevent hoarding, they would just increase the price of the ammo until demand decreased.

Putting in an "expiration" date of sorts is what they would do if there WASN'T a rush on ammo. If it was sitting on shelves or in closets for years, and no one is buying ammo. They would ask "How do we get people to by MORE ammo, MORE often? Force them to shoot it or it goes bad and then they have to buy more!" That's not what's happening right now.

Plus, if they did such a thing, the competition would just advertise that their ammo doesn't have an expiration date at all and no one would buy the crap ammo.

Just all around doesn't make sense.

[RMiller]

That's why I buy this:

http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s424/Rmillerm4/545_zps090a2079.jpg

Vacuum sealed and 1080 rounds of mil surp goodness.

That being said, I wish there was an ammo factory in my neck of the heartland. I would be making hell of money on over time.

[SurplusShooter]

A guy at work is convinced they are going to make ammo that is only good for a few years, I never heard of this. It would make sense if you don't want the peasants hoarding ammo. Has anyone else heard this?


That old rumor again?
That's from the Clinton administration, maybe even older.

Hey, did you hear the one about.....(insert new rumor here)

[kdcgrohl]

Doesn't all the "cleanfire" ammo have a limited shelf life?

[John Hearne]

The "green" primers without mercury have a very limited shelf life. The ammo box is actually marked "Not for duty use" or something similiar.

[SurplusShooter]

.......

[SurplusShooter]

The "green" primers without mercury have a very limited shelf life. The ammo box is actually marked "Not for duty use" or something similiar.

Are you sure about that? Would like to see a reference or source to read more about that.

According to Wikipedia (for whatever good that is...) the mercury compound is actually less stable over time:

, during the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, mercury fulminate or potassium chlorate became widely used in primers for self-contained rifle and pistol ammunition. Mercury fulminate has the distinct advantage over potassium chlorate of being non-corrosive, but it is known to weaken with time. Today, mercury fulminate has been replaced in primers by more efficient chemical substances. Those are non-corrosive, less toxic and more stable over time: lead azide, lead styphnate and tetrazene derivatives. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury(II)_fulminate

[halfmoonclip]

A buddy just raised the issue with me today; he'd heard it was some sort of gummint regulation.
Happy to hear that it appears to be hooey.
Moon

[StingerDan]

If your worried about it, or are subjecting your ammo to harsh enviroments, get some of this http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloading-equipment/priming-tools/priming-tool-accessories/bullet-and-primer-sealer-sku105000110-54488-105681.aspx?sku=105-000-110 they claim your ammo can withstand being submerged for up to 30 DAYS after use, and greatly lengthen shelf life.

[The_War_Wagon]

Old wives tale. This same rumor popped up in the early days of the KLIN - TON I insurrection.

Not that proggies don't drool at such a posibility - it simply won't be cost effective for most mfgs. to stop assembly lines constantly, to make alternating batches of military/police ammo, and then progtard-enhanced "civilian" ammo.

[zaphar]

I'm not sure about the new "green" diazodinitrophenol based primers, but I used some Remington 6.5 primers (lead styphnate?) from 1961 that spent many years in an attic. All of the cartridges that used them worked as intended, so they'll last a while.

EDIT:
After reading about diazodinitrophenol based primers, it appears that these do have a shelf life of 5 or so years due to moisture sensitivity. So if the government were to require the use of this type of primer, ammo would start to have unreliable primers after the said time period. As far as I know, these primers are intended for use in practice ammo that doesn't sit on the shelf for very long and to reduce lead exposure at indoor ranges.