I was doing some reading about how old ammo can deteriorate, especially if exposed to moisture, for example. I obtained my firearms permit a little over five years ago, and at the time I bought some boxes of 9mm as well as boxes of shotgun shells. They have lived in their boxes (something which, I read, is not a good thing) in dry dresser drawers ever since. Obviously I will can take these rounds to the range and find out whether they're still viable, but ordinarily, would you guys expect such ammo to still be any good?
Yes! Ammo from World War 1 still goes bang! So, your 5-year-old ammo kept in a dry dresser drawer is still good. Loose rounds stored in a .30/.50 cal. ammo can with a moisture absorber and oxygen absorber will be good when your grandchildren die of old age. Also, need to protect the ammo from temp. extremes too. I know a guy that keeps his ammo in ammo cans, in 55-gal. steel drums filled with very dry sand, in a barn.
Generally, ammo lasts a very long time if not seriously abused. Stashed in a dry sock drawer - it'll last forever.
The worst storage conditions that I've ever personally exposed commercial ammo to was some Federal Lightning .22 long rifle. It was stored in a drawer in a filing cabinet in a basement in Michigan from 1971-2011. That filing cabinet then moved to a non-climate controlled barn in eastern North Carolina from 2011-2021. When I finally found the several boxes of ammo in the filing cabinet I took a box to the range. It was just as consistent and accurate as any .22 ammo I've ever tried. In the original boxes is the best way to store ammo in my opinion. Sure, you might put them in a sealed ammo can, but leave them in the original box. I have military ammo, stored in the original box from 1929 that works fine. For more than a hundred years, military ammunition has been stored in caves and bunkers like these all over the world. They're not generally climate controlled, but they are dry and have walls thick enough to prevent rapid daily changes in temperature that could cause condensation on metal. Just imagine the ammo manufacturer who made ammo that only worked in nice weather, or only for twenty years. They wouldn't be in business long. From arctic cold to desert heat, your ammo will be fine. Just don't store it on a damp concrete floor. It'll turn blue, or rust. Might still go bang, but it's hard to feed corroded ammo.
