How long can you trust ammo stored in military ammo boxes ?

[jimbo1096]

H Richard, now you got me to thinking about some of my reloads that I did back then. Has it really been 40 yrs ago? I'll bet there are some that old in the bottom of my storage locker that have been buried that long!

 

[kcsteve]

A long time. Most of my long term stored ammo is in metal cans with desiccant packs. I opened every can for inspection in 2021 and none of the moisture indicators had changed color. Same with the big plastic 40mm containers(you can get a LOT of 22lr in one of those).
As long as you don't let the temps change drastically in a short period or let it get overheated, modern ammo has a long shelf life even stored in factory boxes on a shelf. I gave Dad a case of 22lr ammo which he stored in a closet with his guns. Ten years or so later when he died in 1990, Mom gave the ammo back. I brought it home and placed it in ammo cans. I'm beginning to notice some variance in velocity of this ammo.

Is it Remington ammo? Thunderbolt and Golden Bullet value pack from the '70s showed velocity variance when it was brand new, if it fired at all.
I sent hundreds of fail to fire rounds back to Remington and they sent me more of the same crap.