shelf life on shells?

Chris S.

Chris S.

Well-known member
i have a box of remington 2 3/4 steel its has to be 10+ years old. it was stored inside in a closet for the past 10+ years. the brass is very clean looking. I know they never got wet they went from the store to the closet and sat. Any reason i can't or shouldn't give em a try. Thanks Chris.
 
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No, BUT...if you have a misfire, STOP and make sure your barrel is clear before cycling in another shell. Damage to your gun, self and anyone around you is not worth a duck! More than one picture has been posted on the net where in a guy had a misfire and cycled in another shell and let loose. Bad things happen with a barrel obstruction. I found a couple boxes of almost 20 year old shells at my dad's and have not had a single misfire...not to say it couldn't happen on the next shell I use

Chuck
 
Those are essentially new sheels and should be fine. The bigger issue is how much steel shot technology has improved in 10 years. Current production has better wads and faster speeds.
For what you have it will be fine. I would shoot it if it were mine.
I have target ammo that is 30 + years old and good as new, occasionally I will shoot some old paper shells, they just smell so good.
 
Chris, Go ahead and shoot them up but don't expect them to work like some of the new loads. I just tried to use some old Federal steel loads and was very disappointed with them. Yeah I know it was the guy behind the gun ;-). Seriously there have been so many developments that I would find some way to use them up, no safety worries though.
 
Thanks guys. I didn't think about the changes and improvements on shells from then till now. I think they are remingtom 2 3/4 #2 express steel. I will try em out for hunting out of the sneakbox over decoys for those 20yrd shots.
 
Why does 10 years seem like just yesterday? Seriously, factory ammo has a shelf life of many decades and it will shoot just fine. Does the box list a velocity? They may be down in the 1250 fps range if they were a heavier wt load, that was pretty common in the lead loads from the 70's and steel in the early 80s. I'll bet they're closer to 1375 fps with nice sealed primers. "Shoot them in the lips" and the shells will work great.

Scott
 
I dug em out to see they are 2 3/4 #4 with 1 once of shot the box didn't say how many fps so I googled it and it is 1350 fps I will use this season. I only have one box so i might as well use em thanks guys.
 
I found the same shells years ago at an extremely low price. I think they even had a mail-in rebate so I bought a bunch of them. I still have sveral boxes and they have to be somewhere between 10-15 years old. They all shoot fine and bring down ducks with no problem. I am around saltwater which will rust up the brass if they get exposed so I avoid any that are looking rough. Good luck


dc
 
I would be worried about rust on the pellets, I used to save all of my shells and shoot various boxes the year after. one such shell came out of the barrel in one clump of rusted metal
blew up the end of the barrel going thru the choke. it was the second shot going out.

so if you have any questions about the quality of the rounds just buy some new boxes.
 
i got some papers from an older friend and used them for squirrels. they were probably from the sixties, i have also blasted off some buck shot from the same era, without any problems.

on the other hand last year i was sighting in my slug gun with the brand new hornady saboted slugs, the first two shots were fine except from not being on target, but the third one sounded only like a pop with no recoil. i waited five minutes, ejected the shell and saw the crimp was burned around the edges. i took the barrel off my 870 and saw it was blocked, so i took a rod and pushed out the obstruction. it was the saboted slug. i guess they forgot to put powder in the shell and the primer blew the round four inches into my barrel.
it still scared me a little

just be cautious testing new stuff
 
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