Ammo in the garage...in Phoenix

[Packman73]

I took all of my ammo out of the garage yesterday and brought it into the house after reading a thread about what heat can do to ammo. Do you think I ruined my ammo by storing it in such a hot place for these last couple of months?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[tec]

Send it to me in the 45acp flavor and I will let you know if it's ok. :)

[Packman73]

Send it to me in the 45acp flavor and I will let you know if it's ok. :)

Yeah, I'll get right on it!

[P95Carry]

In theory sustained heat is not ideal but - for space reasons I have had to store some bulk ammo in my old shed - and that is mega hot most of summer.

Some Wolf and 8mm milsurp was used after two years with no apparent problems. In fact even some old .303 Brit and .308 come to think of it also had to live out there. No failures I can attribute to heat.

If possible tho - store at room temp or cooler, and in the dry - as a more guaranteed method to ensure no degradation.

[rocky]

As P95 said, I would not worry about target/practice ammo, but for defense ammo I would keep it in a more controlled environment.

[frankmako]

don't worry about it. the ammo will still go bang, the heat will not kill it.

[Packman73]

Thanks for the response guys. I'll be sure to keep my ammo in the house from now on.

[dimmak]

Just think of the conditions that Mil-surp ammo can be stored in or exposed to....

I wouldn't worry bout it...

Just keep it locked up so it doesn't get stolen....

[Panic215]

P95,

Is the 8mm for a Nambu? Just curious. My local gun shop just took one in on trade. It's a 1946 Nambu with the original holster. I was actually thinking about picking it up. I just didn't know if it had any value to it (other than historical.)

[P95Carry]

Panic - no - just plain old Turk 8mm - the real hot cheap stuff

I use it in my Turk Mauser mostly but also with care in small qty's thru my Hakim. Got 3,400 rounds coupla years back for $125!!!!! hard to resist and almost all go bang! Cheap plinking

Corrosive of course but - like with milsurp .303 thru my Jungle carbine - fire one round = dirty gun to clean - so shoot another 100 or so - make cleaning worthwhile LOL.

[229DAK]

You are probably fine. However, I would keep all ammo in a more temperature-stable environment, if possible.

[barnetmill]

I had a bad experience with ammo stored under heat. In about 1961 I loaded some .30-06 ammo using military cases. The powder was 3031 powder that had been stored in an attic. In 1977 this loaded ammo was stored in another attic and when I got back in 1985 I fired some of this ammunition. It fired well, but I started to notice what appeared to be partial head separations. The load were not high pressure and I could not figure it out at all. Then I got a head separation that blew gas back into my face. I stopped shooting and took a good look at the cartridges. I show blue corrosion marks. I stuck the bullet of a loaded round to loosen it from the case to inspect the powder. The case broke in half. It appears that the poweder had broken down or deteriorated releasing acid like materials resulting in weaking of the bass case. We are talking about many years of heat followed by cold winters.

[kseo7s]

That sounds like damage from the cases having had mercuric primers fired in them at one time or another.