Destroying old stock ammo

[sharps1863]

My daughters boyfriend came in last night, he is in the army airborne and we were talking about guns and we got off on the subject of ammo. I don't know how but we got around to the subject of shelf life. well anyway he made this statement " Ammo will go bad in a year if you don't use it" I ask him where he got his information from and he said they destroy old ammo all the time, if its been kept longer than a year in storage. I was shocked about this. Does our military do this with un-used ammo. If it has been in storage for longer than a year. I have military surplus ammo from the 50's in 8mm Mauser that shoots as good as new. I could understand rotating stock and using the old for training ammo but to destroy it. as hard as commercial ammo has been to get and they are destroying old stock ammo.
Has anyone else heard about this.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Bruce McAskill]

I really do doubt that. Once the ammo is taken into inventory it is stored till it is needed and shipped out to what ever unit is in need of it. Then after a year if not used it is then shipped back for use for training or shipped to another unit in need. Years ago when time was running out many units would use as much as possible and what ever was left was buried out on the ranges or in the case of the navy it was dumped over the side or off the end of a deep water pier. I once watched over 100,000 rounds of assorted small arms ammo get dumped off a pier that way. This way the units could keep their allotment for the next year and would not be shorted. But times have changed and ammo is in high demand so I do not think it is destroyed.

[Dr342]

No! military ammo is stored and inspected. Based on the type of storage and inspection cycle, ammo can last for years. Now we did get rid of alot of 38 spl & 45 ACP ammo when the USAF turned over to the M9 9mm.

Now we use it so fast that the Military doesnt have very old ammo in storage. Most of the 223 & 7.62 x 51 is FC & LC 07-09. I remember in the 1990's wasnt unusual to be issued LC-70 and up.

[rayg]

It's possible he is going by the rumors where the ammo would be intentionally made to have a shelf life of only a year. This talk was going around about a year ago because I believe some gun control group was proposing it, Ray.

[browningautorifle]

Most troops have no idea about ammo or weapons other than their own. This can extend up to the high rank Senior NCOs and junior officers. It's not part of the education process. I heard some rediculous statements that were taken to be true by the unknowing. Ammo in the Canadian military has a ten year shelf life before anything needs to be done with it. If it needs to be rotated out it may be consumed in some fashion or just "burned" in the gas fired ammo cookers we use for that purpose. With the current wars we are all fighting, I doubt there is much "surplus" at all at this time.

[NavyShooter]

Ammo that has been taken out of it's overpack and placed into a weapon/magazine/vehicle is routinely cycled through.

Ammo that's been exposed to the elements does have a finite life, especially when someone's life is depending on it to go BOOM not CLICK.

If the ammo is still stored in the overpack containers (Ammo cans/crates) then there should be no reason to dispose of it.

NS

[sharps1863]

My thoughts exactly. But with this administration you never know.

[Benchloader]

The Army has DAC's called QASAS that inspect all types of ammunition. There used to be a MOS of 55X that were military ammo inspectors. For what ever reason they were all rolled into 55B's, Now 89B. Any way, ammunion is assigned a Condition Code (CC), A = Wartime Use, C = Training only, and H = Unservicable. Condition H, or CC H as we used to say was destroyed in a specific manner. Ammuniion is also improved/upgraded by renovation &/or Preservation & Packing (P&P) as result of inspections.

Ammunition is routinely inspected, or specially inspected because of reports from users. Ammo is not destroyed due to age alone.

Units are allocated Training Ammuniion based on their Forecast of Ranges, number of people, quantity and type of weapons used in training for the FISCAL Year. Ammo issued in Depot Pack is normally considered CC A. Ammunition left over from opened containers is usually considered CC C. Unused ammo is supposed to be propeerly turned in. If any ammo is found to be defective it is Suspended from Use. All Suspended ammo must be inspected by the QASAS to determine it's condition.

That being said, some units destroy their Training Ammo by having a "Mad Minute" where they fire everything they can as quick as they can. That practice is usually frowned upon by the Ammo Community.

There go a Readers Digest version. Hope it helps.

[frankderrico]

The "Mad Minute" used to be "John Wayne It".....Frank

[Dr342]

Now Aviation weapons, like bombs and TP or Target Practice ammo gets rotated to the front of the pile for practice. Some of our Bomb Bodies are from the late 60's & 1970's. The Guidance units are much newer. All this is for practice.

The stuff in the AOR is all under 5 years old. They track and study every single weapons release in theater. This is briefed to the CSAF. All anomalies are reported and sometimes an investigative firing team is created. Folks out at Hill AFB & White Sands know all too well about testing our stores