Was having a 4 pint conversation with a learned friend and the discussion turned to military ammunition of all nations.
The question was does Ammo have a best before or use by date?
If it has a best before date what does that mean? Does it mean that after that date it kills less people?
If it has a use by date does that mean that it kills no one or it just kills the person firing it?
What does the military do when it gets near these dates? Does it lobby the politicians to start a war to use it up or go bonkers on the practice ground or blow it up and if so where does this happen or is it buried?
If the ammo manufacturers could extend the shelf life considerably would there be less wars and reverse climate change?
I had heard that if the dump between Scotland and NI (Beaufords Dyke) exploded it might be a bit messy.
Anyone got an answer to these vexing questions.

Please tell me you're not gun-toting lefties on the rise??

After consulting a military Ammo Technician there is no definitive answer. It doesn’t have a best before date as such but it very much depends on how it’s stored. In a controlled temperature munitions dump with perfect conditions it can be useable almost indefinitely but in damp conditions it will deteriorate relatively quickly and run the risk of misfires/ jamming.

Hi Bluestreak. When i was in the army 1969-70 and 1971 to 1975 my experience was that rounds as we call them and not ammo or bullets would be fired off once unused after a while. I'll explain. When you did a guard and frequently loaded and unloaded a magazine the rounds head (the actual bit that fired) would get loose after a while with so much loading and unloading and would get withdrawn from use and fired off on a range. I remember being in N Ireland with rounds in a magazine that because of frequent loading and unloading would sometimes jam a rifle. Mr Irrelevant is correct and I can only tell you from my experience that I recall thousands of "rounds" being fired off and replaced by newer ammunition. I wasn't any infantry soldier and perhaps one may correct or help me out here but as i recall there were problems with magazines in certain conditions on the rifle I fired which was the SLR (Self Loading Rifle). For example in sandy desert conditions. Having said this there have been generations of soldiers since me who fire differing weapons and I cannot comment on how these fare.

Thanks Mr I and 2-0 for the information. I will pass it on to my learned friend.

As you say Mr 2-0, sandy conditions have affected magazines since time immemorial with the weapon of god (SLR L1A1) suffering less than most. It's successor, the SA80 would jam if you drove past a kids sand pit at 300 yds.

[quote="ToTheHartlepool2-0 but as i recall there were problems with magazines in certain conditions on the rifle I fired which was the SLR (Self Loading Rifle). For example in sandy desert conditions. Having said this there have been generations of soldiers since me who fire differing weapons and I cannot comment on how these fare.[/quote]
can imagine there will be someone in texas who could give you a complete lowdown on all forms of ammo, different conditions and their shelf life to the exact day.