nexus Posted December 31, 2007 Report Share Posted December 31, 2007 Assuming they've been exposed to the air but other kept dry and low humidity how long would they remain usable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Decades? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roter Baron Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Whatever is best for the story? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Assuming they've been exposed to the air but other kept dry and low humidity how long would they remain usable? As long as any kind of "gunpowder" round. I have no idea how long that would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells depends on the shells. The limiting factor in most commercially made shells will be the rate at which the plastics that make up the shell decay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells I'm not going to be the guy to test 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCUBA Hero Posted January 1, 2008 Report Share Posted January 1, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells [Mad Max] Wanna find out? [/Max] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted January 2, 2008 Report Share Posted January 2, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells If they are kept dry and out of the sun(plastics in particular), and not exposed to oils, they should work for at least 40 or 50 years. Somewhat less if the temperature fluctuates (mostly high, iirc). As long as they are not black powder loads, I suppose. Black powder eventually deteriorates, as I recall, and static electricity will set it off easily. Smokeless powder will deteriorate eventually, but under good conditions it should last 50 years or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Mask Posted January 3, 2008 Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells My Grandfather left me a shotgun he bought in 1933 or 1934. He also gave me 50 shells he still had . This was in 1984 . I have shot some of the shells as recently as a year ago. So quite a long time under dry clean conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted January 3, 2008 Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells I imagine that even if the plastic starts to go, as long as the powder isn't wet and the shell isn't so far gone that the shot all rolls out, you could still use it in a breechloading shotgun. The worst that would happen is you'd shoot plastic confetti from the disintegrating shell along with your shot. It would fall apart in a magazine though, so no pump-action PRE attacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadodel Posted January 3, 2008 Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Where I grew up, it was common to see all sorts of shells on the dashboards of pickups. The shell would be fine for quite some time if they were clean and dry. Putting a dirty round into a firearm is a no-no, as you likely already know. Though, it was a point worth bringing up-in terms of game play. Another point, the character should try to keep their weapon as clean as possible so that debris from dirty or old shells don't interfere with weapon use. Storywise, if they don't keep their weapons clean; a character might encounter a jam...which might just make their situation worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoneDaddy Posted January 3, 2008 Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells How long have shotgun shells been plastic jacketed? What jacketed them before that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGhee Posted January 3, 2008 Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells shotgun shell where made out of paper, felt like fire cracker type. Lord Ghee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted January 3, 2008 Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells shotgun shell where made out of paper, felt like fire cracker type. Lord Ghee Basically, a compressed paper with iirc a wax coating for waterproofing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadmaster Posted January 3, 2008 Report Share Posted January 3, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Pretty much covered already, but assuming they were not stored in a grossly inapproprite way (dry, cool, dark place) then I don't see why they would not last for decades. You can still buy cheap ammo produced during WW2 so that is 60+ years old. Shotgun shells have been made from soft plastic similar to glue bottles and hard platic, waxed paper and brass. Some have a brass head, some are all plastic. Brass will corode over time if its damp, this could probably be fixed with some steel wool unless its really bad. Paper shells are easily damaged by damp, they will swell and no longer fit into the chamber. All brass shells are pretty durable but they were heavy. I think plastic shells really came into use in the 60's, they were light weight like paper but water resistant like brass. However they will melt if you fire the gun a lot. That is why the military selected a brass case for the various CAWS full auto shotguns they played with in the 80's. I know you could still get paper shells in the mid 80's, not sure anymore I haven't fired a shotgun in a long time. Best answer was what ever works for your campaign but, I'd say found in a mostly intact structure, 20 years no problem, laying in a ditch 2-5 years (except paper, those would only be good until the first good rain), found in a well made gun safe with dessicant pads, 100 years easy. Pretty much the same for any ammo except paper shells will be more prone to water damage and plastic shells more prone to sun damage, compared to brass cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remjin Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Funny, I JUST read an article about paper shotshells still being made by Remington, I think it is. Its part of their gold medal line, or something. Interesting stuff. Paper, plastic, and brass. Personally, I like brass, cuz they're shiney... but I use plastic, cuz I don't reload. Everyone else covered this, just wanted to weight in on paper shells.. they do still make 'em. There's a demand amongst trap shooters and traditionalists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon65 Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Funny, I JUST read an article about paper shotshells still being made by Remington, I think it is. Its part of their gold medal line, or something. Interesting stuff. Paper, plastic, and brass. Personally, I like brass, cuz they're shiney... but I use plastic, cuz I don't reload. Everyone else covered this, just wanted to weight in on paper shells.. they do still make 'em. There's a demand amongst trap shooters and traditionalists. Also still in demand for the Western Action Shooting that's popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remjin Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Also still in demand for the Western Action Shooting that's popular. Ah, that makes sense. Yeah, I'll stick with plastic and occasionally brass shells... though, honestly, it is intriguing me a tad now to try paper... =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells Actually, everyone I know in cowboy action shooting, including me, uses plastic shotgun shells--Winchester Low Noise Low Recoil Target Loads, AKA "Featherlights". We use them because we don't need to impart much force to the shotgun targets, and this particular shell has a very light recoil--which is important, because shotguns kick like a #%&^ mule with full-power loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Re: Durability of shotgun shells I did some research on this: modern gunpowder has an assumed shelf life of 50+ years. Ideal conditions could keep it functional for a century (maybe longer - that would be an interesting experiment). The real question is the condition of the casing. Black powder, however, only has a shelf life of 2-3 years. After that it changes color, gets crusty, and emits an unpleasant odor (thus you can definately tell its gone bad). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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