I went to the range today with about 20 rounds I loaded last summer and 20 rounds I loaded last night. Primers, brass, powder, etc were all from the same lot, loading techniques were all the same (I don't do that much shooting). The only difference was how long the ammo had been loaded. The first 20 rounds, loaded last year, I could not get a group smalled than 3 inches at 100 yards. The second 20 rounds that I loaded last night shot 1.25 inch groups. Does ammo loaded up for a while effect accuracy that bad? I normally can get about 1.5 inches from my loads so the suprise loads were the ones I loaded last year which grouped about 3 inches.
I think from now on I will make certain to only load up just what I need and always try to use fresh loads.
Age of ammo vs accuracy
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1stregtengr
Old Ammo
I feel that as long as the powder has been kept in a place where the temp is a low constant( I'll define this as being in the 45-65 degree range), and is not contaminated by the lube, it will work well. Today I was shooting in preparation for the NSSA nationals next week, I was using my target musket and ammo that was loaded last year in May and some last week. The powder was from the same lot ( I buy 25-50 lbs at a time) Goex FFFg. There was no difference between the year old and the new, both shot very well from the bench with 50 yd accuracy about .5" C to C.
I usually have the same results with my Shiloh 45/70 with last years ammo
I usually have the same results with my Shiloh 45/70 with last years ammo