when to replace EDC ammo

[Moonshot]

I shoot up and replace the ammo in my BUG revolver cylinder and the ammo in my two carry mags (one in gun and one on belt) yearly and replace with new ammo.

I also have some loose ammo I keep in a carry kit as well as a 3rd loaded magazine. This kit is somewhere between an EDC bag and a GHB - it's really too big and cumbersome for a true EDC, and therefore I don't religiously carry it every day, and it's too small and under equipped for a GHB - not enough water, calories, extra clothes or shelter. I carry this kit when I am traveling out of town for the day on business, perhaps spending one or two nights out of town. It's designed to help me cope with a myriad of contingencies, from minor irritants to major emergencies.

When carrying the kit, it does not stay in the car overnight (if goes where I go), but it can be exposed to heat or cold while I am parked at a customer site and inside with customers.

Does this ammo need to be replaced annually, just as I do with the ammo I am wearing? I know it wouldn't hurt to replace it. I'm wondering if it needs to be replaced.

[psalms144.1]

I don't think it NEEDS to be replaced, but, realistically, the cost of one magazine worth of quality ammunition is CERTAINLY worth your peace of mind, isn't it? I try to rotate my carry ammo every 6 months.

However, at our last range session, I was handed a bag of OLD, poorly stored 130 gr FMJ ammunition in .38 Special. Like, loaded in the early 80s old; and showing lots of corrosion on the brass and copper jacketing of bullets from exposure to water (our old office building flooded, and the ammo got wet, very very wet). Before the flood, it was stored for DECADES in a non-climate-controlled outdoor bunker in an area with high humidity darn near all the time, and large temperature swings through all four seasons. I culled out the rounds that were so bad I didn't want to shoot them for safety reasons, and was left with about 50 "useable" rounds. Of those 50, 47 fired without issue. I would say that's a worst-case extreme of ammo that was flat abused before firing.

[Moonshot]

Yeah, I’m not trying to be cheap. My carry ammo gets rotated at least yearly, sometimes more often. I clean and lube my carry gun every four months, shooting up the ammo at the range every twelve months, and while I don’t swap out my mag ammo during my periodic clean and lube, I do load a fresh round into the chamber. No round gets chambered more than twice, and the second time is at the range. I was just trying to understand things a little better.

My on-body ammo (in gun and on belt) is exposed to temperature and humiditiy swings daily and gets swapped out at least yearly with fresh ammo (newly purchased from store or taken from my reserves). On the other hand, my rifle goto mags never leave the house and therefore do not get rotated.

The ammo in my travel kit (loose ammo to top of my carry mags and another loaded mag) falls somewhere in between - exposed to some temperature and humidity swings, not not much and not every day. I wanted to know if I needed to be as anal about it as I am with my carry ammo.

[Hambo]

Ammo is easily available now so I would just switch it out. If we were still in the ammo drought I'd be more stingy about shooting it.

[Chuck Haggard]

Several years ago about half my SWAT team failed to listen up when I told them to keep their ammo fresh. Several had not swapped out their carbine duty ammo in three years. We had a training event so I ordered them to clean out their take-home cars and we would shoot up the old ammo and get fresh stuff issued.

15 shooters, first course of fire was at the 50 yard line, five round string of fire, we had more than a dozen dead rounds. My "I told you so" bit after that was loud and angry.

[Gadfly]

We qual quarterly, and everyone gets 100 rounds primary and 50 for back up to qual with. Then they get 100 extra practice rounds issued when they leave the range. Come in next quarter, shoot up what’s in your gun and mags, and we give you new ammo to lad fresh when you leave.

We are VERY fortunate to have a huge ammo budget. The locals in Houston PD have to buy their own duty ammo.


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[JAH 3rd]

I change my ammo once a year just for peace of mind. The irony here is that the "fresh" rounds come from that box of ammo that's a year old, if one uses the same box of ammo from a year ago. But that box of ammo has been in the house in a climate controlled environment. I have a box of Winchester Silvertips from the 1970s. I shot 5 rounds through my S&W 340PD just for fun. All rounds shot perfectly.

One caveat here is one's ccw is exposed to rain or other situations where primer function may be affected.

[vcdgrips]

I try to change my carry ammo and batteries in various lights & sights 1x a yr during the week of my birthday.

[Beat Trash]

Ammunition is cheap. Life is not.

My carry ammo that is actually carried gets changed out at least once a year. Rounds that are chambered more than twice get rotated to the bottom of a magazine. In theory, you may not need to change out carry ammunition annually unless it has been exposed to some extreme conditions. But why risk your life just to save a few pennies?

Do not rechamber the same pistol or rifle round over and over. Bullet setback, case rims getting chewed up and potential dead primers are all possibilities.

Carry ammunition that has been changed out must be destroyed. One round at a time...

[HeavyDuty]

Come here to Chicago, and your EDC ammunition will never get a chance to get old. /snark

I’m of the shoot it up and replace every six months crowd.