I have a buddy that asked me if I wanted a bunch of ammunition that he has had for some time. Of course I said "sure I'll take it. What calibers are there?" Then I asked why he didn't want it any more. He said that his dad had giben him most of it and that it was probably 20 years old or more.

The question is how long is ammo good for? Assuming that it didn't get wet over the years or anything like that is it still shootable? Do the casings breakdown? Would it or will it harm the weapons? Any advice helps.

Update; Well I just got the box of ammo from my buddy today. Lots of shotgun shells; dunno how well those keep. There are some .308, 30-30, but mostly 30-06. This stuff was just stored in a cardboard box in first his brother's garage and then in my buddy's garage for a few months.

The only problem I have with some of the rounds is that there are some blue sharpie marks across the primers on a few and there is this what looks like corrosion on a few others. Opinions??

Shoot it!

If its visably dammaged don't, but other than that go for it.

casings with deteriorate in high humidity, but you would be able to see that easily.

There are lots of folks shooting up WWII surplus 8mm right now.

Why don't any of my friends want to give me ammo?

Troy is right.  I have shot ammo over 100 years old with no problem, in the same token, I have tired to shoot ammo 10 years old that would not work because it was left on a bench in some guys garage.

I'm going thru a case of 1933 8mm now and so far (200rds) it is 100%.  I opened the sealed tin case myself but don't know if it was repacked in the past.  On the other end, had a sealed case of 1945 8mm that had 30% duds (1400rd case); I blame this on the slave labor used.

Also the type of powder used then degraded over the years.  The propellant problem was critical in 1945, so corners were cut in this area.

If it is 1944-1945 steel cased, I would advise against shooting it.

i routinely shoot 60's vintage 7.62x54r (from sealed tins) and it works fine every time. no telling how it was stored. also have shot about 10 boxes of 1954 7.92x57 with no problems.