There are misunderstandings about the shelf life of ammunition. Some people think that ammo lasts forever, while others think ammo is like bread and goes bad. Ammo doesn’t last forever, and it doesn’t have an expiration date after which it doesn’t work. When ammo ages, it loses its power. If you have old shotgun shells from the basement and shoot them, they should work, they just lost some of their punch. So, what can we do to protect against this? It is certain that the ammo will age. However, what you can do is store the ammunition in a more controlled environment that slows down the aging process. Fire-rated safes are valuable because they don’t allow ammo to get hot enough to erupt. A good fire safe will not exceed 300 degrees, which is not hot enough to ignite your ammo.