Pellet oxidation and long term storage

Jump to latest Follow Reply
remnar

remnar

Member
Nov 21, 2018
56
0
US
Like many of you, I buy pellets in bulk when they are on sale. My idea of bulk may not be exactly what another person's is, though. I recently bought 50,000 RWS R10 177 heavy pellets, for example. (I am shooting 50,000- 70,000 pellets a year, and trying to reach a sustainable 80,000 shots per year - for competition practice purposes.)

Because I live in a humid climate I recently repurposed my wife's vacuum food sealer and am now vacuum sealing the sleeves of pellets upon arrival. The hope is that they will not suffer oxidation, during storage. Has anyone else considered this, or are you doing this? If so, what is the longest period you have held a vacuum selaed can of pellets in storage and found them to still be fresh- no oxidation at all?
 
Yes, I've done something similar. But, instead of vacuum sealing in a bag, I used canning jars. The Foodsaver has a canning jar attachment that works quite well. I also added an O2 absorber and a moisture absorber. I store them out of sunlight or extreme temperature changes (on a shelf in the back of a closet). I've had 2 small jars of pellets stashed away like this for 5+ years. They look just like they did when I put them in there so, I think the system is working. 

I'd rather not use glass jars but, they work well to protect the pellets from any external damage (from being moved around) and they're easy to check the seal on. I've had the bags fail on me from time to time while storing food so, I don't trust them as much for something I might not see for a very long time. I like you're idea of sealing whole sleeves at a time. I would just suggest adding some absorbers to help with preservation.

Happy Shooting!

Tom
 
Upvote 0
@Tominco- thank you. The device I am using does have a canning option. So far the plastic bags seem to do well, for me. I may give the jars a try, later.

@joekrooz- I used to think so, as well. However, just yesterday I tossed two cans of unopened pellets that showed signs of oxidation. I have no idea how long, exactly, they were in the basement. However, I know it could not have been earlier than 11/2016.

@bubblerboy64- Thank you. I agree, ordering as needed is perhaps the best option. However, due to the volume of shooting I am doing, and the annual price increases, it is getting costly. If there is a way to get ahead of those price increases, I would like to.
1545578521_19856051555c1fa8198c9026.79148526_58D0CF3C-D76A-4867-846C-512E3A6AFEFF.jpeg

 
Upvote 0
Back around 2004 I bought a bunch of Crosman Premier Heavies and Lights in the brown boxes. I vacuum sealed a bunch of the boxes for the same reason. The cardboard boxes smashed down pretty good. Years later I started using them. There was no oxidation (yay! It worked!) but I had a number of pellets with dinged skirts from the vacuum sealer smashing the cardboard boxes. So it will work and with a metal tin it should work without smashing your pellets. So go for it.
 
Upvote 0
Back around 2004 I bought a bunch of Crosman Premier Heavies and Lights in the brown boxes. I vacuum sealed a bunch of the boxes for the same reason. The cardboard boxes smashed down pretty good. Years later I started using them. There was no oxidation (yay! It worked!) but I had a number of pellets with dinged skirts from the vacuum sealer smashing the cardboard boxes. So it will work and with a metal tin it should work without smashing your pellets. So go for it.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I am glad to hear from someone who has tried this, and it worked long term.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu