Shelf life of reloads?

[Comerade]

It is a little confusing, Cold welding can happen, I have seen it and I have also used old handloads and factory loads that were unaffected.
It is a bit of a mystery and I have experienced it myself on newer handloads and the results were surprising. Especially with full power hunting loads. I just seat all my handloads long and seat to length at time of use . Benchrest shooters often use use this method.

 

[deerkiller]

I've known a wide array of loaders and shooters from all over the continent and the feedback on this seems inconsistent - Have no idea how to take it all in …. one person I used to know (now deceased) was a Marine Shooting Team armorer in, I believe, North Carolina that told of neck welding with patina and all, as he told it, it "freaked him out" causing me to pay attention - No data or science here but suspicious of salt air corrosion being at least part of the problem - I think the "seating long" method as making the most usable sense though - I have pulled bullets from 2-3 year old hunting loads where some of the bullets felt flat stuck when pulling while others of same batch came out slick, that HAS to be neck tension IMO so yet another possible culprit - personally I'll use hard storage containers like mason jars with desiccants while in storage -
I don't trust plastics much, I store powder containers in $25 Coleman chests and when I open one I always get a whiff of "ether", that is coming from "somewhere", I believe "through" the plastic