Shooting older ammo

[Catoperat]

I did a search and came up with 500+ threads with old + ammo in it. Being lazy, I will ask again(?)...

My father found some .38sp and .357 in the basement. Some are factory, some are reloads. He guesses they are from the mid 1980's. The lead on some of the bullets is slightly oxidized and the brass is mildly tarnished. The bullets are assorted jacketed and semi-jacketed flat & hollow points.

Anyone see any problem with or had any experience with shooting older rounds like these? It would only be into paper and pallets.

I am just looking to give this stuff a proper burial.

Thanks!

 

[jpattersonnh]

I did a search and came up with 500+ thread with old and ammo in it. Being lazy, I will ask again(?)...

My father found some .38sp and .357 in the basement. Some is factory some are reloads. He guesses they are from the mid 1980's. The lead on some of the bullets is slightly oxidized and the brass is mildly tarnished. The bullets are assorted jacketed and semi-jacketed flat & hollow points.

Anyone see any problem with or had any experience with shooting older rounds like these? It would only be into paper and pallets.

I am just looking to give this stuff a proper burial.

Thanks!

I have a bunch of Buffalo .427 that are that vintage. The are covered in white funk. Shoot great.

 

[Viper22]

I've got an ammo can 1/2 full of .357 wadcutters that my grandfather used for practice when he was a LEO (and later CLEO) years ago. This ammo is getting oxidized, but still shoots great.

I did have one squib though.

 

[xstickfightx]

I've shot ammo as old as 1952, shot great. Little corrosion is not a problem, usually will tumble off good enough to shoot in a vibratory bowl with corncob

 

[vellnueve]

I've shot ammo left over from the 1940s and even earlier. It depends on the condition of the ammo, not the age.

 

[MisterHappy]

Not all that long ago, I was using WW I ( yes, one) .45 ACP. Couple of misfires, no other problems.

If you have any worries, best thing to do is use your buddy's gun....

 

[drgrant]

As long as you don't see nasty corrosion you're just fine.

I fired some 30-06 a couple of years ago that was made in the 40s.. it worked
just fine.

-Mike

 

[Ray-500]

I did a search and came up with 500+ threads with old + ammo in it. Being lazy, I will ask again(?)... My father found some .38sp and .357 in the basement. Some are factory, some are reloads. He guesses they are from the mid 1980's. The lead on some of the bullets is slightly oxidized and the brass is mildly tarnished. The bullets are assorted jacketed and semi-jacketed flat & hollow points. Anyone see any problem with or had any experience with shooting older rounds like these? It would only be into paper and pallets. I am just looking to give this stuff a proper burial. Thanks!

Proper burial? Shoot it. Have IMI (headstamp TZZ) in .45 ACP from 1984. Just shot a batch yesterday...no problem. Have, also in .45 white box Win. "match grade". Used some during this past summer. No problem. These were military issue to team members. In .22, myself and my wife are using Rem. that goes back to the early 80's, and also PMC....same timeframe. The Rem is in those old plastic cases with the sliding cover, 50 per container. No problems. Have "Lake City" 30.06 going back to "whenever. When I sometimes use it, no problem. Unless something appears to be totally damaged or corroded, there should be no problem. Yup, digging into my stash rather than paying current prices.

 

[DISTINGUISHED PISTOL SHOT]

Ray-500, I miss that FREE....45acp Military Match Ammo. I've still got some too! As to old ammo, shoot it all. I only really check it for obvious damage and or corrosive status...

 

[Ray-500]

Ray-500, I miss that FREE....45acp Military Match Ammo. I've still got some too! As to old ammo, shoot it all. I only really check it for obvious damage and or corrosive status...

Grin, you know what I'm talking about. Team members were given plenty to practice with, and as long as you qualified for the team, you had a goodly supply. Used the white box Win (match grade) but really preferred the IMI, headstamp TZZ. Had better results. Never got "Distinguished", but had fun trying. Still using both the Win and IMI that I had stashed away. It all functions and shoots with no problem.

 

[rickster58]

I've shot ammo as old as 1952, shot great. Little corrosion is not a problem, usually will tumble off good enough to shoot in a vibratory bowl with corncob

Are you serious? You never, ever put live ammo in a tumbler!

 

[Another_David]

I was in a gun store in Vermont and a guy came in with a bag of old ammo and asks the guy behind the counter, "I found this cleaning out my basement, how can I get rid of it?" Guy behind the counter studies a round and says, "well, if you have a 410 shotgun you can shoot it." True Yankee ingenuity at work there.

I would avoid the reloads. Who knows if they were done right or wrong. Maybe they're a pile of mistakes!

 

[Ray-500]

Are you serious? You never, ever put live ammo in a tumbler!

Perhaps not, but have done it many, many times in very small batches. Can only speak for myself.

 

[Lucas McCain]

Are you serious? You never, ever put live ammo in a tumbler!

Huh? I do it all the time and never had a problem. There was a very extensive discussion on this a few months ago. Several people on this board ran some tests. The conclusion was there was no effect on the ammo.

 

[6hold]

Not all that long ago, I was using WW I ( yes, one) .45 ACP. Couple of misfires, no other problems.

If you have any worries, best thing to do is use your buddy's gun....

..........

 

[Ray-500]

Huh? I do it all the time and never had a problem. There was a very extensive discussion on this a few months ago. Several people on this board ran some tests. The conclusion was there was no effect on the ammo.

The only effect is that the ammo comes out "pristine".

 

[Lucas McCain]

Here is the other thread, not as extensive as I first remembered but still interesting.

http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=51554&highlight=tumbling+ammo

 

[Coyote33]

I did a search and came up with 500+ threads with old + ammo in it. Being lazy, I will ask again(?)...

My father found some .38sp and .357 in the basement. Some are factory, some are reloads. He guesses they are from the mid 1980's. The lead on some of the bullets is slightly oxidized and the brass is mildly tarnished. The bullets are assorted jacketed and semi-jacketed flat & hollow points.

Anyone see any problem with or had any experience with shooting older rounds like these? It would only be into paper and pallets.

I am just looking to give this stuff a proper burial.

Thanks!

I'd imagine ~20-30 year old ammo should be OK in a revolver. I have some old 8mm I bought in these canvas belts which looks OK enough, but I imagine is from the 50's at least. Hmmm.

 

[55_grain]

I routinely shoot foreign milsurp from the 1940's. 1980's ammo is...um...new. Shoot it!

55_grain

 

[MassMark]

It was kind of ironic, but I shot a bunch of WWII German 9mm ammo out of my Israeli Uzi... Worked like a charm - not a single FT-anything...Ammo collectors would have gasped...

 

[bob68]

I did a search and came up with 500+ threads with old + ammo in it. Being lazy, I will ask again(?)...

My father found some .38sp and .357 in the basement. Some are factory, some are reloads. He guesses they are from the mid 1980's. The lead on some of the bullets is slightly oxidized and the brass is mildly tarnished. The bullets are assorted jacketed and semi-jacketed flat & hollow points.

Anyone see any problem with or had any experience with shooting older rounds like these? It would only be into paper and pallets.

I am just looking to give this stuff a proper burial.

Thanks!

pm me if interested in getting rid of them in case you are not interested in shooting them. my buddy has a few single action guns we use for that....but i can honestly say that you shouldnt have a problem shooting them yourself. i am shooting ammo that i reloaded back in the early 1990s...and have no problems with it.

 

[Ray-500]

pm me if interested in getting rid of them in case you are not interested in shooting them. my buddy has a few single action guns we use for that....but i can honestly say that you shouldnt have a problem shooting them yourself. i am shooting ammo that i reloaded back in the early 1990s...and have no problems with it.

Neither have I. Have some military match-grade .45 ACP circa 1978. Still functions flawlessly. Have some Lake City 30.06 going back to the 60's. No problem. Sure, the brass gets tarnished, but its no biggie to give it a cleaning before firing a batch.

 

[Chris]

When we cleaned out my Grandfather's house after he died, we found several cases of .22LR from the 1930's. A few of the cases were corroded, but most were great. Still have about 10,000 of those rounds left. Nice Gallery stuff.