I came across some older ammunition and I am wondering if it would be safe to fire. It is Federal .38 Special, 158gr lead bullet ammunition. How do I know it is older? Well, the price sticker on the box [for 50 rounds] is $6.50. I am thinking maybe late 70's is when I bought ammo at this price. The number on the back of the box is 7 A-4151. Not really something that I would carry and I am really only interested in firing it on the range to get rid of it and have some fun launching the lead. Any ideas from the ammo gurus on the list?

I checked the rounds and there is no discoloration and all the primers were intact. The "brass" is actually the same color as one of the light metals like nickel or stainless steel. On the bar code question, I graduated from college in 1973 and the computer that I used at the time was housed in a temperature and humidity controlled room. Memory was ferrite cores and disk banks looked like a stack of large pizza pans. So no, there is no bar code-

It should be fine to shoot. I've shot a lot older ammo. If you have a squib, stop shooting immediately, unload and check the bore.

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"I also cook."

If you want. I doubt it is more than 30 years old. most likely from the 90s.
I have shot ammo from the 40s and only felt that I wasted a collectable piece of history.

Ammo does not get stronger with age. Powder can break down, primers can become insensitive. I have shot ammo older than I am, and I am 60. Beward of squibs, other than that it will be fine.

Shoot it up.

I just shot up a bunch of handloads I made back in 82. Sounds like you've already made sure there's no apparant corrosion. Next thing is like they said above, listen to the sound for squibs and split cases.

What everybody else said. $6.50 represents major inflation; the ammo has to be a lot older than that, or have obvious storage problems, to make a reasonable person worry.

I shoot 1943 production Remington military ball through my '03 Springfield on a regular basis. (I don't shoot it through my Garand because it is mildly corrosive and the Garand is harder to clean).

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Chris
SWCA #2243 SWHF #292

no reason at all that the ammo described should not be fine to shoot