Old 45ACP ammo

[beaverislander]

A friend of mine has a significant amount of old 45ACP that was his dad's. He's guessing it "could" be 50 years old. I have the opportunity to get some of it but I'm wondering if there is anything I should be aware of. Does anyone have experience with older ammo?
Thanks

 

[Rpg]

50 year old ammo is just fine!

It will work as well as the day it left the factory.

It's not even old enough to worry about the possibility of corrosive primers.

 

[growr]

Just be sure to shoot it in a 50 year old gun!!!

Randy

 

[robertrwalsh]

As long as it is US produced ammo you should be fine. There is some foreign milsurp or even foreign commercial ammo that might have corrosive primers but it will almost certainly work just fine unless it has been stored under really horrible conditions.

 

[murphydog]

Correct, if it has been stored under non-extreme conditions it should be fine. Just think about all the places military ammo has been sent and stored, and still goes "bang".

If possible, post a photo of a box of the ammo and someone here can probably tell you its age. Even at 50 it's not old, just "seasoned".

 

[rockquarry]

If it hasn't been stored exposed in the back yard, it's probably fine.

 

[30-30remchester]

I killed a bison using an 1863-68 Sharpes carbine in 50-70 Gov't. I used a round of ammo loaded in the late 1880's or early 1890's. One pull of the trigger, a large plume of black smoke and one dead buffalo. 50 year old stuff should be fine.

 

[beaverislander]

Thanks for the replies and I will post a pic when I get some. Still working out the details.
Thanks.

 

[s&wchad]

You should be fine if it's brass cased, US made and only 50 years old. My concern would be the priming. I'm not opposed to shooting ammo with corrosive primers, but I want to know so I can clean the gun properly after firing.

I don't know of any commercial manufactures who used corrosive priming, since well before WWII.

You can assume US military .45 ACP ammo is non-corrosive if the headstamp is 54 (1954) or later. There may have been some US National Match ammo that still had corrosive primers in 54, but I think that's about the only exception.

 

[shil]

Assume nothing. If you can't be otherwise positive, they have corrosive primers and the gun should be appropriately cleaned.

 

[stansdds]

You should be fine if it's brass cased, US made and only 50 years old. My concern would be the priming. I'm not opposed to shooting ammo with corrosive primers, but I want to know so I can clean the gun properly after firing.

I don't know of any commercial manufactures who used corrosive priming, since well before WWII.

You can assume US military .45 ACP ammo is non-corrosive if the headstamp is 54 (1954) or later. There may have been some US National Match ammo that still had corrosive primers in 54, but I think that's about the only exception.

^^^^^^^^^^^
I agree with this!

 

[Homie]

Show us some pictures of the boxes and/or the headstamps.
50 years ago was 1971 so the ammo should be fine unless it got wet at some point!

 

[truckerdave397]

I would shoot it as long as it is brass color and not green.

 

[beaverislander]

They are dated 1980..... and they are reloads.
Anybody heard of the company?

 

[Rpg]

Looks like Re manufactured ammo with the exception of 5 boxes of Winchester factory ammo. To me, there's a difference between hand loaded ammo and commercially Re manufactured ammo. I won't buy hand loaded ammo but I'm comfortable with commercially Re manufactured ammo.

The Winchester ammo is more desirable than the Re manufactured stuff.

I'd be comfortable shooting the Re manufactured stuff, but I'd pay less for it than the Winchester ammo.

 

[s&wchad]

I agree with Rpg 100%. There's a big difference between "reloads" and "remanufactured" ammo. Are the Winchester boxes marked as remanufactured?

Ammo manufacturers/remanufacturers are licensed by the Feds, have liability insurance and stake their business on the quality of their products. I never heard of Matre Arms & Ammo, but that doesn't mean anything. Have you ever heard of SHOOT-O-RAMA?

I bought about 3000 round of this years ago and have been working my way through it. It's a little dirty (old Bullseye powder), but it's consistent, accurate and I haven't had one dud.

I might ask to shoot a few rounds before buying the lot, but I'll bet it's just fine. If it shot well and I could get that Matre for less than $10/box today, I'd be on it like a hobo on a ham sandwich!

 

[beaverislander]

This belongs to a friend that needs 38 special ammo which I have and don't need, so it will end up being a swap in one form or another. He is bringing me some to try tomorrow.

 

[desi2358]

They are dated 1980..... and they are reloads.
Anybody heard of the company?

Indiana based company, very active in the 70's and early 80's. I shot a lot of their ammo when I lived in Indy from 79 to 82. Never had any issues with it, decently accurate and reasonably priced as I recall. Picked up a few boxes of their 357 target load (158gr SW) at the Indy 1500 show a few years ago. Still shot just fine, wouldn't pass up more if the price was fair.

 

[beaverislander]

Indiana based company, very active in the 70's and early 80's. I shot a lot of their ammo when I lived in Indy from 79 to 82. Never had any issues with it, decently accurate and reasonably priced as I recall. Picked up a few boxes of their 357 target load (158gr SW) at the Indy 1500 show a few years ago. Still shot just fine, wouldn't pass up more if the price was fair.

This is good to know, thanks.