OLD AMMO - STILL GOOD?

[idarbc]

I was cleaning out a closet and found a box of Remington. 357 and a box of Remington .44 magnum. As near as I can figure they are at least 30 years old and maybe older than that. They appear to look ok with no corrosion and since being inside the entire time they have not been exposed to any moisture. I would not use them for sd rounds, but would you guys have any problem with using them at the range?

 

[lebomm]

Nope, no problem. Shoot 'em up. I have fired ammo as old as 90 yrs. With proper storage, quality ammo will last a very long time.

Larry

 

[DWalt]

Most ammunition made in the last 80 years is still good. I have fired ammunition made for World War I and even most of it will fire OK. I recently shot up a box of Winchester .38 Special ammunition which by the box type indicated manufacture in the mid-1930s, and all of it fired.

 

[Fat Old Guy]

Those guys are lying. Old ammo is dangerous. Very dangerous. I will dispose . . .. nah, I'm lying.

I shoot WW II vintage stuff all the time who knows how that was stored.

 

[mark olindale]

What all these guys said.

I shoot old ammo all the time.

I keep my ammo stored in a sealed box...and I put some VCI paper in there to help keep it fresh.

 

[vytoland]

fire away......

 

[baccusboy]

Older ammo can have corrosive primers, but just 30 years ago, and Remington, you shouldn't worry about that.

Corrosive ammo will eat up your barrel if you don't clean properly (with water, or a mix of it with something like Ballistol). Lots of WWII ammo and surplus Russian stuff is corrosive, for example.

 

[bp231986]

Looks like a green light to me

 

[giddyupsut]

The real question is:
"Should one clean out their closet more often than once every 30 years"
Hah! (8^<)

 

[idarbc]

The real question is:
"Should one clean out their closet more often than once every 30 years"
Hah! (8^<)

You think like my wife does..lol. It was one of the closets (junk closet) in my office and I just forgot they were there. They were underneath some other stuff that I didnt want to throw away but just didnt use, and I almost laughed when I saw them. My wife generally respects hands off in my office but I had to agree with her, it really did need cleaning. Now I have plenty room to store more stuff!

 

[cgt4570]

My CMP match rounds are 1943 Remington-Peters wartime production .30-06. I've shot plenty of pre-WW1 stuff and it all went bang. The oldest were 1880s black powder .41 Swiss rimfire cartridges. No fail-to-fires!

 

[eshap2]

OLD AMMO

I also have a lot of old ammo and I shoot them all the time without any problems. It is noted that a lot of ammo made before 1970, much of it was not non-corrosive. If that is the case, then just clean, clean, your weapon real good after a day of shooting.
Good Shooting

 

[P&R Fan]

About 10 years ago, when the DC sniper was at large, the media reported they were shooting people at 100 yds or more, obviously with a scope sighted rifle. My Mom asked me if anybody could possibly hit a man at that range. I laughed and said I could do it offhand, with iron sights. She looked at my doubtfully. I decided to see how I could do. Went to the safe and got out my late Fathers sporterized '03 Springfield, a rifle I had never fired. It had an '03A3 rear peep sight on it and a Lyman front. I took some ammo he brought back from the Army. It was 30/06 headstamped 1956. Went out and set a target at 100 yards and fired 5 rounds to familiarize myself with it. Then I settled down and carefully fired 5 more offhand. I had a called flyer at about 5 O'clock but the other four were nicely centered and could easily be covered by the palm of my hand. This with an 80+ year old rifle I had never shot, firing 45 year old ammo offhand at 100 yards. The ammo had not been carefully stored. It had been in hot and humid weather off and on for years in a GI ammo can. Showed Mom and she was impressed.
I'd like to think Dad was watchin' too......And smiling.
Jim

 

[yelloow7t]

I shot 4 boxes of my own reloads that were made up in about 1985 this week. They had been in my attic in North Texas for the past 20+ years in moving boxes. It is easily 130 degrees up there each summer. Go for it..

Tom

 

[Stu Honea]

It's GTG. Shoot it. A few weeks ago I ame across some lead SWC 357's that I had forgotton about that were at least 40 years old. Shot 'em up and they all fired fine.
Had to clean some lead out though.

 

[gonzogeezer]

Recently, I bought a mid-80s PPK .380 where the seller included a box of Magtech ammo she claimed to have purchased at the same time. I ran the box through the gun on the first trip to the range. 50 rounds, no mis-fires, no FTF, no FTE. The next week I took a NEW box of TULAmmo and had three mis-fires. Age ain't necessarily the issue.




--Lee, SoCenPA
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Jack Flash]

I would not hesitate to use it, assuming I was reasonably sure it was less than 50 years old. Since the .44 Magnum was introduced in 1955, it's a pretty safe bet that Remington has always loaded the round with non-corrosive primers. So that only leaves the .357 ammo as having any possibility (however remote) of a problem in this area.

I'm not sure when Remington went over to non-corrosive, non-mecuric primers for civilian ammunition, but my guess is that it was some time in the 1950's, but it could have been much earlier. You may be able to contact them and get the exact year if required.

The point is, if you know this Remington ammo was made in the '60s, '70s, '80s or later, you have nothing to worry about. If I shot a sample of it and had no issues, I would not hesitate to use the remainder for sd if necessary.

 

[Ironhand]

I used to shoot WW1 British 1914-1917 dated surplus .303 that my brother and I bought from Paragon back in the early 90s. It all(well, maybe 1 or 2 out of the 1000rd case didn't fire)fired and hit the target through our Australian #1MKIIIs we bought for $40 that summer.


Shoot in confidence!

 

[rburg]

Almost all American made commercial ammo has been non-corrosive since the 1920s at least, and most from the 19-teens. Our military didn't trust the non-corrosive stuff, so the were stogy old hold outs. Any postwar commercial ammo made here is non-corrosive. I don't know about (or trust) comblock stuff. I routinely buy any old ammo I see at yard sales. Out in the country its not unusual to find old ammo on a table (usually made from 2 saw horses and a door). Not only do I buy it, I ask/beg them if they've got any more they haven't set you yet.

Its funny how folks get the idea that ammo is like milk or lunch meat. With a 2 week shelf life that's getting kind of squirrley even then. Whats going to go wrong with it? You think the powder is going to spoil? I was made in the 40s, and I'm in a lot worse shape than similar year ammo.

The only stuff I won't shoot is the stuff made back about the turn of the last century. Its got some white lead oxide growing on the lead bullets (mostly .32 S&W, .32 Colt). And if things get tough and all my other ammo is shot up killin' commies or liberals, I'll use it.

 

[nicky4968]

I have some Winchester .30-40 Krag rounds with round (convex) primers. I did shoot some, saving about 4, but the 6 I fired worked fine.

I also have one .30-40 UMC soft point (about half a yard of lead exposed in front of the copper (?) jacket) marked ".30 Gov't". No idea how old that is, but I'm saving it for the zombies.