[Teddyb]

Hello Guys

My name is Ted and a good friend of mine passed away a few years ago and I just bought all of his guns from his wife. She threw in a
bunch of ammunition and there are some Black Talons from about 20 years ago.

I would like to know just how long ammunition is good for and is it safe to shoot and carry this stuff in a defense gun?

Thanks Ted

[Schofield3]

Welcome to THR! Was the ammo kept clean and sealed away?

[Schofield3]

Black Talons have an 'evil' reputation. nothing wrong with the ammuntion itself but I would advise to carry another flavor of ammo; Winchester Rangers will do the same thing as the BT's and especially since this is older ammo I wouldn't carry with it.
Also sorry to hear about your friends passing...

[Ed Harris]

Exposure to high heat above 90 degrees F, such as in the trunk of your car in the summer, is what deteriorates powder and is what kills ammo. If ammo is stored kept in a cool, dry place, such as military steel cans in your basement, it should be good for 50 years or more. I'm still using WWII-era US manufacture .45 and .30-'06 ammo which is sure-fire and more accurate than alot of the new stuff being sold today.

[CoRoMo]

A steel can in the basement isn't the only way to keep ammo good. A shelf in the closet or a drawer in the dresser will do fine too. I'm sure your friend's ammo is still good if he was a knowledgeable gunguy. Some folks have even taken to collecting old, rare, and obsolete ammo. Those Black Talons could fetch an oddly elevated price if you sold them right.

[Giver of Doom]

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t265/GTBUSA/gun10.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t265/GTBUSA/gun7.jpg

Ammo will out last you if stored in these little green boxes.:D

[Schofield3]

Show off :p

[highorder]

Where did you get the Civil Defense Drinking Water cans?

Those are serious collectors items.

[mgkdrgn]

Assuming it's kept cool and dry ... pretty much "as long as the wind blows and the grass grows". The stuff I'm firing in my M1 Garand now was made in 1973...

Sell the evil "Black Talons" on gunbroker and buy 2X as much Winchester SXT (Same Exact Thing) :-)

[Just One Shot]

Seeing how you do not know how they were stored, I wouldn't advise using them for self defense. Take them to the range and burn them up but don't put your life on the line with old ammo that you don't know the history on.

[sheepdog]

...I've fired .223 and 9mm that spent 12-15 years in an attic in Tx where attics get 140+ degrees...not one problem...I've fired WWII stuff in the 70s...

[greyling22]

we recently shot some reloads my grandfather had loaded before ww2. about half of them worked. they had been kept in the garage in texas. they were kind of cool though, 38 specials that took a large pistol primer.

[Teddyb]

Thanks guys. Since I could not verify the age or method of storage of the Black Talons, I decided against using them for a SD gun. My dealer had a good deal on MagTech 115 gn 9mm JHP for $10 for a box of 20 so I went with them.