Old Ammo?

No problem. Now if it was made about 1940 it may have lost a little power.

Although I have some 1942 45 ACP that's still good.

Still wish I could buy 45 ACP for $12.

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Ditto.

Now if it was made about 1940 it may have lost a little power.

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I plan to shoot some 1940 headstamped 8x56r on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'd gladly pay 9.99 for some 30-06.


I wonder what price gasoline was when you bought that ammo? $0.78?

AethelstanAegen said:

Ditto. I plan to shoot some 1940 headstamped 8x56r on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes.

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I found some 1938 vintage 8x56R at a gun show last month (at $4/box... I bought everything the seller had). So far, I've shot about 20 rounds and each one worked as advertised.

jk2008 said:

I found some 1938 vintage 8x56R at a gun show last month (at $4/box... I bought everything the seller had). So far, I've shot about 20 rounds and each one worked as advertised.

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I've shot quite a bit of '38 vintage 8x56r myself, it's all worked fine. Paid alot more than $4 a box though!

Ammunition tends to age better than we do. In the 1970's and 80's my father was still shooting 30-06 dated 1917. I still have some of it along with a couple of boxes of army issue 30-40 Krag Ammo. I won't shoot it for the simple reason I consider it more valuable from a collector view point, but I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it otherwise. I don't remember any missfires from when my father was shooting it twenty years ago.

I'm on my last box of Federal Premium (in the gold box) 30/06 that I bought over 20 years ago when a local sporting goods store went out of business. Regular price was $11.95 but the clearance sticker says $7.15. I think I bought about 10 boxes. Been hunting with it ever since then and never had a problem.
About 20 years ago my grandfather gave me a box of loose .45 ammo, vintage WW2. It had been sitting in his shed for years and was tarnished green. I got some fine sandpaper and when I was sitting around watching TV, I sanded off the green.
Back then I had a Colt Commander lightweight and took the ammo to shoot one day. The first round went off fine. The second round didn't fire. I jacked it out and looked at it. The brass was split up the side. Scared the heck out of me. I threw the rest of them away.
I think how the ammo is stored has a lot to do with it. The .45 had been in a shed for years in the Florida heat and humidity.

I've still got a half dozen 000 12 ga buckshot shells I bought about 35-40 years ago. I wouldn't hesitate to use it today.

Just to share from my personal experiance. I had a situation this fall (2011)with some old ammo. Both of the problems occured when the case of the round split open when fired. One was a .22lr and the other was a .308 winchester. I've never thought anything bad about shooting up old ammo at the range. If the .22lr would have been fired from a revolver or bolt action I do not believe any damaged would have occured. However the .22lr was being fired out of my early 1960's nylon 66 auto loader rifle. (christmas present from my uncle in 1973) this resulted in an unusual report and the ejector flying out the right side of the rifle. Parts were available and all is ok. The .308 was fired from a winchester model 100 auto loader. Would not extract the round. Pushed round out with dowel rod and you could see the split on the side oif the case. It's not worth damaging a good rifle. Inspect the ammo and use caution, I will no longer shoot old (20+ years) ammo out of any of my auto loaders or firearms I can not replace easily. I did not mention ammo brand as it is not at fault, age and condition is the peoblem.

DMH

I had some Canadian Feb '42 30-06.
It. Was. Awesome.

Boolits get better with age!

Wow...you guys make my 13 yo 9mm and 45 acp look brand new!

Jeez, I rarely shoot anything made LESS than 20 years ago. Remember the Vietnam games were more than 40 years ago and I'm shooting lots of ammo made long before that time period. That's actually pretty fresh ammo.

I have some old 303 BRIT ammo that is pre WWII and it is still as accurate as ever. Better than the 1954 POF I was also shooting at the time, those had some hang fires. Also shooting up some reloads my grandfather made in the 40's for his 32 SPL and '06 that are just fine.

You're right, that's really old. I'll happily provide free disposal service if you ship it my way.

I shoot ancient 30-30 all the time. All have gone bang when they are supposed to.

I still have some ammo, some powder, and a few primers left from the early '70s. Those old prices sure look good nowadays. Then I think back to how much I was getting paid then and they aren't so great.

The oldest ammo I have is from that same era. It all still shoots just like it did back then.

I have shot 30-06 from 1943 (corrosive) and 8mm Mauser ammo from 1938 (also corrosive). Don't worry about it. If it is stored the correct way, it lasts for YEARS.

I've had a few old shotshells split the brass, but did not notice until looking at the hulls days later.
This was factory ammo and had some very light corrosion.

The .30-06 I shoot (M1s, M1903s, M1917) is '60s Greek HXP from the CMP. It's been stored in spam cans and it's fine.

Tinpig

I've got a couple boxes (unopened) from the 40's and 50's, I figure I'll keep them, they're nice to look at. Grandpa has some .30-06 that's over 100 years old, still shoots good.

Hello the camp! The obvious answer is do what your're comfortable with. I tend to push it a tad.
I had ~1/4 can of reddot; I used it for nothing. I ginned up a recipe for .45acp and whaled on my Dillon 550. I ran it down until it took about 20 licks to empty the measure; with 5gr as the target, the last load was < 3gr, and burned in an ashtray. They all fired without a hitch.
Far as I'm concerned, it proved the reliability of the Dillon powder measure and the starch in old powder. I have a box [1k] of CCI #350s priced at $6.52; when I run out of older stuff, I'll use them for bp loads. My .02. mm