old shotshells

I'm not a shotshell reloader myself. But I know many and have heard very old reloads having bad ignition and leaving the wad/shot cup in the bore with the shot dribbling out. 1965??? Do you want to risk it?

I think it depends on the condition of the powder. If they were stored in consistent moderate temps and kept dry, the powder should be ok. It might not hurt to take one or two apart to get a clue to its condition. If it looks and smells ok, shoot 'em. People around this forum shoot ammo older than that with no problem.

I would think that they would be OK if you stored them reasonably. That with the usual caveats that if the recoil feels different or the sound is different check the bore before shooting the next round to play it safe. I had some 20 GA shotshells get wet inside. After taking a couple apart and verifying that the did get wet inside I let the rest dry for about a year and they went off with no problem.YMMV

Storage conditions would tell the story ... If stored properly ... the old shells will shoot fine ... It always pays to pay attention to the sounds of any reload ... If it does not sound right ...stop and see why ...

Storage condition is the key. I'd be concerned about moisture swelling the paper case of causing lead to oxidize. The shot column might be glued together almost like a slug. Open one up and check the condition of the shot. If it's not oxidized and/or clumped together at all, they'd probably be fine to shoot.

deadeye dick said:

5/8 fiber filler, 1/2 in nitrocard

Click to expand...

I don't know about these, but if a component can swell from absorbing moisture, it may grab the sides of the case, raising pressure.

Using flour in a plastic wad, with the shot, would raise pressures to dangerous levels over time.

Plastic buffers don't have this problem today.