Old Ammo

I have .357 ammo that I bought with the gun in 1986. A year ago what of it I used preformed perfectly. Never stored in the basement however.

Under the circumstances you report, I would have no qualms.

Well my friend, there's a reason men live shorter lives than women.

I’ve got S African mil surplus from the 70’s that I’d bet was stored for years without climate control. It is in sealed bags. It shoots excellent.

If it looks good and no brass degradation, I’d shoot it.

Brubz said:

....she thinks he bought it back in the 1980s....

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Oh, that's hardly old. I've shot ammo twice that age. (1938 8x56R and 1942 30-06). I'm sure your ammo is both good and safe. You get into really, really old ammo and the question then becomes mostly is it any good rather than is it unsafe.

Brubz said:

She said the ammo was stored in the basement and she thinks he bought it back in the 1980s.

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It's cool that you got some newer ammo too, but tell us about the old ammo.

The 80's isn't old. . . come on back when you've shot through a few boxes of 1945 vintage M1 Ball and we'll talk.

Quiet kiddo, the 80's is not that old, how old are you....oh wait, 40 years sure does not seem like it. I bought my first new car in 1983.....I refuse to think that the 80's was a long time ago.

All kidding aside, if stored like you describe, I doubt you will have an issue. The other side of things, that is old enough that it could be collectable, save the box at least.

Remington1911 said:

refuse to think that the 80's was a long time ago.

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When my 11 year old refers to "vintage" or "retro" in describing things made since the turn of the century. You know, the most recent one.

I've got ammo that predates the 80's by a couple decades. No issues using it. All of my stuff is more modern than most posters here. My oldest gun is a mere 84 years young, but most of my guns are barely eligible for social security.

edwardware said:

It's cool that you got some newer ammo too, but tell us about the old ammo.

The 80's isn't old. . . come on back when you've shot through a few boxes of 1945 vintage M1 Ball and we'll talk.

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80's ammo is pretty fresh. As far as military ammo from a war, I wouldn't want to stand in front of any of it being fired.

That includes WWI, Spanish-American, or even the Civil War. Very possible they will all go bang.

I'm shooting milsurp ammo from the 1930s. It still goes "kaboom". In a good way.

I started replacing my older stock of factory and hand loaded ammo last summer. So far have gone through 80% of the stuff from the mid 70’s, .22, .38, .357, 22-250, 30-06 & 30-30. Thousands of rounds, exactly 2 ftf both .22 cal. Have just started on 9mm and .357 from the 80’s, only managed 300 rounds so far but again no issues.

Except for the.22 rounds which were in cardboard boxes all were stored in ammo cans in a cool but not particularly dry basement.

From my experience and others that have fired ammo going back even further I have no qualms using “vintage” ammo

Speedo66 said:

80's ammo is pretty fresh. As far as military ammo from a war, I wouldn't want to stand in front of any of it being fired.

That includes WWI, Spanish-American, or even the Civil War. Very possible they will all go bang.

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It wasn't that long ago that someone (in Virginia, IIRC) was cleaning off a Civil War artillery shell and blew himself up.

if in the original box, and no apparent corrosion or damage, dents etc. my understanding is that is likely to be as good as current factory ammo. I'm no expert, but there is probably some correlation to how tarnished the brass is, to how much heat and moisture the ammo was exposed to in its life. If it is still shiny at all, probably all good. people smarter than me, would probably know how to pull a bullet - and then inspect the powder, to see if it is decayed over the years. you could then also just cycle the primed case and give a primer a check, just to inspect one before blasting any of it off. could be a good sanity check.

Just shoot it. I am shooting stuff I loaded early and mid 90s. Pretty sure commercial stuff will be just fine to shoot.

Ron

I have some boxes of Nazi headstamped 8X56 ammo dated 1938. It still shoots nicely. Now i did have quite a few boxes of 7.62X25 Tokarev ammo dated in the 50's that had to be thrown away about 10 years ago. The primers were going bad and every few rounds would hang fire. Totally dangerous.

Seems like once a week we get threads like these about old ammo.

I have fired 100 year old rounds through 100 year old firearms. If the ammo was kept clean and dry, there is no reason to believe it would not fire. There are a lot of indicators to determine if ammo has been wet. Look at the box. Cardboard boxes will tell you if they have ever been wet. Because even when they dry, they aren't completely fine like before. The ammo itself will discolor (usually green) if it was ever significantly wet.

I've shot old Soviet ammo from WWII in a mosin nagant before. Had no problems. My grandpa had an old double barrel made from what he called "wire barrel" I believe this is like Damascus. He shot old paper shells he had from god only knows when in it as it was not safe for modern ones. Long as it ain't all corroded I suppose it's fine

I shot a box of these after I bought it at a gunshow a few years back. (2018)
All fired fine. 50 years old match .30'06.

Shoot it. Worst thing it may do is not work, which is unlikely.

gobsauce writes:

Well my friend, there's a reason men live shorter lives than women.

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..because we want to, right?

Stored as you described I would shoot it and not worry. Just pay attention to the recoil and report and check out your gun if anything sounds or feels different. As the others have said, 40 is not that old for ammo stored in good conditions.

When I listen to 80’s music my teenagers squawk about me playing my “oldies” station. Reminds me a lot of me at their age, I did the same when my Dad listened to his high school/college tunes.

It always comes full circle…

As for the ammo, the oldest stuff I shot is 1943-vintage Mk III .303 for the Savage-made Enfield No 4 Mk I. I would get an occasional click..bang! But it still fired. Its all gone now.

Stay safe.

I have some .35Rem ammo that's over 50 years old. It was kept in a closet in Michigan for 10 years and then Florida for 20 years and back in Michigan for 20 years. Shoots like it was purchased yesterday.

IMHO it is good to go. I’ve shot lots of Lake City .30-06 ball circa 1943, in the 1970’s that shot great!