Just because 50 year old ammo goes bang, and the bullet leaves the barrel does not mean it is providing satisfactory performance.
I appreciate the words of support.
If you read the references, ask the experts, gunpowder aging is 100% correlated to storage conditions, most specifically heat.
The basic problem the munitions community has is when to dispose of this stuff prior to it going poof.
Unfortunately, as robust as it is, our propellant surveillance system has not put an end to autoignition accidents. Seven propellant autoignition incidents, some involving 100,000 pounds or more of powder, occurred at Army installations in the 1980s and 1990s. Although it has been 10 years since the last accident, constant vigilance is required.http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues...t_stab_eq.html
I put this information out to help dispel the myth and legends, and because I too had been following “conventional wisdom”, which more times than naught, is not much more than superstition.
The expert which I talked to told me that as gun powder ages the surface changes. For double based powders, the surface becomes nitroglycerine (NG) rich. This alters the burn rate even though the total energy content of the powder is being reduced through deterioration by the reduction-oxidation process, the pressures can and do spike when there is too much NG on the surface.
I shot old surplus IMR 4895 which was going bad, it shot very well, but I remember unusual sounding muzzle blasts. This stuff was outgassing enough nitric acid gas that it caused case neck cracks and corrosion on the bottom of bullets. It was not very long before I poured that stuff out on the lawn.
I was given a handful of 30-40 Krag ammunition from 1898. Each and every cartridge had a cracked case neck. I pulled the bullet from one case and looked at the powder, it is almost a ruby red. Quite attractive. When I mentioned this to the expert, he squeaked like a mouse.
I am certain the stuff will go bang in some fashion. But I am not going to try and find out if it will shear the locking lug on my Krag.
Using old ammo for plinking is probably not dangerous, but for hunting or personal defense use I'd prefer something a little newer.
I basically agree. If the cases are not corroded through, the case necks are not cracked, and the muzzle blasts don't change, heck shoot it up. But shoot it up soon, old ammunition does not get better with age.
You can leave a twinky on the shelf for 30 years,
http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-08-12/news/17437230_1_twinkie-innovative-teacher-shelf-life, does not mean that I am going to eat the thing.
But you will find people who will
Some of the nicest shooting 6.5 Swedish i ever shot was last year. The ammo was Swede manufactured in 1924 and 1926. That's a little over 80 years in storage.
I will bet ammunition storage depots in the American southwest get a lot hotter than Swedish depots.
http://www.climatetemp.info/sweden/#imperial )
