I found some old boxes of Ammo today

[gmh1013]

.357 CCI 158 grains were bought in 1990 so close to 20 years old now....
They were kept in a very hot garage most of the time (Phoenix)
My question would they still be good?
A box back then was 10.95 and Winchester Silvertips 9mm were 13.95
12.95 for .45 CCI flying ashtrays ......I wish we had those prices now.

 

[Ed Ames]

It could be argued that a person should use fresh ammo for anything important (cc or the like) just because, but if it's what you've got, it's what you've got.

I would use it as range ammo myself.

 

[TeamPrecisionIT]

They are fine, but if you have a problem you can ship them my way and I will dispose of them properly

Damian

 

[Oro]

My concern would be if the extreme heat had degraded the powder. I would expect a few failed primers - but the real trouble would be if you had bad powder and got a light charge and a squib in the barrel. I'd shoot slowly and listen for a light load.

It's not the age that's troublesome; it's the storage conditions.

 

[Sport45]

... bought in 1990 ...

I thought you said you had old ammo. That stuff isn't old at all.

 

[kanook]

People are shooting ammo from WWII with who knows how it was stored with great success.

 

[gwalchmai]

What if all those heating and cooling cycles made the coating on the powder granules fleck off? I've read on the interweb that the loss of this coating could potentially make the load "go nuclear" and be really dangerous and stuff! :shocked:

Also, if you shot a bad guy with it his relatives might sue you...

 

[GP100man]

Pull 1 bullet if the powder smells like urine it`s bad , if it smells like a solvent "nitro" it`s good & fire away!!

Believe me if it`s bad you`ll know as soon as you smell it!!!!

 

[Steve C]

Take it to the range and see if it will shoot. If it does, its good, if not, then its bad. You're not going to get any gun damage from shooting it. When ammo goes bad it looses power. If a round sounds and feels different then check the bore for a stuck bullet before trying to shoot another. Clear stuck bullets by driving them back out with a rod and mallet.

 

[gwnorth]

As stated, if stored properly (mainly, if kept dry), 20 years is hardly old for ammo. In the 1990's, I shot ammo that was older - .22lr and .220 swift that had been just stored in a hall closet since the mid to late 1940's (we were cleaning out a cabin in N. Ontario after the owner had passed and found it sitting on a shelf). There were several hundred rounds of each, and they all went bang just fine.