Old ammo question

[UpWind]

I just found an old 50 rd box of Remington .357 ammo in my garage under my workbench. It has to have been there for 15+ years. The exposed lead tips of the semi jacketed bullets have developed a white grayish color (oxidation?) Any opinions as to whether this ammo would be ok for the range?

 

[Sauer Grapes]

I've shot rifle and shotgun ammo that's twice that age.
It's fine to use. You may get some duds, you may not. Depends on climate conditions over the last 15yrs.

 

[Lord Palmerston]

Some months ago I shot some rifle ammo loaded in January 1962. Just one round misfired out of 184.

 

[Dustin]

I shot 20 old FA 30-06 rounds made from 1928 to 1942. I had one dud and 2 delay fires but fine for range ammo.

 

[Hardtarget]

I shot some ammo this weekend that was date stamped on the case...1938. I can assure...it went BANG with a kick every time! 8x54R in a little carbine...loud...muzzle blast...kick....it had it all!

I've got some .30 carbine ammo of various age that still shoots. Some reloads from 1966...some G.I. stuff from WWII...some L.C. thats 20 years old...all seems fine.

Use it on the range. If you're worried, do slow fire. In case of the odd mis-fire, you can clear without worry.

Mark

 

[mes227]

I'd wipe the white oxidation off and shot away!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I actually shot some .45 Auto ammo from WWI and all of it fired. If 95 year old ammo will fire I'm sure that 15 year old .357 Magnum ammo is just fine...

I'm not trying to out-do anyone. I was very surprised WWI ammo fires so well. I had previously shot a lot of WWII ammo but never anything as old as that WWI .45 Auto ammo. BTW, it felt plenty hot too!!! (in a 1911A1)

 

[Hypnogator]

Should work fine for the range. Wouldn't want to use it for "serious social occasions."

 

[LouisianaMan]

I'll join the chorus. . .it's no problem at all to shoot it. Any ammo may have a squib load or other malfunction, including brand-new stuff, so use the same precautions you always do and blaze away. The only bullet-in-bore experience I ever had was WWII .45ACP ammo, most of which fired just fine, however. I tapped out that one stuck bullet and continued merrily on my way with deliberate fire.

 

[mingo]

Yep, I also agree that it should be fine to shoot. I also would take the time to wipe the ammo clean. I had to laugh that you clean the garage as often as me!
mingo

 

[xcgates]

I mention this only because I know how greasy and oily things can get in my garage, is there any sign of a lot of oil? You didn't mention it, but oil can get into the primer or powder and cause a FTF.

 

[NavyLCDR]

You may get some duds, you may not.

That's just because it is Remington and has nothing to do with age or climate!

 

[doc2rn]

^ I'd like to take a moment and second NAVY LT. I just bought six boxes of Remington standard velocity .22 and out of 50 I had 12 FTF, all with good clean strikes that I rotated and put 2-3 dings in. Hope you have better luck with your centerfire ammo cause the new stuff stinks!

 

[xcgates]

Everyone says that about Remington rimfire ammo, but out of all the bulk packs I get at Wally World, I'm pretty sure the most FTF I've had out of any 550 round pack is 2, and that was only once. Even with those I just reset the firing pin (didn't eject the round, rotate it, anything, just lifted the bolt handle up and back down) and got a good response on the second attempt.

Again, YMMV, and sorry about continuing the derailing... continue please!