Old ammunition

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WayBeau

WayBeau

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What is the "shelf life" of ammunition? How do you dispose of it if you're NEVER going to shoot/use it? Been doing some "spring cleaning" and have found many older boxes of shells. I'm not sure what to do with them if they're not safe to shoot.

Thanks for any help/advice.
 
I'm still shooting 30-06 ammo left over from WWII.
I also have several steel ammo boxes full of Vietnam war era .45 ACP & .223 ammo that is as good as the day it was made.

Unless it is so old and stored so poorly it has turned green with corrosion or something it should be perfectly safe.

If it is nearing 75-100 years old, and the boxes are still in good condition, a lot of cartridge collectors might be interested in buying it.

rc
 
I would guess that it is alright to shoot unless it is deformed or corroded. I've used surplus 7.62mmR that has got to be decades old and nothing was wrong with it and they use corrosive primers.
 
I've found A LOT of old shotgun shells of all types. Haven't really inspected them too closely to see if they're damaged or not. I doubt that any are 75-100 years old. I might venture a guess that some are in the 50 year old range, but most likely nothing older.

If they are damaged or decaying, how would you dispose of them?
 
I still shoot some Remington Premier 12ga. Power Piston/Copper-lokt 3.25 dr. 1.125 oz. #7.5 shot shells. They're at least 25 yrs. old and shoot great. No bulging of the hulls or brass and no corrosion to the brass or primers. They've been stored in a cool dry environment so I guess they will be fine. I can't remember any misfires either. I've got probably 7-8 cases of shells with ten boxes per case. I have had some paper hulled shells swell up before if the humidity got to them. I don't have experience with old rifle or pistol ammo.
R. Bond
 
If you are worried about it than I would say get rid of it, most law enforcement stations will take it. Most ammunition if kept clean, dry, and stored indoors will most likely out live you. If it has been in the 150 degree garage and exposed to moisture than there could be issues.
 
I wouldn't say that I'm worried about it, I would simply like to be a little more informed. The only shells I've ever used have always been plastic, so when I find old paper shells it makes me wonder. I'm not opposed to using them if they're safe.

I looked on one of the boxes and couldn't find anywhere that it said a date of manufacture. How do you know how old a shell is without such information?
 
If they are damaged or decaying, how would you dispose of them?
Click to expand...

Break them open, pour the powder into the garden, and save the shot for reloading (if you reload).

But as others have said, if they're not obviously damaged or rotten/decayed, the best way to dispose of them is by shooting them.
 
I looked on one of the boxes and couldn't find anywhere that it said a date of manufacture. How do you know how old a shell is without such information?
Click to expand...

You might be able to narrow it down if the characteristics of the cartridges can at least be used to establish a likely date range of manufacture. Fastest way to do that is to post photographs and measurements on the IAA forum (see my signature) and see if someone knows about those.
 
I've been using 38 special from the 30's with no problem. One of the boxes looks like it had gotten wet at some point and the cases had serious corrosion so I disposed of those, but all the rest are going ok. I also use 50's manufacture 7.62x54r as x39 as well. With any cartridge I visually inspect it before loading.... just my $.02
 
I'm not opposed to using them if they're safe.
Click to expand...
They won't blow up your gun or anything like that, if that's what your worried about. Nor will they spontaneously ignite. If one of them misfires, count to thirty before you eject the round. The most likely malfunction to occur would be a hangfire. Take the barrel off of one of your shotguns and insert a round in the chamber, if it goes in all the way without resistance it should be fine.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story wrote in his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833)
 
If you shoot those old paper shells be forewarned.

The smell of the wax burning out is as addictive as crack!!

I still fondly remember the smell of paper shells from when I was a boy in the 50's!

Once you smell it, you will be on a search for more old paper shells!

rc
 
I shot up the remains of my FA 17 .30-06 WW1 ammo a couple years ago.
One misfire in ~ 10, not bad for 90 year old ammo that was not stored well.
 
Those old paper shells are likely to have some failure to fire.

But you can probably find someone that would be interested in them for collector purposes. You dont just see those laying around anymore.

I have never seen the plastic hull shells have a problem if stored well.
 
I would never shoot paper shotgun shells, I heard too many stories of the hulls getting lodged in the barrel and causing a bulge when the next shot was fired. I have been given some and found the paper hulls were loose, confirming their undesirable.

Life time of ammunition is primarily determined by the condition of the powder. Powder gets old. Powder has a shelf life. Old powder outgasses nitric acid gas. When powder outgasses enough nitric acid acid, microheat spots occur within the powder grains. When one micro heat spot gets above 200C, autoignition happens. Boom!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=13c_1205681217

The deterioration rate of gunpowder is directly proportional to heat. The hotter it is, the faster it ages. Powder stored in arctic conditions can be good a very long time. Posters have reported firing 1920’s Swedish ball with excellent results. I looked on the web, average temperatures in Sweden are low, I think I saw a 92 F temperature as a record high for the year. Ammunition stored in the desert will not last as long.

An energics expert told me the Army scraps double based ammunition at 20 years, single based 45 years.

For further reading:

http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues/JulAug08/propellant_stab_eq.html

www.dtic.mil/dticasd/sbir/sbir031/n154.doc
 
i finally shot up all of the paper hull shells my dad had collected last year. it took a while to whittle through them all, but every one of them went bang. i had maybe 4 or 5 that would not cycle the semi-auto action. not to bad for stuff that old.
 
oldest ive shot is german 8mm from 1936.

commercial ammo might be a little less reliable, but ive still shot boxes of .243 winchester from the 70's, and have had friends shoot mid-50's .30-06 remington kleenbore with no problems.

as long as the cases arent corroded, and dont have any imperfections
(dents, cracks, splits at the neck, etc.) then you should be fine.

shoot away, and be safe.

hope this helps,
Kenny
 
I'm definitely going to go through the lot and check each shell before I take them out to the field/range. I didn't realize that powder was such a good fertilizer. My wife will be happy to hear that. I'm sure she has some plants that could use it.
 
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