Old paper shells: What's the worst that could happen? :)

[yhtomit]

Hi there!

I technically own a shotgun; I bought it because I wanted one day to own a Remington 870 (among other reasons, my grandmother worked at Remington Arms for many years), but knowing that I had no current place to shoot it. So it's been sitting in its box, picked up only for the occasional (and satisfying ) k-KLACK racking of the slide.

At a gun show recently, I saw some interesting old paper shells -- 12ga slugs -- for a quarter apiece at one of the ammo booths. Why not? thought I, and bought a dollar's worth. (The danger of gun shows; see "a fool and his money.")

Now I wonder, though: What's the very worst that could happen? These shells I bet are no less than 20 years old (if I was home, I'd take a picture to show; sorry for the scant description), possibly far more. Do old shells go bad, and if so, at what rate?

If I fire them, and they *have* gone bad, what's the worst that could happen? Shotgun barrels are obviously strong enough to contain the force of a shotgun shell's explosion, eh?

What does one do about a shotgun shell that doesn't fire, anyhow? I'd imagine the primers have *some* kind of shelf life ...

I was just reading a parallel thread about paper v. plastic shells; there, it seems like many people say the paper ones are no good in automatics. In a pump like my 870, any reason to think paper ones won't work fine?

Help dispel my fog of ignorance

Thanks,

timothy

 

[Alphazulu6]

The worst that could happen with you shooting those shells? You take those shells to the range and Hillary shows up selling her new book "A Woman In Charge" and you have to sit there and listen to her because the SS blocked in your truck by accident. . .

OK honestly the worst thing that can happen with 20-year-old ammo is they dont shoot when the firing pin hits the primer... and then you have to determine how long to leave it in the firearm before removing the shell casing. No different than a miss-fire with any other ammo other than you would probably be more tolerant of it happening in that old ammo. Just be safe

 

[Dave McCracken]

I fired off some loads from the 60s recently. Worked well.

Go for it....

 

[jeepmor]

they would all work fine and you'd lose a neat piece of memorabilia. If you got a huge lot of them, I'd try em. If you only have a few, I'd keep some for the nostalgia. Seems pretty cool, I've never seen em with paper hulls.

 

[zinj]

At a gun show recently, I saw some interesting old paper shells -- 12ga slugs -- for a quarter apiece at one of the ammo booths. Why not? thought I, and bought a dollar's worth. (The danger of gun shows; see "a fool and his money.")

You're buying slugs of any sort for a quarter a piece? I'm having trouble finding them for under $.75 here!

 

[GlowinPontiac]

my father has some reloads he made well over 40 years ago in paper shells. used some last year phesant hunting and they worked perfectly.

mmmm i love that paper shell smell after firing!

as long as they are not falling apart or swelled up to the point they dont fit in the chamber easily i see no problem. if you are really worried load them one at a time and check the chamber/barrel afterwards to make sure that the brass base did not sepreate at ejection leaving the paper hull in the gun.

 

[Alphazulu6]

Yeah I have to add that the age of the cartridge is not as important as how it was stored. If it was always kept away from extreme heat (120+) or damp highly humid places (in an attic or maybe damp basement) then the ammunition should be fine for many, many years (decades). The biggest killer of accuracy and functionability is severe temperature extremes. Heck just one time excessive heat can completely foul superb competition ammunition to the point it does not hold the accuracy of cheap wolf ammo.
Obviously you cannot tell exactly how the ammo was stored but a good visual check would be enough to really determine if its safe. Look for staining, swelling, harsh discoloration of the paper and maybe rust (or the past presence of rust if someone cleaned it up) around the rim of the shell.
Be Safe!

 

[yhtomit]

Thanks for the replies!

Visually, I see no problems -- doesn't look warped, swollen, crushed, or waterstained

Now if only I knew a good place (without spending big bucks on a club -- already did that once this year, to join an indoor range ) to fire a shotgun!

The only other time I've fired one is at a house in the boonies of Mississippi, the several-acres home of an ex-girlfriend. I reached her parents' place before she did, and the first thing her mother said to me (I'd never met her before) was "Mamie says you want to shoot the shotgun!" Five minutes later, I was nervously holding an ancient side-by-side 12ga, and firing it from the back porch (in a safe direction, Yes). I suspect that gun has never been cleaned in its many decades of life, but sometimes it's the risk that makes things sweet

timothy

 

[Carl N. Brown]

With ammo, the conditions it was stored under make
more of a difference than the age.

 

[BEARMAN]

Federal still sells paper cased shells. They reload great , nice soft ,low pressure loads but don't have as long a life as Plastic, only about two or three reloads.

 

[AJAX22]

I have almost a full box of peters 00 buck with paper hulls, shells are amazing, they typically just work.

 

[Hawk]

The archives here record my tribulations with some old AAs that made it through several Texas summers.

Apart from being a bit "clumpy", all was well.

But I sure whined up a storm about the "clumpy" - kinda looked like a couple Pyrodex pellets, patterns weren't ideal. Probably not the best choice for skeet.

Still, better than I had any right to expect. 'Course they weren't paper and wild horses couldn't get those Peter's Blues away from me.

 

[dawgtraxx]

just bought a bunch at a gunshow a couple of weeks ago, paid .20 cents a piece, havent tried them, more for nostalgia..with the old coach gun

 

[jimmy]

Paper shells used to have a reputation for swelling up and causing jams when wet. I can't say I've ever tried to fire a shotgun with damp shells, but if I was concerned about this--like when hunting in rainy weather--I'd likely prefer plastic shells as a precaution. YMMV.

 

[Whitman31]

Why shoot them, save them...

 

[Nomad101bc]

Awsome just shoot two and save the other two so you have some fun and still memorabilia.

 

[steveno]

look in the area of where the case head and paper meet. look for holes and cracks. I shot some old paper shotgun shells and the paper went out the barrel along with the shot and wads. they went off just fine but I checked the bore after each shot to make sure the bore was clear