Oldest Ammo You'd Carry?

[Panzerschwein]

Hey all!

As I went through my crate of old revolver ammo, I came across an old box of Winchester Silver Tip 145 grain .357 magnums that looks like 1980s-early 1990s manufacture. Opened them, and they were still really shiny and looked really swell.

So I got to thinking, what is the oldest ammo YOU would still carry in your gun for defensive purposes? Basically, how old would it have to be before you'd throw it out and not trust it? Would you carry 1980s ammo or even earlier?

Thoughts?

 

[Zaydok Allen]

If properly stored, ammo can last quite awhile. If it was stored in a temperature controlled environment, with low humidity, yes I would carry it. I might test a bit first though.

The only thing that would give me pause is the fact that bullet technology has improved since the early 90's, so is it still a desirable loading or bullet? I think silvertips are still a pretty decent design, so I say go for it.

What might make more sense though is to buy some more modern ammo, and use the old stuff on the range. I favor Speer ammo for carry, and their 158 grain load is warm enough for my purposes.

 

[shafter]

For what new ammo costs, and what my life is worth, I say just buy some new ammo. I certainly wouldn't throw the old stuff away, but I would probably tuck it away just in case it was needed some day. Or, I'd shoot it at the range.

 

[Loosenock]

I have recently fired some WWII era surplus 7.62 x 54R ammo that shot just fine. That would be close to 80 year old ammo. One story I read claimed that Russia stores their ammo in deep into the dry climate of salt mines etc.

'loose

 

[MidRoad]

Step 1: bring firearms and old ammo to the range or your shooting spot

Step 2 :shoot the old ammo

Step 3: replenish old ammo you shot up with new ammo

Step 4: repeat steps 1-3 untill old ammo is gone



Also if it were my life on the line I would want "fresh" ammo even if there is nothing wrong with the 30 year old stuff.

 

[FROGO207]

I like to rotate my stock on everything that has a shelf life. That includes ammo---but I make my own so no buying unknown length stored stuff here.
I do shoot up my oldish ammo for practice at the range if it is over 15 years old. IF there was a particular bullet brand/design/weight I liked and could not get any more of them I would pull the bullets and reuse the projectile and brass to make new ammo rather than shooting it though. Then shooting something similar (close enough bullet) would be just about as good for practice with a handgun. YMMV

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I would carry that 80's ammo

 

[Alte Schule]

Have a few boxs of Winchester Black Talon 9mm that I bought 25 years ago. Always kept in a temperature controlled environment. Wouldn’t hesitate to use them for self defense. The prices some people are willing to pay now for this decent but, IMO, way over hyped ammo is insane. May hold on to it and sell some in a few years to pay off my mortgage.
Also have a few hundred rounds of vintage WW II, Korea and Vietnam Era .303 Brit for my Enfield that I shoot pretty regularly. Some of it’s pretty dirty and I get the occasional dud.
Same for my 8mm Yugo. Have surplus ammo that I bought twenty years ago and was at least that old when I got it. Shot some a few weeks ago with nary a problem.

 

[MedWheeler]

Unless it was stored in a wet and humid environment for much of that time, I'd have no issues stoking one of my guns with it. That's probably the age on the same ammo I brought back from New Mexico when my dad died and left it behind.

I also still have some .38 Special ammo, both duty and practice, that was issued to me back in the late 80s, before we went to autoloaders. It's been several years since I've shot any of it, but it went off fine.

But, yeah, I have newer stuff, and have never had a problem finding more, and my guns are already loaded, so none of that old stuff is "up front" right now.

 

[RedlegRick]

A couple weeks ago, I shot some WW .22lr my uncle got in 62, they all shot fine, and back in the 80s, when I lived out west, a friend's dad gave us some GI issue .45LC dated 1881. Every one went off, printed nicely, and they weren't stored in the best of conditions, so I'd probably have no qualms about shooting old ammo in a pinch.

And I keeping with the OP's question, to be precise, 50-75 years would be tops in a worst case scenario, 25-30 on average I'd still be comfortable with.

 

[Big7]

I have some 7X57 head-stamped 1920. Round nose full metal jacket.
Shoots..

Just sayin'

 

[JR24]

I'd run a mag and if it ran, yeah I'd carry just about any age ammo.

 

[Slamfire]

Gunpowder deteriorates and it deteriorates unpredictably. Federal says their ammunition has a ten year shelf life:

Federal Ammunition
http://www.federalpremium.com/company/faq.aspx

What is the shelf life of ammo and storage?

Store reloading components and ammunition in a cool, dry place, protected from direct exposure to sunlight. If stored properly there is a 10-year shelf life on loaded ammunition.

If you want a longer warranty, buy ATK for a couple of billions, I am certain that is chump change for some, and offer a longer warranty. But until then, that's what Federal claims.

The Army, they seem to have a twenty year design limit, and then they expect it to go bad.

Army Not Producing Enough Ammunition

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2003/May/Pages/Army_Not3866.aspx

Regardless of what the Army decides to do with its industrial base, the fundamental issue does not change: the Army needs to produce more war reserve ammunition, Naughton said. Time is running out, he said. “Most of the ammunition in the stockpile today was built 20 years ago during the Cold War buildup.” Most rounds are designed to have a shelf life of 20 years. “We are outside the envelope of the shelf life on 40 percent or more of our existing ammunition. The rest is rapidly approaching the end of its shelf life.”

Ammunition does not “go bad” overnight, after it reaches a certain age, but “once it’s over 20 years old, the reliability rapidly degrades,” said Naughton. Within a few years, it will become increasingly difficult to shoot it. “You can predict that you’ll lose 7-8 percent of the ammo after the 20-year mark.”*

To replace the obsolete rounds, the Army would have to produce 100,000 tons of war reserve ammunition a year for the next seven years. Past that point, it would need 50,000 tons to 60,000 tons a year to sustain the stockpile. That represents about “half the level of the Cold War buildup,” he said.

* I think what is meant, 7-8 percent per year after 20 years.

All of the first world militaries pay people to go through their stockpile and remove all the old ammunition that is either too unsafe to issue, or too unsafe to store. Old gunpowder has a habit of auto combusting either in bulk, or in artillery shells. About a depot a month is exploding due to old deteriorated gunpowder auto combusting and going kablooey.

Party!











How do you know what your old ammunition looks like inside the case?





So, what's your life worth? You going to carry old ammunition because your life is worth less than a fresh box of ammunition? After all, its only your life. I think my life is worth a little more than that, so I shoot up old ammunition and buy the over priced new stuff at the local gun store.

 

[lysanderxiii]

I trusted my life with .50 ammo made in the 1950's . . . maybe older.

 

[bangswitch]

I don't normally keep ammo long enough that I begin to worry about its age. Mostly I worry about whether I can get another load from a case without the neck splitting or getting a case head separation.

I did have a couple hundred .22 short that had to have been 30 years old, I finally shot them single shot from my .22 rifle at the range one day. Been a long time since I shot a .22 short, they all sounded like squib loads.

 

[Riomouse911]

I rotate my duty ammo every year, my off duty carry ammo every two to three.
I have lots of ammo from this rotation schedule that is probably perfect, so I keep that on hand as back up or target ammo .

I, too have WW2 surplus .303 and some 1950's era 8x57 that I Shoot on occasion. Every tenth round or so can have a bit of a delay before the bang!

 

[Armored farmer]

Hey all!

As I went through my crate of old revolver ammo, I came across an old box of Winchester Silver Tip 145 grain .357 magnums that looks like 1980s-early 1990s manufacture. Opened them, and they were still really shiny and looked really swell.

So I got to thinking, what is the oldest ammo YOU would still carry in your gun for defensive purposes? Basically, how old would it have to be before you'd throw it out and not trust it? Would you carry 1980s ammo or even earlier?

Thoughts?

I think my sp101 in my closet safe has winchester Silvertip in it right now. Your post made me realize how old they really are.

I think sd/hdcp ammo should be kept fresh say 12 mos? Then it becomes hunting ammo.

Hunting ammo..could go 5yrs if stored well. Then it becomes range ammo.

Plinking/range ammo......no expiration.

 

[EIB0879]

My BIL has 7.62 from the Vietnam era that he shoots. He pulls the bullets and replaces them with Barnes TTSX bullets. Shoots fine and he shot a nice nine this year with his M1A using these rounds.

 

[Danoobie]

For what new ammo costs, and what my life is worth, I say just buy some new ammo. I certainly wouldn't throw the old stuff away, but I would probably tuck it away just in case it was needed some day. Or, I'd shoot it at the range.

X2

That said, I've shot ammo from WWII, and the 70s, with no problem.

 

[SteadyD]

I have started using a sharpie to put the month and year on boxes when I buy them. Nice and easy to see quickly for rotation. I doubt I'd personally carry any ammo over 5 years old. It's never come up before, however, as I shoot through it faster than that anyway. I just rotate the newest stuff to the bottom of a can and take from the top for a range trip.

 

[Sarge7402]

I've got about 4 boxes of 1960's/70's vintage 41 Colt ammo for my Army Special. While not my everyday carry weapon, it'smy ready for a SHTF event along with a pancake holster from the same era.

Yes, I"ve got a 9MM but this is the original 40 caliber

 

[BSA1]

The only ammunition I use for self-defense is either what I reloaded (for hunting) or brought new commercially. Ammunition brought second hand is mostly used for salvaging the bullets and brass.

This year we started shooting up my Clinton era stash. (A lot of stocking up was done when Janet el Renos FBI snipers were killing mothers holding their babies and AFT was killing religious extremists with tanks.) We shot up some 9mm that I had brought in April, 1994. All of it fired just fine although the accuracy of Federal 115 gr. FMJ was lackluster.

I have some PMC .223 that is in the old white and red box. It has crimped primers so I suppose the bullets are sealed also. Not only do they shoot fine but the accuracy is most excellent. In my budget AR I recently built the first round was a little low and the next four where about 3/8" higher with all four touching and three were in the same hole! I did not write on the boxes when I brought it but since it is part of my Clinton era stash it is over 20 years old.

Other calibers need to be shot up in 2018 which presents a expensive problem for me. How do I shoot up my stash of 45 Auto ammo? The only 45 pistols I own are 1911's and I really don't enjoy shooting them (leftovers from my IPSC days). The most logical solution is to buy another 45 such as maybe a S&W M&P rather than letting this ammo grow older.

Anyway back to O.P.'s question. I store a lot (mostly commercial) ammunition in steel military surplus ammo can and indoors. All of the ammo I have stored in them look bright and new as the day I brought them even after 20+ years of storage. Because I can tightly control their storage conditions I am comfortable with using ammo that is five years old. After I finish shooting up my Clinton stash I am going to try to rotate my ammo every five years with ten years being the max time.

The only old ammo that I have concerns about is Russian 7.62 x 54r steel case that is still sealed in the large ammo spam can. I figure that most of it will not be useable when I finally open it.

 

[jeff-10]

I wouldn't hesitate to carry decades old ammunition if it was quality. Especially the 357 ammo the OP is considering.

 

[Plan2Live]

what is the oldest ammo YOU would still carry in your gun for defensive purposes?

That depends on the scenario. In a perfect world with access to fresh, retail ammo, I would buy two boxes of the same brand and lot number, run one box through my gun and if it works load the other box in my defensive pistol and spare magazine(s). In a world where fresh, retail ammo isn't available then I'd carry what was available. Either way you should practice clearance drills using dummy rounds loaded randomly in between live rounds so you are trained to react without thinking.

During the post-Sandy Hook ammo shortage I stockpiled what I could find. I still have a lot of that left but it has been stored properly so I am confident it is reliable for many years to come. But most of that was target ammo anyway. I rotate my carry ammo roughly once per year.

 

[Big7]

Hey all!

As I went through my crate of old revolver ammo, I came across an old box of Winchester Silver Tip 145 grain .357 magnums that looks like 1980s-early 1990s manufacture. Opened them, and they were still really shiny and looked really swell.

So I got to thinking, what is the oldest ammo YOU would still carry in your gun for defensive purposes? Basically, how old would it have to be before you'd throw it out and not trust it? Would you carry 1980s ammo or even earlier?

Thoughts?

Sorry.. I didn't catch the "defensive purposes" part.
So, I'll modify my post to say I would keep in rotation 5-6 years
for carrying duty. A LOT depends on storage.