Very old ammo

[LABeekeeper]

My brothers and I have a bunch of boxes of ammunition that my father purchased, probably from back in the 1960s and 1970s, some perhaps earlier? Back when a box of 12 guage ammo cost $2.50 per box. It is dry, looks in good condition and in its original packaging.

Is there a "use by date" for handgun and rifle ammunition? Some of it I will keep as sentimental objects to sit on the shelf as you can't find some of the brands anymore.

[hunter63]

You must be pretty young (and that's not a bad thing, wish I was), but the "use by date", is very new, think it was invented by the Guvment, to protect all us stupid civilians, from hurting ourselves.
That and 911 will completely screw up Darwin's theory.

Don't know of any ammo marked as such.

I still shoot some old .303 savage, price on the box is $1.79 from a hardware store. Shoot just fine

On the other hand, shot some old paper hull 12 ga slugs, and they went "thoop", slug did come out, but barely.
Those are in the "display" mode.

[docsoos]

What Hunter63 said. ;D

I have shot some rifle and pistol ammo from the WWI to WWII era, as long as it was dry and not corroded, it shot just fine. Shotshells may be more sensitive to humidity, but I've never heard of any plastic shotshells affected by that, just some of the very old paper ones.

As Hunter63 said, just be careful of "squib" loads, that might lodge a projectile in the barrel. Any subsequent rounds being fired with a plugged bore could be QUITE unpleasant!

DocSoos

[Backwoods_Bob]

The oldest ammo I've ever used was a few bandoliers of 1909 vintage .303 stuff. I think it was corodite loaded, but I didn't pull any to see.
It was 100% surefire.

I've had bad luck with 1950's vintage surplus .30 carbine ammo, maybe 1 in 5 were duds.
In all fairness, .30 carbine was the very first non-corrosive military ammo. Took a while to work the bugs out.

Other old military surplus ammo is all corrosive ( clean the gun after use!! ) and is usually very reliable, depending upon how it was stored.

I WOULD NOT use any real old black powder loaded cartidges that you may find. Those I don't trust, and they are collectors items anyway.

Comercially produced sporting ammo should be fine if it was properly stored.

[LABeekeeper]

Well, I don't feel very young at 40 something years old and a torn MCL and meniscus for the last year plus from my day job, but thanks.

Some of the items my father willed to me before he died was a couple of his military side arms he used in Germany in WWII. Excellent condition as he kept all of his stuff.

Anywho, I looked up one the company name and location on one of the boxes and here is what I got.

Evansville Ordnance Plant (EC & ECS)

Located in Evansville, IN this plant was operated by the Chrysler Corp. from 1942 to 1944 and produced billions of rounds of caliber 45 and caliber 30 carbine ammunition. Most cases were made of steel using the EC headstamp. This plant also loaded ammunition using cases made at the Sunbeam Refrigerator Plant, also at Evansville, IN, with ECS headstamp.
Website: http://cartridgecollectors.org/ww2usmfrs/

[rice paddy daddy]

The old boxes are collectible by a small group of afficianados and can be quite pricey. Don't throw them away.
If the shotshell are paper hulls I wouldn't fire them as they could have been affected by humidity.
Back in the late 70's I shot some 30-06 military that was headstamped 1918. They were OK.

[DM]

Don't shoot paper shells?? :o I'm shooting paper shells all the time around here! It's ammo from when i was a kid, and they shoot just fine!

If it "isn't" swelled up so bad that it goes into the bbl hard, it gets fired in my shotgun! I've yet to have a problem!

DM

[Mr.B]

You might be able to sell it at a gun show I see some folks collect old ammo.

I unpacked a spam-can of Bulgarian 7.62x54R with a slip inside dated 11-7-1955. It fired really well and also dirty as hell!

-B

[kenfagan]

i bought several cases of WWII german surplus ammo from 1.) 1939 for machine gun ammo( the shells loaded for the MG42 were hotter than standard), 2.) 1941 for armor peircing ammo, and 3.) 1941 for tracer ammo, they were $6 per box, and i got 20 boxes in a small case of each, i have shot i box from each case, and and havnt had a misfire yet.
ken

[Tegerian]

As long as there isn't any corrosion or swelling it should be fine.

[Bruce]

As others have said, as long as the ammo has been stored in a dry and reasonably temperature-controlled environment - it should last until long after you have left this Earth. I also have some really old .303 ammo as well as other military surplus stuff from WWI and II and it all performed 100%.

Store your new cache (I prefer using my wifes vacumm sealer for stuff I intend to hoard) properly and don't worry about it.

[WRTN]

Ammo that is non corrosive primed when kept in and low humidity, clean, and cool environment will last a very long time, like to around 100 years depending upon the quality of the components used.

Get yourself some air tight ammo cans and package the ammo in the ammo cans with some desicant package/containers. (the type that turns blue with dry and pink when moisture saturated) Stored in a cool, dry place, the ammo will likely outlast you.

I am shooting Greek military ammo in my Garand that is from the early 1980's and it shoots just fine.

[Bruce]

I am shooting Greek military ammo in my Garand that is from the early 1980's and it shoots just fine.

"Early 1980's" is old? Hardly!

[hunter63]

"Early 1980's" is old? Hardly!

WOW, LOL,thanks for bring it up, I guess I would maybe consider 1880's old............
Thankfully the girl at the beer cave still asks me for an I.D., she is a cute little sweet talker.

[CastIronCook2]

Well now, here's another use for a vacuum sealing machine. Hubbest just showed me two 50-bullet trays of .38 special reloads--vacuum sealed in plastic. I guess those WILL last forever...maybe even under water LOL! He says it's a handy way to pack ammo so it won't rattle around on a trip.

[Bruce]

Well now, here's another use for a vacuum sealing machine. Hubbest just showed me two 50-bullet trays of .38 special reloads--vacuum sealed in plastic. I guess those WILL last forever...maybe even under water LOL! He says it's a handy way to pack ammo so it won't rattle around on a trip.

Check my first post above - I recommended using a vacuum sealer. Done it for years.

[Stinger]

I've heard and, also, read somewhere that America fought the initial years of WWII with 30-06 ammunition that was originally manufactured at the end of WWI. In fact, General Douglas MacArthur (The army's former Chief of Ordnance) is supposed to have insisted that any new rifles like the Johnson or Garand be specifically chambered in 30-06 caliber in order to allow the army to take advantage of the several million rounds that were stockpiled, in large part, for more than 25 years inside government warehouses and waiting to be used.

If properly crimped and sealed ammo is kept relatively dry and free of extremes in temperature, you may reasonable expect it to lose no more than 5 to 8 percent of it's original velocity after as much as 30 or 40 years of storage.

Now, with a lot of the, 'crap ammo' that places like Wal-Mart are selling, today, all bets are off. This junk isn't properly sealed. The primers and case mouths aren't lacquered; and, in many brands, the case mouths aren't even properly crimped.

Don't believe me? OK, next time you're at the range and it starts to rain, all ya got 'a do is leave your Blazer, WWB, or UMC yellow box out in the rain. Let it get a little wet before you try to use it again. Misfire city! :eek:

[rice paddy daddy]

"Early 1980's" is old? Hardly!
I picked up some 1954 Bulgarian for my Mosins, it is excellent. Corrosive, but I was taught to keep my weapon clean, so it's no prob.

[gunsmoke]

Military ammo in particular is usually quite safe and stable for extended time periods it was manufactured to be so. Sealants are normally although not always applied to both bullet and primer seats.

Kept cool and dry it will pretty much last forever. The only thing to look out for is obvious signs of Corrosion which will weaken the underlying metal at the submolecular level.

Older full boxes of ammunition either military or commercial will usually sell on auction for at least as much on a per round basis as current production.

As far as paper shotgun shells, I have drums filled with empties that have been loaded and shot dozens of time each. The key here is DRY and it is not the paper case swelling that presents any danger it is the paper base wad contained within the brass shell head. In the older shells, (pre mid 60s) the base wads if dampened can swell and reduce the powder space in the case and cause dangerously high pressures.

Paper cases with plastic base wads are still made in Europe and they are not as susceptible to dampness as the shells with paper base wads.

I'd take a look at the collectible ammunition listed at

http://www.auctionarms.com

and

http://www.gunbroker.com

Before you decide what you want to do with it.

[Teg]

You can find some at the link below as well.

http://www.gunsamerica.com/

[lostone1413]

Back in the 70s I was still shooting German ammo from WW2 in my 8mm. I nevre had any trouble. that would have been over 30 years old then. Alsp shoot some 9mm in my 9 that was WW2 issue

[gunsmoke]

Back in the 70s I was still shooting German ammo from WW2 in my 8mm. I nevre had any trouble. that would have been over 30 years old then. Alsp shoot some 9mm in my 9 that was WW2 issue

Back in the 1970s I bought a huge quantity of Canadian military 9mm. It was load especifically for STEN gun use. Man that is some heavy brass the rims are so thick they won't fit in a regular 9mm shell holder when I load them I use a magnetic collet universal shell holder. I've got a small drum full of that brass and maybe 3500 handloaded and about the same or maybe a little more original loads.

A cartridge collector told me the thick rim was standard on BCN 9mm for STEN because Stens very often ripped the heads off regularly dimensioned cartridges.