Old Ammo

[CapBuster49]

Can ammo that is old even 10, 20, or 50 years old be shot safely out of modern day fire arms? I just want to make sure its safe, and wont damage the firearm? None of the ammo seems to be damaged, just old and dusty. I know some old firearms cant fire the new stuff but is it the same shooting old ammo out of new weapons? Ive got a lot of 38 special ammo and my father just purchased a little Smith & Wesson model 442. I dont want to turn him loose with it and damage him or his weapon. What about older ammo out of new shotguns or rifles?

Thanks... Dont hate because I suck at researching...

 

[garagegunmaker]

I have some 50's production 7.62x25 ammo I shoot out of my tokarve's. The ammo is 60 years old and works just fine. I know that the tok is not a modern gun, but it works fine. I would say that you should have no problems with shooting the old ammo out of a new gun.

 

[Que]

I had some VERY OLD .38 ammunition that I recently shot. It left a cloud that resembled a sand storm on the Texas Plains, but it did shoot fine.

 

[Colt556]

I shoot old military ammo all the time. I'd just inspect it and make sure it is clean, primers are ok and not a lot of corrosion on it.

 

[workinman]

had some '30s 45 acp that shot ok. even reloaded the brass!. still checked for stress in the brass, but it shot fine.

 

[Cowboy1629]

It's probably safer shooting old ammo in newer guns than shooting new ammo in older guns because the construction of modern day guns is usually stronger than older guns. Take the Colt Single Action Army for example. It was originally designed for black powder which didn't generate the pressures that modern smokeless powders do. I don't shoot hot loads in my old Colts because the steal isn't as strong as today’s steal in the newer Colts.

 

[WLW]

You should be fine just understanding that ammo made before a certain time period will have (in most cases) corrosive primers. Here is an explanation of what corrosive primers are made of: http://www.ashlandlakegunclub.org/docs/CorrosivePrimerRedux.pdf
I don't think there is a specific year that each ammo manufacturer stopped using them (anyone chime in if you know of a year), so you best bet is to clean your gun after shooting ammo made prior to 1970 (that is my rule of thumb). I've shot literally 1000's of rounds of ammo dating from 1940's through 1970's with no trouble at all. I just clean the barrel and action afterwards and all is well. How have I shot thousands of rounds of old ammo - let's just say I inherited a lot from a family member who had quite the ammo stash!

 

[XtremeVel]

Can ammo that is old even 10, 20, or 50 years old be shot safely out of modern day fire arms?

I don't know if I would call even 50 year old ammo necessarily old. I wouldn't be afraid to shoot it. If it wasn't stored right, I would think it would be a under powered issue rather than a over powered.

 

[JRPLANE]

I bought a lot of 1943 .45acp WWII leftovers. I have shot some with no problem. They seam to load very hot. I found a reference in an old Lyman manual that shows the same loads the govermant used in WWII. And they are very hot!

 

[indykid]

Been shooting a lot of 1952 Spanish 9mm through my Uzi with no problems other than whoever made the ammo didn't know what the correct overall round length was. I have to reseat almost every round, but they work great!

 

[thompal]

I bought a lot of 1943 .45acp WWII leftovers. I have shot some with no problem. They seam to load very hot. I found a reference in an old Lyman manual that shows the same loads the govermant used in WWII. And they are very hot!

Yeah, I've still got quite a bit of 1942 and 1943 manufactured WWII issue stuff, mostly RMC. It does indeed seem quite a bit snappier than modern commercial FMJ, but seems to smoke quite a bit more as well. A lot of the stuff I've shot out of this batch I have also seems to have a fair amount of incomplete combustion, as there are a fair amount of unburned propellant disks that end up on my right hand after a session.

 

[JRPLANE]

I have noticed the unburnt powder to. You think it could be wet enough not to burn?

 

[thompal]

I have noticed the unburnt powder to. You think it could be wet enough not to burn?

I have no idea. I'm no expert on powders. The ammo seems fairly consistent and reliable. I've never had any duds with any of it, and I've gone through nearly 1000 rounds of it in the past 50 years or so. The headstamps on most of the stuff I have has been RMC 42 and 43. It's been stored in the original military boxes. Some has had external corrosion, but not many really, and only a couple have looked bad enough that I didn't want to use them. I'm down to my last few boxes of it. I wish I had more. My dad obtained it long before I was born.

I've never had access to a chrony, but it would be interesting to see how this stuff does.

 

[JRPLANE]

If I get a chance this week I will shoot a few thru the chono and see what they do