Old Shotgun Rounds - Still Safe?

[bmiley1963]

I have quite a few old shotgun rounds that were my grandfathers. Probably 40+ years old. You know the kind that were a cardboard shell instead of plastic. Are those still safe to fire? If not, how do I dospose of them? Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Porter]

They should be just fine as long as they have not been wet or anything I would give them a good inspection.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

They should still be safe, I shoot a lot of old ammo. If you are not comfortable shooting them and you want to dispose of them (even duds), I would be happy to take them off your hands and tear them down to reuse the lead shot.

 

[Sniper 79]

Should be good to go. May want to bring a cleaning rod with in case one gets stuck in the chamber. I had a paper one get stuck in my single shot and it wouldn't eject made for a quick range trip and a long ride home. Learned my lesson to bring a few tools and or a back up shooting iron.

Anything that don't light off soak in oil pitch in trash.

 

[BogWalker]

Worst case scenario is a dud shell or, like sniper said, a swelled shell jamming.

If it doesn't go off immediately, count to at least 30 before ejecting. You don't want a hangfire going off unchambered.

 

[Mgderf]

If you have any full boxes and the cartons are in good shape, you might actually sell them on GunBroker.
Some collectors pay good money for certain old ammo.