Old Ammunition??????????

Big Timber

Does ammunition go bad with age? What is the oldest ammo you guys tend to shoot? I was shooting some .45 reloads out of my series 70 colt gold cup today and experienced a SLIGHT problem...... A bullet lodged in the barrel. I was also experiencing multiple jams with the ammo. The ammo is from '74, has it gone bad?Thanks,BT

v35

Since they are reloads, my guess is that bullet lube grease contaminated the powder. I doubt the primers went bad from old age.

jonk

I have shot ammo from the 1920's with no trouble, and loaded and fired primed brass from 1903-33 with no trouble... and it was accurate too! If the powder hasn't degraded, it should be fine.

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"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conference in 1899.

leeblackman

I honestly don't believe ammo will ever go bad, unless something directly contaminates it or it hasn't been stored properly.

Iconoclast

Could be any number of things - bullet lube if lead bullets stored where it was hot enough to cause it to liquify or simply errors in the original loading process. I sure wouldn't shoot any more of it, but break it down to salvage what I could & trash the powder.

Mr. Lobo

Thirty-Five years ago, when I was a boy, I wanted to shoot dad's 12 gauge. He brought out several boxes of shells that were from when he was a boy, or maybe when his dad was a boy, I am not sure. About every third round would fire. You can all imagine a boy's first time experience with a 12 gauge...just about the time you would relax the round would go off. It took me 15 years before I wanted to shoot shotguns again. This is the only time in over 40 years of shooting that I experienced problems with any rounds.

badboybob

Recently I found some 30-30 ammo that I loaded 41 years ago. It went boom.I gave a friend of mine some .44 magnum that was more than 30 years old. It went boom. I recently tried some .22 ammo that was over 30 years old and had many an ftf.So in my limited experience center fire ammo that is properly stored lasts a looong time.

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PC=BS

v35

Badboybob, I had a pre WW2 brick of 22's that totally ftf in 1960 and that was only 20 some odd years old. About the same time two ancient boxes of blue box, Remington black powder 45 Webley, fed through my SAA without a hitch.More recently, I've fired some Hornet and 44Mag I loaded 40 years ago.

Iconoclast

v35, interesting fact I just learned - BP rounds have a much better shelf life than smokeless. Know a fellow who acquired a *large* quantity of large BP rimfires which are worth good money as collectibles (which means nothing to him). He has an original rifle in the caliber & over 90% shoot just fine. Kinda like lighting your cigars w/ $20 bills, but what can I say?

almaguns

you guys quit shooting all that old ammo. It gives us collecters the heebie-jeebies.Willtrade old for new.

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almaguns

you guys quit shooting all that old ammo. It gives us collecters the heebie-jeebies.Willtrade old for new.

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almaguns

you guys quit shooting all that old ammo. It gives us collecters the heebie-jeebies.Willtrade old for new.

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Big Timber

Thanks for the replies.BT