Oldest Ammo You've Shot?

[OMF]

The oldest I've shot was some surplus Israeli 7.62 x 51 ball from the 1950s that was 30ish years old at the time. I still have 1 box left. I bought it to shoot out of a new Rem 788 with a Tasco scope package that I bought at a Smittys in Phoenix AZ. 5 boxes of ammo for $20 at a little gun store in central Phoenix at the time.

 

[RockAndSage]

Never thought about that as cause but that would totally make sense and could be plausible with the recoil of the magnum round.
We just figured it was from getting wet and damp on several occasions repeatedly.
I've fired some questionable surplus M2 ball and Mosin ammo that made this ammo look new and never had problems, which made this occurrence raise some questions.

Interesting and great topic. Thanks for starting the tread.

Ah, this is interesting...I just took a closer look at that one blown-out casing, and right where the scorch mark is you can see an indentation from the ejector. That's a pretty reliable sign of something being over-pressured, as the case head is essentially getting jammed or is flowing back fast enough and hard enough to press it against the ejector with enough velocity to leave that indentation. I also can't see an ejector mark on that other casing.

 

[sbaker0029]

Ah, this is interesting...I just took a closer look at that one blown-out casing, and right where the scorch mark is you can see an indentation from the ejector. That's a pretty reliable sign of something being over-pressured, as the case head is essentially getting jammed or is flowing back fast enough and hard enough to press it against the ejector with enough velocity to leave that indentation. I also can't see an ejector mark on that other casing.

I see that now that you point it out. This was definitely a situation of over pressure. The bullet getting pushed back somehow, possibly from repeated heavy recoil is seeming more and more like the cause and the age and condition of the ammo not playing as big of a factor as once suspected.
Thanks for the insight and info. Hopefully this hasn't derailed your thread too much.

 

[RockAndSage]

I see that now that you point it out. This was definitely a situation of over pressure. The bullet getting pushed back somehow, possibly from repeated heavy recoil is seeming more and more like the cause and the age and condition of the ammo not playing as big of a factor as once suspected.
Thanks for the insight and info. Hopefully this hasn't derailed your thread too much.

Not at all, it was extremely interesting to have as part of it, thank you.

 

[flyfisher117]

I still occasionally pop off a few rounds of .30-06 with a 1942-1944 head stamp. Shoots well enough, I have had a couple necks split but not many.

 

[Stache Attack]

Some miss fires with really old .22lr that’s pry been across the country 8 times. Wife wants to shoot some 30-06 that came with it but I might take the first shot to make sure it’s safe.

Had one bad experience where case cracked in half in the gun, was a sob to get out and man was that crack loud

 

[BadTostada]

Not sure how old but I occasionally break out the spam can of 7.62x54R. Think I lost the part of the top with the year. Still shoots fine out of a 1926 Mosin. Makes for a cheap day at the range

 

[PurpleDriver]

Shot some Vietnam era 5.56 and some old paper hulled Herters 16ga. All went boom.

 

[SwiftShot]

Russia and Ukraine right now are shooting a few hundred thousand rounds a day from WW2 or before.

Moisture and Oxidation destroy ammo. Sealed and stored properly it will last way longer than us.