Oldest Ammo You've Shot?

[RockAndSage]

Anyone here ever shoot some really old ammo?

I've wondered about how long ammo would last since I was a kid, and have tested old stuff occasionally since then. Mostly when I find something really old, that isn't a full box or anything valuable. DoD says ammo will last over 100 years if stored in a cool, dry spot, and that matches with my experience. Really curious about what people here may have shot, how old it was, any problems, etc.

The only stuff I've come across that seems to have a problem has been paper-hulled shotgun shells, and occasionally .22 rimfire. A second strike on the rim somewhere else usually does the trick, but the paper-hulled shells seem to not keep moisture out over the long term.

The oldest I've shot was a handful of rounds of 30-06, that were about 90 years old at the time. What's yours?

 

[Pro953]

I just shot some Eley shotgun shells over the weekend that looked to be from the mid 60’s based on the labels. Still made a nice boom.


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[Weldor]

old silvertips 257 roberts 1950's

 

[Marble]

I shot a bunch of shotgun shells from the 50s for years. I still have some left. Never had a failure.

When I was in LE, a few guys would rotate their ammo out of their service weapons on a regular basis because they feared it was old. I tried to explain to them that it doesn't have an expiration date.

 

[OctoberGold]

Shot my first pheasant with a shell that I dug out of my grandpas old stuff. I'd guess it was 30-40 years old at the time. It fired fine, but the shot was so oxidized and rough that it dragged huge wads of feathers into the meat. Picked all the crap out and threw it on the grill. It sure tasted good after trudging through the cattails all day.

 

[sbaker0029]

My uncle and hunting mentor had the same three 300wm rounds in his gun for at least 10 years, probably more. He would shoot and just load a fresh cartridge or two on top, leaving the bottom cartridges untouched for years. Almost always just one shot kills on whitetail.
The cartridges saw a lot of hunts and changing weather, in and out of house and truck.
He finally decided to shoot everything and load all fresh ammo in the gun.
First shot was from a fairly fresh shell (year old) so not pictured

Second shot was fine (Second case down)

Third shot blew out the primer and had the action over pressured bad. Uncle said it scared the absolute crap out him and thought he was a goner for a second and hurt his hand a bit but not bad.
The bolt had to be hammered open and casing had to be very forcefully removed with a cleaning rod (top case in the row)

Fourth cartridge was unfired and later thrown out with a very old box of ammo.

Brass was discolored on all shells but not bad enough that you would think they would be questionable to fire.

This ammo was most definitely not stored in a cool dry place its entire life before being fired.

Well taken care of ammo should last a lifetime. Improperly stored and neglected old ammo could have similar results I'm sure.

 

[Dos Perros]

My Dad has a BE Titus 270 Savage, Model 99. That's a wildcat round. The bullets he gave me for it had to have been loaded in the 60's, and I'm certain they didn't spend their entire life in a "cool, dry place," because since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait they were in our Kansas garage which got pretty hot and humid I'm sure. Some of them have some oxidation on them and I wouldn't shoot, some of them are 'okay.' None are beautiful shiny brass and copper, but every one I fired did fire and shoot true.

 

[Spence1875]

Corrosive ammo primers last much longer than non corrosive ones.

I the early 2000s I bough an untouched 1917 colt 1911 with a complete belt rig from WW1. The gun was in great shape except that it had been left in the 1918 dated holster to long. The finish was almost all gone but remarkably there was only some light surface freckling no pitting, as a side note I send it to Doug Turnballs and they made it look unissued again.

But back to the ammo, it came with 3 two tone early mags. Two in the belt pouch were still loaded 7 rounds each with 1919 dated Winchester ammo. I unloaded the mags, inspected the rounds, wiped off some crud on them and loaded them back into the mags.

I just oiled the gun a bit and shot the 2 mags. All fired and the 80 year old GI mags both still locked the slide back. They don’t make them like that anymore!!

I have shot lots of WW2 vintage surplus with no issues.

Spence

 

[Rich M]

We used to shoot WWII surplus...

 

[robtattoo]

I've been through boxes & boxes of .303 brit that was ww1 surplus. Cordite loaded, mercury primed & I don't recall any missfires or whoopsies.

 

[grfox92]

12ga shotgun shells from the 40s. Old waxed cardboard shotgun shells, not sure what Era they are from.

I have a full box of 12ga slugs from the 50s.

I recently shot a box of 1974 LC Match ammo.

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[SDHNTR]

You guys are braver than me. I’ve had my reloads develop a cold weld in less than a year. I don’t shoot old ammo without at first cracking a bullet loose in a seater.

 

[7mm-08]

I've shot .22 LR ammo from the '50's with no apparent adverse effects.

 

[Gutshot007]

Circa 70's 30-30 ammo.

 

[JRay]

fired a box and a half of Hiawatha 308 over the weekend. Had a $3.99 price tag on it. Every cartridge fired and shot serviceable groups.

 

[Happy Antelope]

60-70 year old .375 H&H

 

[TheCougar]

My dad bought ammo from the Boar Wars (1900) from a swap meet, to go with a British Enfield he bought. He shined all the ammo up with brasso. He said he shot it and it didn’t blow up. He gave me the rifle and the ammo and I haven’t had the stones to shoot it yet.

 

[RockAndSage]

My uncle and hunting mentor had the same three 300wm rounds in his gun for at least 10 years, probably more. He would shoot and just load a fresh cartridge or two on top, leaving the bottom cartridges untouched for years. Almost always just one shot kills on whitetail.
The cartridges saw a lot of hunts and changing weather, in and out of house and truck.
He finally decided to shoot everything and load all fresh ammo in the gun.
First shot was from a fairly fresh shell (year old) so not pictured

Second shot was fine (Second case down)

Third shot blew out the primer and had the action over pressured bad. Uncle said it scared the absolute crap out him and thought he was a goner for a second and hurt his hand a bit but not bad.
The bolt had to be hammered open and casing had to be very forcefully removed with a cleaning rod (top case in the row)View attachment 547778

Fourth cartridge was unfired and later thrown out with a very old box of ammo.

Brass was discolored on all shells but not bad enough that you would think they would be questionable to fire.

This ammo was most definitely not stored in a cool dry place its entire life before being fired.

Well taken care of ammo should last a lifetime. Improperly stored and neglected old ammo could have similar results I'm sure.

I have to wonder if the bullets of those lower two rounds got pushed in a bit, with recoil. That would likely jack up the pressures...

IIRC, there was some talk going around back in the late 90s and into the 2000s about occasional .40 cal Glocks experiencing kabooms, with LE and CCW guys, from the regular chambering and unloading of the same round on top of the mag. Apparently it never showed up as a problem with 9mm or .45, but the higher pressures of the .40 were enough for that decreased OAL to be a problem. I don't have any sources and don't know if this was all rumor, but it seemed plausible. Enough for me to cycle my ammo so the same round isn't being repeatedly chambered, because of this.

 

[Spence1875]

I ran the firearms unit for a major federal agency and can confirm that loading and reloading a semi automatic pistol with the same round multiple times, the amount varies on a lot of things like feed ramp angle, case mouth tension, force of recoil springs etc.., but eventually you will push the bullet into the case. This reduction in the aol can/will result in a compressed load, which may result in unsafe pressure levels which can cause a blow up.

We did a big study on it, and it can happen with any caliber over time and many reloadings of the same round. Our policy and recommendation was to load a duty round once, if unloaded use that as a training round.

Doubt this would event be an issue in a bolt action.

Spence

 

[sbaker0029]

I have to wonder if the bullets of those lower two rounds got pushed in a bit, with recoil. That would likely jack up the pressures...

IIRC, there was some talk going around back in the late 90s and into the 2000s about occasional .40 cal Glocks experiencing kabooms, with LE and CCW guys, from the regular chambering and unloading of the same round on top of the mag. Apparently it never showed up as a problem with 9mm or .45, but the higher pressures of the .40 were enough for that decreased OAL to be a problem. I don't have any sources and don't know if this was all rumor, but it seemed plausible. Enough for me to cycle my ammo so the same round isn't being repeatedly chambered, because of this.

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.