I sliced one, here's the inside. Notice the pits on the case wall and the grain of powder stuck to the case wall. No doubt the corrosion went through pin holes to the outside, the priming compound was mush.... gladly, I'd hate to pull the trigger and actually ignite powder in a case that looks like that.
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Mind if I copy your photos and use them? I have been writing for years about gunpowder deterioration, and your pictures are good.
Twenty years is a long time for gunpowder. Ammunition manufacturer's provide ten year shelf lives, that is all they are going to promise. I recently fired these rounds, case neck cracks all around. I don't have the pictures, but I did have some 1989 rounds, that I reloaded, everyone one of them cracked their case necks.
It is up to us to educate our shooting buds about gunpowder lifetime. Industry is not going to do it. They don't stamp a "use by" date on ammunition, because, you might not buy old ammunition, or you might get fussy and want new ammunition. Horror's!
If I had known that gunpowder had a shelf life, I would not have stocked up on so much gun powder. I have tossed out 80% of all the surplus powders I purchased. I did not know the things were withdrawn from inventory because they were so old, the military was afraid to issue them to their troops, or to store the stuff, because it might auto com bust in bulk.
Just today, at the range, talked to a retired Navy Vietnam veteran. He personally witnessed a fellow sailor shooting an issue 1911, with old, issue ammunition, and the pistol his bud was shooting, blew up!
You did good by pulling bullets and inspecting. You just don't know what might have happened with the old stuff. Maybe just cracked cases, maybe a firearm in pieces:
Anyway I have been dumping mid nineties gunpowders I bought new
. Complete jugs of Accurate Arms stick powders (AA4064) and Vihtavouri powders.
There is unfortunately, a lot of denial about gunpowder having a shelf life. Optimists think they can drink liquor and smoke cigars, everyday, and live to a 100 , just like George Burns. He was an outlier, I have buried friends who died a lot younger, who smoked less. Maybe this will help convince you to keep on smoking: