Now - Ancient History

[hdwhit]

My wife and I recently arrived home to find someone parked on the access road to our lake (a state-licensed reservoir). The man treated us to a gobbledygook story about the reservoir being on Federal Lands (which it is not) and being told to meet his "Supervisor" there.

We informed him the reservoir was entirely on private land and he should leave. He did. But as it seemed that something more nefarious was going on, I armed myself and grabbed a couple of magazines for my Mini-14 that dated from 1982.

I didn't have any need to shoot them in self-defense, but I was curious about how they had aged.

They were loaded 22.0 grains of IMR-4198 under a 52 grain Speer hollow point. I only got a chronograph in 1993, so that became my baseline. Bottom line is that rounds loaded in 1982 delivered the same velocity in 2024 as they had in 1993.

While this may not apply in all circumstances with all powders and storage conditions, anyone concerned about cartridges that have not been shot decades after loading, this may help.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Strange excuse to test one’s ammo I must say.

But seriously, the lake isn’t a source of drinking water is it?

 

[LiveLife]

22.0 grains of IMR-4198 under a 52 grain Speer hollow point ... rounds loaded in 1982 delivered the same velocity in 2024 as they had in 1993.

While this may not apply in all circumstances with all powders and storage conditions, anyone concerned about cartridges that have not been shot decades after loading, this may help.

Nice.

When I started reloading in the 90s, I loaded some extra trays of 45ACP 230 gr FMJ and W231 in the garage and tested them every like 5 years to see if they deteriorated over time.

After learning about priming compounds being sealed with barrier cup/sealant and powder being viable for decades, I stopped testing the rounds after like 20 years and they always consistently went bang and cycled the slide with same ejection pattern of spent case.

BTW, garage did get to 100F+ in the summer and dipped down to 40s in the winter.

 

[armoredman]

Chrono some of them and let us know. I shoot too much for my rounds to age much - I think the oldest I might have MAY be ten years old...maybe, I'll have to look.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Get some range time with your old ammo and load up some fresh stuff or and excuse to buy a bulk order of .223. Factory Ammo is ready good stuff these days!

 

[hdwhit]

Strange excuse to test one’s ammo I must say.

But seriously, the lake isn’t a source of drinking water is it?

Not at the present time, the State does reserve the right to appropriate some of the water in an emergency.

All shooting occurs across the up-stream berm of the dam or across its crest, so the potential for contamination is minimal. Still, the State periodically tests the water and has found no measurable lead contamination.

 

[hdwhit]

Chrono some of them and let us know. I shoot too much for my rounds to age much - I think the oldest I might have MAY be ten years old...maybe, I'll have to look.

I subsequently did.

Mean velocity was 2760 fps.

For reference, a box of Federal American Eagle cartridges returned 2835 fps.

I remain confident my 1980-1993/4/5 reloads will perform at a level that will allow me (should I choose to do so - which at present, I don't) to use them interchangeably with more recent reloads.

 

[Palladan44]

I only load up what I'm going to use in the next calendar year........

Just kidding,
In the back of my mind I'm pretty much assuming all my handloads will be just fine in 30+ years.....they have all been fine for 20 years so far.

Obviously the higher quality the process and storage, the better the result.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Not at the present time, the State does reserve the right to appropriate some of the water in an emergency.

All shooting occurs across the up-stream berm of the dam or across its crest, so the potential for contamination is minimal. Still, the State periodically tests the water and has found no measurable lead contamination.

I was thinking in terms of an unsub hanging around dropping little plutonium pellets into the reservoir.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I was thinking in terms of an unsub hanging around dropping little plutonium pellets into the reservoir.

Polonium-210

 

[CQB45ACP]

Polonium-210

Well I was close. I knew putting P in drinking water was a bad thing.

 

[Bill M]

I don't worry about my handloads, although thousands are in ammo cans, thousands more are in a metal cabinet, all are in the house. I found a box of 44M last year that I had loaded in 1988, all shot fine!
As for viability, I got through the last SPP shortage by loading with CCI SRP that I purchased in the early 90's when we were still shooting Service Rifle matches. They are in an unheated store room in my shop, but the box says, "store in a cool dry place", I guess they know!

 

[hdwhit]

Strange excuse to test one’s ammo I must say.

But seriously, the lake isn’t a source of drinking water is it?

No.

The State licenses all bodies of water (calling them reservoirs) greater than 50 acre-feet entrained by a dam greater than 25 feet in height.

 

[hdwhit]

Chrono some of them and let us know. I shoot too much for my rounds to age much - I think the oldest I might have MAY be ten years old...maybe, I'll have to look.

I did. See the original post.

They delivered essentially the same velocity as they did in the early-1990s (when I got a chronograph).

 

[hdwhit]

Get some range time with your old ammo and load up some fresh stuff or and excuse to buy a bulk order of .223. Factory Ammo is ready good stuff these days!

When I retired, I knew my income would drop to less than half of what I had been making before, so I decided to load up on reloading components to last the rest of my life.

I have been reloading since I was 17. I am now 63.

I have purchased 330 rounds of center-fire ammunition in my entire life. I am not about to buy third-party ammunition that I have not optimized to my firearms and the terrain/conditions in which I shoot.

 

[hdwhit]

I was thinking in terms of an unsub hanging around dropping little plutonium pellets into the reservoir.

I am so far out in the "boonies" that any "unsub" would be immediately identified as an "outsider" and put to work removing the dams the beavers keep trying to erect across my spillways.

As far as radioisotopes go, there are better choices than plutonium. The problem they all have is that they are heavy and so quickly sink to the bottom and never reach the people downstream.

 

[hdwhit]

Correct prior post from Plutonium to Palladium. The problem with the density of the element is essentially the same.

 

[Mark_Mark]

When I retired, I knew my income would drop to less than half of what I had been making before, so I decided to load up on reloading components to last the rest of my life.

I have been reloading since I was 17. I am now 63.

I have purchased 330 rounds of center-fire ammunition in my entire life. I am not about to buy third-party ammunition that I have not optimized to my firearms and the terrain/conditions in which I shoot.

I hear ya!

 

[hdwhit]

I only load up what I'm going to use in the next calendar year........

Just kidding,
In the back of my mind I'm pretty much assuming all my handloads will be just fine in 30+ years.....they have all been fine for 20 years so far.

Obviously the higher quality the process and storage, the better the result.

I am on a quest to load up what I expect to be shooting for the rest of my life.

You can see my posts discussing my plans on this site in 2015 and 2016.

 

[armoredman]

I did. See the original post.

They delivered essentially the same velocity as they did in the early-1990s (when I got a chronograph).

I saw the first reply, is all good, thank you

 

[CQB45ACP]

I am on a quest to load up what I expect to be shooting for the rest of my life.

You can see my posts discussing my plans on this site in 2015 and 2016.

Loaded? That's a lot for sure cause to me you're a young man

 

[CQB45ACP]

I am so far out in the "boonies" that any "unsub" would be immediately identified as an "outsider" and put to work removing the dams the beavers keep trying to erect across my spillways.

As far as radioisotopes go, there are better choices than plutonium. The problem they all have is that they are heavy and so quickly sink to the bottom and never reach the people downstream.

Yeah. @GeoDudeFlorida corrected me earlier on my choice of toxins.

 

[Pottimus]

You had me at P in the drinking water.