Old Ammo

[grampster]

I have a friend and neighbor who is retired Secret Service. He had about 50 rounds of .357 magnum. He said he's had the ammo for a long time...several years, maybe 20. He doesn't have a .357 handgun any longer and gave the ammo to me.

I have a Ruger Security 6 in .357 and I'm wondering a bit about the efficacy or safety in using up those old rounds so I'm not wasting my new stuff what with ammo prices these days.

Any thoughts?

 

[Chevelle SS]

As long as they aren't reloads blast away.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I would make sure they are not reloads, as I do not trust anybody's reloads except what I load myself.

If factory ammo, it should be fine.

Twenty years is nothing as far as old ammo is concerned.

 

[film495]

If they were in the original box, and the box and condition looks good, no crazy corrosion or water damage obvious, no dropped hard, probably as good any off the shelf factory ammo you bought today, is the common view I hear on this question. if it were me, I'd just inspect them all, just look for dents or differences, if they are all sound and none of them appear physically damaged, I don't think there is any actual expiration date on ammo, is there? sounds like you got handed a free box, yea - use it up and hold onto the hollow point or current fancy ammo you have.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

I don't think there is any actual expiration date on ammo, is there?

No, there is no expiration date on ammo.

I have boxes of ammo that are over 50 years old.

Shoots fine.

 

[wcwhitey]

Ammo age is not a problem. If reloads don’t shoot them. Factory box, share a picture with us we can maybe give you more specifics.

 

[grampster]

They are all loose rounds, not in a box. Not hand loads. I'll look em over carefully. Thanks for the info. Nice exercising my Ruger without hearing the cash register ringing.

 

[Mizar]

And yet we shoot surplus ammo that was made before we were even born...

 

[tactikel]

If factory ammo and not corroded I would shoot it. I shot a lot of 1942 lake city .30-06 ball in the 1970’s, shot great.

 

[BullRunBear]

I've shot commercial ammo, mostly military surplus, that is probably 50 years old with no problem. I've shot MY OWN reloads that were well over 20 years old with no problem. I do inspect rounds that old carefully for possible defects and it sounds like you did so. Should be a good range session made even better with free ammo.

Jeff

 

[Seedy Character]

20 year old ammo is new.

War surplus ammo, 100 years old, is still being sold.

 

[wcwhitey]

20 year old ammo is new.

War surplus ammo, 100 years old, is still being sold.

I shot some WW1 .303 phosphorus tipped tracer ammo. Didn’t glow but shot good. Nice cordite smell.

 

[Monac]

I have a similiar problem. I've got some old, discolored, just plain bad looking 25 ACP and 32 ACP ammo. I've had it over 25 years, and it was old when I got it, so I think it's from the 1950's or before. I also have some 9mm Browning Long reloads where I discovered too late that the reloader used 9mm Para bullets, so it won't fit in an FN 1903 magazine. Also, he used lead so soft I can mark it with my fingernail. I don't want to shoot any of this, I just want to get rid of it. What is a good way to do that?

PS - on a nice day, I can walk to one of the Great Lakes. Is tossing it in there an option, or will fishmen hate me for poisoning fish?

 

[Zygodactyl]

I have a similiar problem. I've got some old, discolored, just plain bad looking 25 ACP and 32 ACP ammo. I've had it over 25 years, and it was old when I got it, so I think it's from the 1950's or before. I also have some 9mm Browning Long reloads where I discovered too late that the reloader used 9mm Para bullets, so it won't fit in an FN 1903 magazine. Also, he used lead so soft I can mark it with my fingernail. I don't want to shoot any of this, I just want to get rid of it. What is a good way to do that?

PS - on a nice day, I can walk to one of the Great Lakes. Is tossing it in there an option, or will fishmen hate me for poisoning fish?

I would just bring it back to the reloader to pull the bullets, resize it with the proper die and load it again.

 

[Monac]

I would just bring it back to the reloader to pull the bullets, resize it with the proper die and load it again.

I may have bought it during the Reagan Adminstration. That was before the Swedes found their Lahti pistols were falling apart and replaced them with FN 1903s / Husqvarna 1907s from storage and made a bunch of new 9mm BL, then dumped it on the market after they decided on a new 9mm Para pistol a few years later. 9mm BL was hard to get before that, and I had a Webley in 9mm BL. (That was before the Internet, when you could walk into a gun store and get a stunning bargain if nobody in the store had any idea what some weird old gun that you could not get ammo for was worth.)

I was very young then, and foolish about ammo. I bought some 9mm Para from the same guy, and while it fired and fed fine, the soft black bullets smeared their way down the barrel of a very nice Radom P-35.

Thanks for giving what would otherwise be very good advice, if I was not so old now and so dumb then.

PS - I apologize for writing way too much about this. I'd trim it but I am very tired.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I have some 1941 or 1942 surplus Turkish 8mm Mauser that still shoots just fine.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have a similiar problem. I've got some old, discolored, just plain bad looking 25 ACP and 32 ACP ammo. I've had it over 25 years, and it was old when I got it, so I think it's from the 1950's or before. I also have some 9mm Browning Long reloads where I discovered too late that the reloader used 9mm Para bullets, so it won't fit in an FN 1903 magazine. Also, he used lead so soft I can mark it with my fingernail. I don't want to shoot any of this, I just want to get rid of it. What is a good way to do that?

PS - on a nice day, I can walk to one of the Great Lakes. Is tossing it in there an option, or will fishmen hate me for poisoning fish?

Id just turn it in to my local pd or sheriffs office as found/unknown origin ammo. They get this stuff all the time and should have a process to destroy it.

Stay safe.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

If they're factory loads, shoot them.

If they're reloads...you're placing your firearm and your safety in the hands of someone who may or may not be consistently proper about their reloading. I don't advise it.

 

[Dave T]

PS - on a nice day, I can walk to one of the Great Lakes. Is tossing it in there an option, or will fishmen hate me for poisoning fish?

Neither lakes, rivers, nor the ocean are trash & garbage dumps, despite the way people treat them. No reason to add to the problem.

Dave

 

[DR505]

I have a similiar problem. I've got some old, discolored, just plain bad looking 25 ACP and 32 ACP ammo. I've had it over 25 years, and it was old when I got it, so I think it's from the 1950's or before. I also have some 9mm Browning Long reloads where I discovered too late that the reloader used 9mm Para bullets, so it won't fit in an FN 1903 magazine. Also, he used lead so soft I can mark it with my fingernail. I don't want to shoot any of this, I just want to get rid of it. What is a good way to do that?

PS - on a nice day, I can walk to one of the Great Lakes. Is tossing it in there an option, or will fishmen hate me for poisoning fish?

Before I retired we did plenty of destruction of various items. For ammo we would burn it in a purpose built device designed for this. I have also destroyed hard drives using thermite...works nice.

Dave T is correct...don't pollute, especially our waterways.

 

[Monac]

Before I retired we did plenty of destruction of various items. For ammo we would burn it in a purpose built device designed for this. I have also destroyed hard drives using thermite...works nice.

Dave T is correct...don't pollute, especially our waterways.

Will do. I am now embarrassed that I even mentioned it. It was dumb and lazy.

 

[Zygodactyl]

The brass is not common and it still might be worthwhile to pull the bullets. A simple kinetic puller would work. You could reload it yourself or give/sell the brass to someone who could use it.