Old reloads and old powder.

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jr_roosa

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Here's a question for you guys.

My dad used to shoot and reload back in the 60s and 70s, but he hasn't used his equipment in years. I'm going back home to pack it all up and ship it to where I live now so I can feed my desperately hungry 1911 without making my family desperately hungry.

Along with his reloading gear and tons of brass, he has several hundred rounds (maybe more) of reloads that are maybe 30 years old. They were stored in a basement that is cool and humid, but not wet.

What are your thoughts on using old reloads? Obviously if they are clearly corroded I'll probably toss them. I believe that there are .45ACP, .38, .357, .30-06, and .30-30 in there. The .45ACP is what I'm most interested in, but the other stuff certainly won't get much worse in the few years it takes me to acquire guns that will shoot the stuff.

If I decide not to shoot them, is it worth disassembling them to save the brass and lead?

Also I'm pretty sure he has several cans of powder, same storage, same age. I know I can't ship that, but there's the option of having him bring it out by car next time he comes to visit. Worth the trouble?

I'd assume the loose brass and bullets are still A-OK.

Primers? Just toss them? Save them for practice?

For primers, powder, or complete cartridges, what is the best route of disposal in most towns? Although "exploding garbage truck" sounds neat in the abstract, I get the sense that might cause me some legal issues.

I know about the procedure for shipping ammo, so that's not a problem.

Thanks for your help.

-J.

PS, I wonder how many replies will be "that stuff is all probably junk, just bring it by my house and I'll get rid of it for you." :)
 
Good God! Get ahold of the stuff and use it!!

If the powder has been stored in a cool storage location, with humidity, and no extreme temperature cycling, that is great. Thirty years are nothing to powder in those conditions.

As far as primers, heck I was able to get about 1000 old CCI primers, probably from the 60's. I loaded them up in my 45 ACP and they all shot great. The bottom line is, if they go bang, they are good.

Brass commands a premimum at the scrap yard. They are not interested in purchasing live ordnance, chemical weapons, or completely reloaded rounds.

As far as reloads, well shooting someone else's reloads is a choice. The questions you need to ask your self is "how careful a person was Dad?". If dear old Dad was a very detailed and careful person, (and never blew up a gun) then go shoot the stuff.

If dear old Dad is missing some digits because he was accident prone, well........
 
I second SlamFire's admonition about "Dads" reloading habits. If you trust his reloading skills, go ahead and shoot the stuff. About the only thing you might run into is a few failures to fire. Also, be sure you know how to deal with a "hang fire". If you pull the trigger and it doesn't go bang, don't be anxious to eject the round. Hold the muzzle down range until you are sure that the round will not fire. 30 seconds should be adequate. Toss those rounds in the bucket provided at the range for "Duds".

Enjoy and save the good brass for YOUR reloading experience.
 
jr_roosa,

Reloading components don't have a "sell by" date like food. Assuming they are stored in normal (not extreme) conditions, they will most likely be good for your lifetime.

Don
 
That stuff is all probably junk, just bring it by my house and I'll get rid of it for you!

No seriously, if there aren't any corrosion issues, shoot it and enjoy. Most mil-surp ammo is much older, probably stored under similar conditions, and goes bang every time.
Modern powders will last for many years in storage. they don't really have a shelf life. I have containers of powder much older than I am (given to me by an uncle) that still work fine. The brass and bullets, barring corrosion issues, will work as good as the day they were manufactured.
I don't care for old, stored primers though. I know that this is a completely unfounded argument and the ones you have will be fine but I generally don't keep unloaded primers more than a couple of years. Just a quirk with me.
 
Ok then! That settles that.

I was mainly excited about the reloading hardware, but Dad says, "Oh by the way, there's a ton of ammo down there I never got around to shooting, and don't buy any brass, I have more than you can ever use." Who knows how many hundreds of pounds of lead he has too.

You guys should buy some stock in UPS because this is going to be a pricey shipment.

Dad is neurotic when it comes to pretty much everything. No blown up guns, 10 fingers and toes.

He probably even has the notes on what batch is what still.

I'll have him toss the powder in the trunk, whatever lead he has, and maybe the rifle and .357 rounds that I don't need for a while and have him drive them out here on his next trip.

His reloading bench is really nice and it is covered with copper sheeting too, but I have no idea how I'd get that out here.

Thanks for your help.

-J.
 
Ive fired some old paper hulled shells my father reloaded long before i was born and not a single one didnt fire perfectly. and the hulls look like they could probably be used again.
 
You guys should buy some stock in UPS because this is going to be a pricey shipment
Click to expand...

For anything non-hazardous (bullets, brass, reloading equipment), USPS (post office) Flat Rate boxes will be your best friends. Anything that will fit in them, up to 70 pounds, goes anywhere in the country for $8.95.
 
I think that I'll take advantage of the flat rate box you mention for anything heavy that wouldn't break my heart if it went missing (lead pot, bullets, brass, trays, boxes).

I hate shipping anything valuable through the post office. I like being able to track things. If something is out for delivery today, and it's not on my porch when I get home, I know something went wrong. Also my schedule is flexible enough that I can ususally lurk around the house on the day something is coming in to make sure it gets to me.

Post Office works great for letters, and it works great when things go well, but it's a nightmare to sort out when things go wrong compared to UPS.

It also occurs to me that I should check the value of the stuff I'm shipping. It would be dumb to spend $20 to ship something I can get down the street for $15.

Thanks for your advice.

-J.
 
Hi jr,

If you do find some loaded ammo in all of this stuff that you are aquiring and you feel you need to get rid of it because it is unsafe, you may want to take it to the local law enforcement station and explain the situation. They have the access to safely dispose of it for you and probably at no cost. It would be better than endangering yourself of throwing it in the trash and someone else finding it. You would have a clear consceince.

Just my thoughts,
Tony
 
Update

Well, poop. :(

I was talking to my dad this weekend, and I misunderstood/misremembered what he told be before.

Turns out the "hundreds of rounds" was actually about 100 rounds of .45ACP and a smattering of other stuff. He "used to have" a ton of powder but he gave it away long ago to get it out of the house and to make sure it didn't go to waste. I was correct about the heaps of brass, lead, and bullets. Looks like I'll only need to pick up primers, a brass tumbler, and build a reloading bench and I'll be off to the races.

It certainly makes shipping a lot easier though since everything will be inert. I'll only have to worry about insanely heavy stuff and very delicate stuff...they should probably go in different boxes.

Either way I'm happy, although I was looking forward to having a few hundred rounds of ammo to hold me over until I get set up.

Thanks for your advice everybody. I appreciate it, and I'm sure I'll have lots more questions once everything is set up.

-J.
 
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