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Old Ammo

ultrenite
,,,,,have been given three hundred antique cartridges (black powder/smokeless),,,,,most have a hole in the case (screwed to a display board),,,,majority are primed and powder will trickle out,,,,how can I make these inert/safe,,,,,they range from a .600 Nitro to the smallest .22,,,,,,,
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7 comments

Date Votes
  • ultrenite
    I went to a gun range a while back and took along a couple boxes of 22 ammo I found when cleaning out deceased in-laws house. About one fourth of bullets would not fire. Can anyone tell me how long ammo can should last and still be dependable?
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  • ammo guy
    For practical purposes there is little way to tell. If you are very concerned about this pull a bullet and smell the powder. If it smells like acid this will mean that the powder has gone bad. Even then it probably is not dangerous. It would take long exposure to high temps to cause powder to go bad or for the primers to do so.
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  • ultrenite
    Thanks
    The ammo has been exposed for a long time, but I will check as you recommended. Should I be concerned about the bass' integrity after such a long storage? The bass does need cleaning.
    Thanks
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  • babun
    What do you mean by a long time? They was ammo used in the hot Philippines during WW2 that must have been there for 4 years at least.
    And I'm sure there is ammo in Alaska that has been cold for its entire
    life.
    I have and still use some 30/30 and .35 Remington that my uncle bought in 1966 and has been left in a hunting cabin since then and shot every deer season since. Its just a ritual with me to shoot one of the "old" rounds off every season in memory of him. bob
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  • slumlord44
    Unless the cases are severly corroded, I would not think safety would be an issue. Cold should not hurt it. If heat has damaged it I am thinking the worst that could happen is that it will not fire. Other opinions??
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  • beantownshootah
    A few points:

    Cold doesn't hurt ammo, it preserves it, just like putting the stuff in deep freeze.

    What hurts ammo the most is HUMIDITY, then heat. If the ammo has been properly stored, it should not have been exposed to humidity. Also milspec type ammo may be lacquer sealed around the primers and case neck to seal out moisture and oxygen.

    If by "hot and cold" you just mean ordinary outdoor seasonal weather variations for a few years, your ammo should be FINE. I'd be surprised if you had ANY problems with ammo like that. If your ammo has been stored in a shed in the desert for 40+ years, that's a different story.

    In terms of checking the ammo, if the brass looks OK, it probably is OK. Brown color/tarnish by itself is harmless. If the cases look corroded (ie pitted or green) then you have to worry. If the cases are intact, I *STRONGLY* doubt that the ammo will be unsafe to fire.

    Only way to know for sure how the ammo functions is to shoot it. More likely than not, all the ammo will fire just fine.

    If the powder and/or primers are partially degraded from improper storage you might notice decreased accuracy due to inconsistent ignition and velocities. That's probably the most realistic "worst case" scenario.

    In the absolute theoretical worst-case scenario you could experience a variety of problems ranging from a certain percentage of rounds that don't go off at all, to wild inaccuracy, to hang-fires (delayed ignition). This is the sort of thing than can happen with decades old milsurp ammo that has been stored badly.

    I'd suggest just taking a few rounds out to the range and firing them.

    Assuming they work fine (and again, they probably will) then you dedicate these rounds to practice, not for defensive use or hunting.

    Be careful when test firing to make sure the rounds actually go off properly. You want to hear a "bang" (not a "pop") and feel the recoil with each shot.

    What you do NOT want is a "squib" round that lodges in the bore unnoticed, because then the next round will be "memorable". (Note that the likelihood of this happening is remote).

    If it happens that you pull the trigger and don't get a normal "bang", then you should count to ten before opening up the action just in case you have a hang-fire (delayed ignition). What you don't want is to be opening up the action when a round goes off. . .not good.

    Note that these last two bits about squibs and hang-fires apply to ALL shooting, ALL the time. . .you should just be extra careful if you think the ammo might not be up to snuff.
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  • minitruck83
    quote:Originally posted by babun
    What do you mean by a long time? They was ammo used in the hot Philippines during WW2 that must have been there for 4 years at least.



    And I shot some, (303 Brit) last month! [^]



    Allen
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