How safe are old reloads?

[Dacsoft]

My neighbor just gave me some old reloads he has had for years. They were stored indoors in a safe. How safe and reliable is old ammunition like this?

8/16/1987

9mm

Conical lead

125 gr

Bullseye 4.7gr

8/16/1987

9mm

SWC lead

124 gr

Bullseye 3.5gr

Should I just trash this stuff?

thanks

[GrumpyOne]

First, is he ABSOLUTELY sure of the load? Are YOU sure he loaded it? Do YOU trust him?

If they were stored properly (in the safe with a dehumidifier), they should be ok to shoot, but I'd still be leery of them. I've shot some really old factory ammo before, with no ill effects. How many did he give you and why did he give them to you?

I have a thing about shooting other peoples reloads, even ones from so called re-manufacturers.

Edited June 19, 2010 by GrumpyOne

[wsimpso1]

As safe as the day they were loaded...

The only things that can happen to them is corrosion of the case and breakdown of the chemicals in the powder or primer.

Corrosion, you can see, and if you have it, don't shoot it.

Modern non-corrosive commercial primers like we have used in North America since before WWII can die, but then they just won't fire. Same with powder. This breakdown would require extended storage at higher temps than most of us would ever tolerate in our living space...

Now if you had mercuric primers, that can cause case failures, but that would be foreign ammo from several decades further back yet.

Most of us would only be concerned over whether the ammo was loaded by a careful reloader, and that the recipe is a published load...

Billski

[4Baldy]

So far as being old is no problem if stored right. I shot some WW-II ammo a couple of months ago and it worked just fine. So far as shooting others reloads, I just don't do it and I do not offer mine to anyone. Just me.

[GrumpyOne]

So far as being old is no problem if stored right. I shot some WW-II ammo a couple of months ago and it worked just fine. So far as shooting others reloads, I just don't do it and I do not offer mine to anyone. Just me.

I will add, that I let people shoot my reloads in my gun however.

[old506]

Since when did 1987 become "old"!

About 15 years ago I bought some Winchester .38 special brass that was GI WWII. It was new primed brass and came in these nice little cardboard boxes. I don't know why they had primed brass in those days, why didn't they just load them and give them to the GI's? Anyway, I loaded them up and every primer worked so what where they, 60 years or so old? I have boxes and boxes and boxes of papers shotgun shells that still go bang dating back pre-WWII.

The biggest thing I would be concerned about is his standard for reloading. It probably is fine but who knows? If you are inclined to shoot it I would pull a bullet and shoot one of the primers to see if it goes bang, maybe weigh the powder charge inside? worst case scenario, you have some brass.

[CSEMARTIN]

Should I just trash this stuff?

yes.

[JimmyZip]

I had a great grandfather who was a master gunsmith and a prolific reloader. When I was a kid, we used to get into the stores of ammo that he had loaded from in our garage. There were boxes and boxes of the stuff. All was marked with the date loaded/bullet weight/caliber/charge, and powder type, and some even what rifle it was loaded for.

So in the 80's I was shooting ammo loaded from as far back as the late 40s. They all worked well. Some was pistol ammo too. Only thing that sucked was my dad would make us clean the heck out of any rifle we intended to shoot, before and after we used it. I can assure you they were dirtier before than after we used them.

Knowing what I know now, even knowing how much he should have or did know about reloading, I think I would pull the bullets if this were today. But taht's just me.

JZ

[calishootr]

i dunno, kinda torn on this one....safety first, pull a couple bullets to at least confirm the charge weight as it it being what it is, and check for corrosion, drop the empty brass in a gun and see if the primer goes bang???(wear ear plugs and do it outside, ask me how i know)

I still have stuff i loaded personally from the 80's, and it works fine, kept in a cool dry place, it should last quite a while

I got some 30-06 from an older gent, for a rifle i bought from him, he said the stuff was made for that rifle, well, i did some checking, and his OAL was waaaay off, pulled a bullet, and he was only 5 grs. OVER max, and the inside of the case was showing signs of corrosion(pretty green in side) so i pulled the bullets and saved em(sierra matchkings) and trashed the powder and brass....

[Dacsoft]

Overall I trust this guy. He used to shoot and reload a lot- until a friend used one of his guns to kill himself. He got rid of all his reloading equipment and guns.

I am pretty sure about the reloads, because there were hand-written cards inside each sealed box. He had the plastic boxes with 50 in each. Each box had a label inside and was taped shut with the date written on the tape.

[Merlin Orr]

<snip> As safe as the day they were loaded... <snip>

Billski

My thoughts. If you would have shot the reloads the day after they were made I would not hesitate to shoot them now....... With that being said I am pretty damned particular who's ammo I would trust to shoot.

Ammo is cheap and my guns are definitely not.