Old ammo

R

Roland Thunder

New member
I recently found a box of .38 cartridges in our closet. It's about 30 years old. I don't even own a .38 anymore, haven't for about 20 years. What is the best way to dispose of the ammo.
 
I have a bunch of .45 ball ammo that's packed in 20 round cardboard boxes marked "20 Cartridges, Pistol Ball, Caliber .45 M1911, Ammunition Lot W.C.C. 1032, Western Cartridge Company".

The headstamps are FA32, meaning this stuff was manufactured in 1932.

It was given to me by a retired Army Major in the early 1970s. He'd stored it in his attic in Tucson. Most of the time I've owned it, it's been stored in garages or attics in AZ, SD and FL. Temps ranged from -20 to +120 or more.

Now to my point. In 2008, I ran 5 rounds through one of my 1927 Argentine Colts and chronographed the results. I got an average of 842 fps and a Standard Deviation of 12!

Somehow I don't think shooting 30 year old ammo will be a problem.
 
I just bought a new 243 and couldn't wait to shoot it. I found some ammo I loaded 28 years ago and decided to get the gun on paper with it. It shot right around .5" five shot groups. Wonder how it would have shot if it was newer? (I'd guess not much). I still have rifle powder I'm using that's world war two surplus and it works great.
 
I presently have ammo made in the pre-WWII period and it all shoots fine. Some i know was made in the mid 20's. .25-20, .32-20, .32-40, etc.
 
The box is probably worth more than the ammo now.

I wouldn't worry about the ammo. I'm still shooting some ammo I reloaded in 1983. Just a few rounds at a session, but they still work.
 
The box as stated may be worth way more than the ammo.
I have some Wetherby ammo / boxes I have been offered $100.00 for.
 
I've shot milsurp ammo from 1955 with no problems.

There's even apocryphal stories out there about successfully firing ammo from the Spanish-American War.
 
You can give it to me, I have a .38...I'm still hunting with .264 win mag I loaded in the 60's. Too expensive to waste.
 
Use it as an excuse to buy a .38
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Best answer by far. In my house with all the old oddball stuff I pick up at various yard sales and estate auctions that would be considered fresh ammo. I'm still using up some old M2 ball ammo, slightly tarnished from a carton marked 1952. It goes bang and hits what I am shooting at.
 
Somebody else's 30 year old reloads? I'd just toss it in the trash, or find a reloader who can use the bits.
 
Japle, I hope you cleaned that Argentine; that old ammo is corrosive as heck!

FWIW, about 20 years ago I fired some .45-70 ammo dated in the 1880's. All but one round out of 20 went off. Don't ever believe old ammo won't fire.

Jim
 
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