O/T old ammunition

I have several boxes of .22 shells that are at least 20 yrs old. How long does ammo last? If its no good, how do I dispose of it?

I don't think 20 years hurts it any.

I've shot 60 year old 22 and shot gun shells with no ill effects. As long as its been dry it should be good.

Under no circumstances should you try to use this ammunition! For your peace of mind I will reluctantly take it off your hands and properly dispose of safely it one piece at a time. Thanx, TDF

The only ill effects I've seen with old 22 ammo is that it can be a little inconsistant. And you might come across some duds. I doubt that there is any danger though.

Had some old 12 gauge shells that when fired the primer would go off, then 2-3 seconds later, the shell would go off...

They were old paper shells from my granddad. Should have thrown them away, but we shot 'em all anyway.

Weren't the older shells (primers) corrosive?

If so, you might want to make sure your rifle is kept clean.

We shot 22 longs, shorts, and long rifles that had to be from the 50's. Some duds, most were fine. Those poor cans never saw it coming...

Aaron

If it has been dry shoot it up, go target shooting or squirrel hunting. If it has been wet, you will see the corosion on the lead and the casing.

Did anyone see the story where they retrieve a P-38 from the Greenland glacier. The dug down almost 200 feet to get the plane. She is flying now. They call her Glacier Girl. While on the ice, they took one of the machine guns out and fired it using the ammo from the plane. It was 60 years old and had been buried in ice.

Kent

I still build Custom Weaponary, more as a hobby now or for close friends ( I like the $1000.oo pr wk as CONST. SUPT. better than beatin' My brains out to make $500.oo gunbuildin') and that has no bearin' on the answer to Your question, with that said, if the ammo has been kept dry all those years You shouldn't be able to tell the difference, if not properply stored over the years some of it or all of it may misfire, but it is not dangerous.....Unless it is all I had to fight with I would not use it in a self defense situation. Their has been no corosive primed 22 ammo produced in this country since shortly after W W 2...1945...If it were old enough to be corrosive primed , good cleanin' after firein, solves that problem ....GO SHOOTIN'.....HAVE FUN

If you've kept it dry it will be just fine. The primers being in a sealed enviroment (rim fire) makes them pretty stable.

As for how long ammo lasts, there's a lot of military surplus being sold that's well over 50 years old. I bought a pile of Turkish 8MM for a couple Mausers I have - its only gotten more powerful and its head stamped 1943. The CMP is selling piles of 30-06 ammo the army stockpiled during and after WW2 and people are using it for match shooting. The only "bad" stuff they have is some Korean 30-06 that has gotten "too hot" with age and shouldn't be shot in Garands.

That ammunition is still new for all intents and purposes.....really!

I had a friend call me a few years ago and offer me a can of "old army shells" as he called it. Seems his uncle had hoarded it, the uncle had died and they wanted the ammunition gone.

I went to retrieve what I assumed would be a box of assorted junk and was overjoyed to be handed a full military can of fresh M1 Ball ammo, all in Garand clips and bandoliers, dated 1957.

I promptly ran it all through my two M1"s with nary a hiccup.

When I was much younger....about 35 years ago, I was looking for some 38 WCF (38-40) ammunition so I could use an old family heirloom ("92 Winchester) that deer season. There was an elderly man in the village that told me to come see him...he thought he had some ammo. I went to see him and he pulled out an old Roi Tan cigar box and dug out 16 cartridges (cat"ridges as he called"em). This was around 1974 and he told me he had owned a rifle like the one I was using, back around 1915! The shells were "just" 59 years old then...assuming they were made in 1915...they could have been older. needless to say, I scooped them up and went to try a few out before opening day. Those cartridges were loaded by UMC (Union Metallic Cartridge Co.) with black powder, in what is known as "balloon head" cases. They even had copper primer cups. That ammunition is quite collectible nowadays. Every single one of them worked as good as the day they were made. I regret that I didn"t save a couple...but I was young and foolish then and had no idea such things were rapidly disappearing.

As for corrosive primers: Most of them disappeared by the late 1930"s, although Uncle Sam continued to use them until the early 1950"s in everything EXCEPT 30 carbine ammo which was always loaded with non corrosive primers and ball powder.

Corrosive primers used potassium chlorate...which when fired, became a chloride....a salt in other words. This being very hygroscopic, drew moisture and rusted the barrel. Non corrosive primers utilize lead styphanate which leaves no harmful residues behind.

Even 20 year old .22 ammo is becoming collectible if it's in the original boxes. It's the graphics on the boxes that make them desirable. It will be worth some money to the right person.

I used to be a target shooter, as well as an instructor. From personal experience, the 22 ammunition will probably still work fairly dependably, but you can expect some vertical stringing, due to the deterioration of primer and powder.

Should be fine if the ammo was kept dry...........we've used plenty that was far older than 20 yrs............of course I have no real credentials to my name BUT I DID stay at a Holiday Inn last night............

BTW, if you do decide to dispose of them, do not do so in the "burning barrel"

Shame on you for leaving ammo sitting that long, get out there and start shooting already.

After WWII ammo was dumped in a local gravel pit. As youngsters, friends used to swim at the gravel pits and recover the ammo. We used to remove the slug and burn the gun-cotton/powder in trails across the playground. Was finally cleared out about 30 years ago, but a lot of it was still good to fire.

Regards, RAB

Yes I saw that program.

Very interesting.

Love those P38's.

I believe there are only 5 airworthy left.
Glacier Girl
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Looks like I will be sleeping with one eye open for a few days!

Check your life insurance policy. If you're worth more dead than alive better use up that ammo! Make your own drinks too! A woman up this way is on her way to prison for killing two husbands with antifreeze. She got away with them both but got caught trying to do in her daughter.

There was also a program (on Nova, maybe) where a B-29, which had crash-landed in 1947 was found in the mid-'90s, repaired, engines replaced and flown out. It caught fire and crashed again while on its way out. I can find links to the retrieval, but not to the second crash/destruction. Sad story.........

A few days?!?!?!?

From now on, brother!

;8^)

I don't have any 22 shells much less than 20 years old I think. I shot some stuff from the 60's a few years ago. No missfires. We bought 4 or 5 bricks in the early 90's that we use.

I fired some paper CIL shotgun shells from the 60's as well. No problems.

Yes I saw that one to.

All that hard work and the plane caught on fire before take off.

I am not ashamed to admit that I cried over that one.

During th Korean Conflict, my uncle John flew a B29 and said that he once "strafed" a target with the SuperFortress.

Uncle John was quite a "character".

Anyone who's been married more that two days already knows--or should know--that wives are famous for saving back old ammunition...and plenty of it is effective for years and years, even after being fired and reloaded repeatedly.

LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the early 70s I bought an Winchester model 85 high-wall also bought some 40-82 ammo that was black powder had fun shooting the old stuff. Still have the Shells but sold the gun.
Walt

Yes I saw the story of the B-29. What made me sick was the mechanic died. I know NOTHING of airchraft but I think they should have tried to get the existing engine running instead of changing them out. See how what you had worked and they may have not had to do all of that work and would NOT have been as presss for time as they were.

Kent

As long as it was kept clean and dry, and there is no corrosion on the cases, you are probably good to go!

Just used up the last of my old stock .22LR last year. It was from 1976, fired fine, but the rare case would split and need to removed manually. DOUG

no exaggeration, I have shot .303 british ammo from 1917 and it functioned fine.storage has alot to do with it,also the gunpowder was in stick form (nitro-cellulose ?). bill m.

i think someone told me they were using a gasoline powered generator as an APU and it tipped over or something.I can research it anyone wants me to. bill m.

if its been kept clean and dry it apparently is good indefinatly im still shooting up .22 LR and .22 mag that pop bought in the late '50's or early 60's it works just fine and so far its outlasted him by 10 years now