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Older Handloaded Ammunition

Phaser

Phaser

Master Class
I have roughly 100+ rds of .300 Win Mag ammunition...loaded 40 yrs. ago. It has been stored in appropriate plastic ammo boxes this whole time and not subjected to dampness or other unfavorable conditions.
So, what's the consensus of older ammo useability. How much degradation if any takes place with age.
 
If you have the means pull a couple of bullets and look and smell of the powder. It should smell like either or alcohol. If it’s clumped together it means moisture has gotten to the powder. If it has an acidic smell the powder is breaking down and that can be very dangerous because the burn rate of the powder has changed. More than likely if it been stored properly there’s nothing wrong with it. There is still people shooting 30/06 from WW1. Smokeless powder and primers have a very very long shelf life if stored properly.
 
Ive shot 100+ year old 303 British; but that was factory and I guess better sealed IDK?

If your really concerned try shooting it with a chronograph.

Hope that wasnt too pompous, condescending, or derogatory. Ooooops sorry but it was 3 paragraphs (sarcasm)
 
i've shot ammo i loaded 30 years prior that WASN"T stored in favorable conditions, but was in a cooler the whole time. it shot just fine and it was loaded .5gr past max according to sierra. i'd say as long as it's shot in the same firearm it was proofed in you should be gtg.
 
My first reloads, 7.65 Argie was loaded in 1979, according to the label. Still shoot a few rounds every now and then. Works fine. You know the conditions you stored it in, and anything you should be concerned about. Heck, look at all the Turkish 8mm out there; stored who knows how and older than I am, but still works f8 e!
 
It used to be common on the internet , and before that in print , to see brief stories along the lines of " We found Granddad's 1911 from WWI , and it's been loaded / the gun & two spare mags have been loaded & untouched since 1918 " .

And they then test it ( usually cleaning & lubing the gun first .

Up to 75 years , it was universally everything fired , and was consistent .

More than 75yrs , approaching 100 , it was everything fired , but some rounds were sluggish and inconsistent .

Over 100 yrs , some rounds fail to fire .

All of the reported results of inconsistent velocities were low , no pressure spikes reported .

Disclaimer - Results of 100 year ammo are not necessarily same as today's primers & powders 100 years from now .
 
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