Question about vintage M118

[HOGGER]

I have 160 rounds of Vintage M118 7.62x51 Match that I am afraid to shoot. They are still sealed in the boxes so I was afraid to open them. Am I wrong to think that these should be put away and or sold to a collector? If they are just $1.00 a shot and worth no more then I will shoot them but if they bring more I may trade them for some commercial ammo. ??? What would you do? I am lost when it comes to vintage ammo.

[squirrelsniper]

The older M118 (before the newer "LR" version came along) isn't known for being particularly accurate (FGMM and BH 175s are much better). There might be some market for it to someone who doesn't know the difference between the older and newer stuff, but people in the know wouldn't trade commercial match ammo for it.

[HOGGER]

Understood. I wouldn't care if I could trade it for the $.60 ea. PPU that I usually shoot with, but if it's just average then I will shoot it. All I know about the stuff is it says Lot LC 60-5 173 grain 2550 fps. How can I tell the age before I open it up? I just don't want to spoil this in case someone somewhere would want it to collect? If you are sure that it's nothing more than average I could open it and check the headstamp I suppose.