How Old Is Too Old Regarding Handloads??

[billt]

I thought I would post this because so many people at one time or another ask how long reloads will last. Yesterday I took my new Savage Model 110 FCP-K out to the range to wring it out. I gathered up a lot of different .300 Win. Mag. ammo I had laying around. I found a yellow plastic box of handloads I had loaded up way back in 1975! These rounds were loaded in a Lee Loader because I didn't have a press until I bought my first house in 1976. They were loaded with 220 grain Hornady round nose soft points that, if I remember correctly, I loaded up in anticipation of an upcoming bear hunt that never materialized. So the rounds just continued to gather dust until I found them yesterday.

After all of the serious shooting and grouping went well I decided to get rid of this old ammo. My club range has steel plates set out at 200 yards. I loaded up the Savage with the old handloads and went to work. Every single one went bang, and accurately too I might add. These rounds were stored in a 20 MM G.I. issue ammo can for literally decades, (34 years to be exact). They got no special treatment such as sealer on the primers or case mouths. I loaded the powder, then tapped in the bullet with a plastic mallet, per Lee's instructions.

This should lay to rest any worry about handloads "going bad" with age. At least from my perspective it does. If stored in a dry environment the shelf life of most any kind of modern ammo is all but indefinite. Bill T.

[Hammer]

I don't shoot any handloads that I didn't personally load, oversee the loading of, or personally train the person loading them.

Therefore the age limit of handloads that I won't use matches my own.

I have shot lots of handloads the same age as the ones you shot and they all worked fine.

.

[GaCop]

Yeah, the 20mm cans are great for ammo storage and useful for storing edible items little furry criters like to get into. They are hard to find now. When I was stationed at Avon Park Bomb/Gunnery Range in central Florida we had pallets of them for the taking. Wish I could get more now.

[Balljoint]

When was shooting XC Matches with my 30/06 i had resized and primed several hundred FA and LC Match cases then stored them in 30 cal. ammo cans some are twenty years stored and still go bang

[wbm]

Precision Shooting did an article several years ago on old ammunition. They used properly stored ammunition of course but the results were really impressive. Even some ammunition stored since the late 50's performed well.

[Eric in NC]

I have a lot of German milsurp 8mm with headstamps ranging from 1934-1940 and it is still accurate and reliable. This is supposedly stuff that was left behind in North Africa when Rommel retreated. Sealed (with lead) into tins - bright, shiny...

Just wish it was boxer primed.

[EFBell]

Have a bunch of that 8MM turkish stuff headstamped in the 40's. shot several hundred to date without a misfire.

[phirebug]

i went through a box of .50 cal a few months back with a LC 54 headstamp. Shot fine.

[CJ in WY]

The best shooting ammo I found (and it beat any of my reloads) for the States Arms 50BMG was DM 1945 APs, this stuff also shot good in a few others!
The primer and powder will keep along time if stored right BUT there is one problem that pops up evry now and then and usualy only a benchrest shooter will catch it? The bullet can bond to the neck in some cases worse than others? Usualy not a problem if your not already overpreasure, just shootin big targets at close range or plinking. If they are gonna sit around for a while I seat bullets long for hunting rounds and seat them to final length before I use them.

[gitano]

A little over 300 years...

My experience is similar to those reporting on use of 60+year-ld milsurp ammo. The 1938 head-stamped nazi 8x56R ammo is the most consistent ammo I have EVER shot whether handloads or factory ammo in 50 years of shooting. Standard deviations of 4 f/s are very common. I intend to shoot this ammo when it's 100 years old.

Finally, I wrote a letter to Remington some time back simply telling them about a misfire/"dud" in some of their factory ammo. I was simply giving them information not asking for ANYTHING. I got and absolutely absurd reply. I'm getting as close to a quote as I can.


"That lot of ammunition over 10 years old. We recommend that you have it destroyed immediately. Take it to the nearest law enforcement facility and have them properly dispose of it."

I kid you not. I can provide the email if you don't believe me. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Big Green put in writing that their factory ammo is "dangerous" if not used within 10 years! Unbelievable.

Paul

[Woodser]

Also have seen some old handloads bond the bullet to the case neck. Raised pressures to the point of flattening primers to a sharp edge. In which case I seated the bullets deeper, pulled the bullets, dumped the powder and bullets in the round file, snapped the primers in the rifle, and salvaged just the cases.

Conversely, had some 8x57JS ammo from WW1 that was sealed and shot just fine.
It was corrosive primed, but it gave some of the best accuracy from "factory loads" I have ever seen.

[billt]

Also have seen some old handloads bond the bullet to the case neck. Raised pressures to the point of flattening primers to a sharp edge. In which case I seated the bullets deeper, pulled the bullets, dumped the powder and bullets in the round file, snapped the primers in the rifle, and salvaged just the cases.

I had a shooting buddy who had that happen to him. (At least that's what he suspects it was.) He simply adjusted his seating die about a 1/2 turn deeper and broke the "bond", and they all shot normally after that. Bill T.

[Bad Water Bill]

A couple years ago I got over 300 rounds of KA-73 in 30-06. I took some to the range with a brand new Weatherby. The first round had brass flying everywhere. The range master said the same thing happened the week before with the same headstamp. Do not ask what I found inside. However the bullets were amazing, 90+% were within .1 gr of each other. No I did not dump them.

[Eric in NC]

A couple years ago I got over 300 rounds of KA-73 in 30-06. I took some to the range with a brand new Weatherby. The first round had brass flying everywhere. The range master said the same thing happened the week before with the same headstamp. Do not ask what I found inside. However the bullets were amazing, 90+% were within .1 gr of each other. No I did not dump them.


Well that wasn't quality ammo to start with - you are lucky it didn't destroy your rifle. Many folks had M1's damaged or ruined by that Korean surplus.

[billt]

A lot of M-1's and more recently M-1A's, have been damaged by the wrong ammo. These guns need ammo that has a powder with a mid range burn rate. That eliminates most of the so called "hunting ammo" that is currently on the market. Most of this ammo is loaded with powder that is far too slow burning for the these semi auto's gas systems. Federal is just now bringing out M-1 and M-1A specific ammo for these guns. I handload all of my ammunition I shoot through both of my M-1A's so I know what I'm getting. Bill T.

http://accurateshooter.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/federal-introduces-affordable-m1-garand-ammo/

[Eric in NC]

A lot of M-1's and more recently M-1A's, have been damaged by the wrong ammo. These guns need ammo that has a powder with a mid range burn rate. That eliminates most of the so called "hunting ammo" that is currently on the market. Most of this ammo is loaded with powder that is far too slow burning for the these semi auto's gas systems. Federal is just now bringing out M-1 and M-1A specific ammo for these guns. I handload all of my ammunition I shoot through both of my M-1A's so I know what I'm getting. Bill T.

http://accurateshooter.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/federal-introduces-affordable-m1-garand-ammo/


Well this ammo was designed for M1s and produced by S. Korean gov't arsenals for the M1s we loaned/gave them. Corrosive primed (not a big deal) and many had brittle brass (a big deal) that resulted in partial or complete case head ruptures - as tough as an M1 is, a case head separation is not something they handle well.

[billt]

Well this ammo was designed for M1s and produced by S. Korean gov't arsenals for the M1s we loaned/gave them.

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/5581/cmp3006ammo2ya5.jpg

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/6332/cmp3006ammo1ca2.jpg

I purchased 3 cases, (1,440 rounds), of this Greek HXP .30-06 M-2 Ball ammo from the CMP about a year ago. It was supposedly loaded for the M-1 Garand, and was also available loaded in 8 round En-Bloc Clips. I shoot it for practice in my 4, .30-06 bolt guns. It is loaded hot, and I would have my doubts putting any of it through a nice Garand. I have heard a few stories of bent op rods and the like from shooting it. It runs fine in a bolt gun with good accuracy, and no difficult extraction. For the price, ($381.00 for 1,440 rounds delivered), it can't be beat. That comes to only $5.29 @ box of 20. I can't buy .30-06 brass for that. The stuff is amazingly accurate considering the fact it was loaded in 1967. Bill T.

[the_right_reverend]

got some TW 53 in 30-06 that work just fine

[Eric in NC]

Yep I have some TW and SL from the 50's that shoots fine - better than latter USGI surplus in fact.

I have found my lots of HXP aren't really hotter than M2 ball specs - they are hotter than "late model" USGI surplus (the LC 66, 69, etc. that is common) which is loaded very light (supposedly to make shooting the M1s we loaned our smaller-built allies in South Korea and South Vietnam more comfortable for them), but the HXP I have shot is just at the high end of the M2 spec (~2,750 fps at 70-some feet if I recall correctly).

[hunter2]

Tried to shoot some old reloads I had put together over 30 yrs ago for an elk hunt. Nosler partition bullets in a 7mm mag. Fired 2 shots - the necks had 3 rows of u splits up the neck. Yes pressure was up there. Tried to break the seal, caved in the neck. Tried to pull them, forget it. RP brass, Rock Chucker press, sized with RCBS equip. Had some that was loaded at the same time with Speer GS bullets. Shot fine!