shooting old shells?
 

i finally got around to getting my grandpa's 12 ga and he gave me a couple boxes of shells with it, but the shells look kinda old. I'm sure they're at least 10 or so years old, i was wondering if there would be any problems shooting these shells? both boxes are full, and i'd hate to throw them out, and im not sure you can just throw em out. any tips are greatly appreciated. thanks alot!

Schobs

RE: shooting old shells?
 

10 years old?
No problem. They'll likely shoot just fine.
Unless ammo is kept in a very humid condition or very warm (hot) it usually ages ok.
I keep all my ammo in miltary ammo cans in a corner of the basement that is kept cool and dry......I have some 8 X 56R ammo that is marked with the year 1936. It goes "boom" everytime.

RE: shooting old shells?
 

should be fine as long as no corosion on primer

RE: shooting old shells?
 

I have shot WW2 surplus .303 in my Enfield No4 andthe bulletalways leaves the rifle without taking my face with it:D.It should be fine as long it's not corroded.

RE: shooting old shells?
 

I had someone tell me once that you shouldn't do this. I also stored ammo in these containers as well as Powder for reloading. I was informed that it is improper storage and that the ATF has guidelines on proper storage. I looked it up and they actually suggest storing ammo and powder in wood boxes/crates. They claim, and I guess it makes sense, that the metal transfers too much heat. In the case of a fire the metall will heat sufficiently to ignite the powder. Inside of a metal container you have in essence created a Frag grenade. They actually suggest a wood container lined with 5/8 inch sheet rock. I had an old army foot locker that was wood, so I glued some sheetrock to the inside with liquid nail and made a new container. It actually is more convient because I can sort through my powders without the need to remove each can to read the label.

RE: shooting old shells?
 

Ammunition burned in cans does not makelike a frag grenade. When rifle ammunition burned in cans the bullets do not even penetrate the cans.

i'm an EOD guy who has burned over two billion rounds of small arms ammunition, much of it in cans.

RE: shooting old shells?
 

Falcon - Now I'm curious as to what exaxtly occurs when an ammo can is heated,burned to the ignition point of the ammo inside?? Where does it all go??

RE: shooting old shells?
 

It just makes anoise like pop corn popping for alittle whileuntil all the ammo inside is burned. It does not all cook off at once. The bullets dent the side of the can when belted ammo is burned.US military ammo cans aresometimes bulged after the ammo inside cooks off. Never saw one that had blown open,they have really good latches.

Powder is a totally different story. If you fill a military ammo can with smokeless rifle powder and heat it the can will blow up. But not in a really violent manner like black powder will. Fast burning pistol powders like Bullseye do blow up something like black powder when heavily confined.Pistol powdersare preferred byidiots who build pipe bombs.

RE: shooting old shells?
 

Schobs....I assume that the shotgun ammo in question is plastic..??..

Plastic shotshells are quite durable, unless they have been stored under EXTREME conditions...I've shot plenty of older shells, including paper shotshells that were older than ANY plastic ammo and it has detonated just fine... Shoot 'em and enjoy 'em and don't worry about it...

RE: shooting old shells?
 

Shato, I too have heard of what you explain, but falcon beat me to my answer, but with more detail than i knew of. I have heard more than a few reports about tests of ammo being exposed to high heat and even open flames. It was found to be as falcon reports....no big explosions from ammo being heated or burned. Discharges yes, but no violent explosions.

Now of course I don't want any of my ammo exposed to undue temps, but the ammo cans were created for a reason (every military power has used some form of ammo cans) and they have a strong seal which impedes the collection of moisture.
I'll continue to store ammo in ammo cans until I find some imperical evidence that says it's not good. For now, my own experience is that my ammo all works fine, and the fire thing has been dismissed by a # of studies.
Not sure I want to take my all my cues from the BATF folks anyway.
I don't store my powder in such containers, just my ammo.