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.

[Hi Ball]

Bill T. I can personally tell you that in 1976, downstairs on my reloading bench, I loaded up 2 boxes (40 rounds) of .375 H&H cartridges and 25 years later I still had one of those boxes left.

One day a friend of mine came over and told me, he would like to shoot my .375H&H rifle, he had planned on purchasing one for a moose hunt in Canada the following year. I took my rifle out of the vault and grabbed that box of 25 year old handloaded shells. We went outside and he shot 5 shots through that rifle. I then went and set up my Chrony and took a reading after firing a 3 shot string. The velocity was right on the nose!!! I rest my case Gents.;)

Bill T. I am off to the range tomorrow and plan on purchasing another GLOCK pistol. It will be another GLOCK MODEL-20. I plan to make a 9 x 25 Dillion out of that pistol. It will shoot a 165 grain bullet at 1800fps.:eek::D:D

[Fuzzball3]

I'm old enough to have developed a perspetive on most people's view of what's too old. Basically, no matter their age or the subject matter, most folks feel that anything (or anyone) older than themselves is "too old" to be useful. Truely!!! :D

[Badger]

billt,

I agree with you; proper storage of ammo in a cool, dry place ensures a long shelf life. I began reloading in 1960. I routinely shoot off reloads from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s with no problems. I went 25 straight at trap recently with a box of 12 gauge 7.5shot loaded in 1976.

Badger

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Inside a cartridge with a properly seated bullet and stored properly is probably the best place to store powder. Probably primers too.

Alan

[Smitty5]

My 30-06 is a go to rifle. I keep 3 boxes of ammo in the hard case it is stored in. They are loaded with either 59.0 grs of H4831 and the 180 gr. Speer Mag Tips or 57.5 grs of IMR 4350 under a 165 gr Sierra BTHP. The rifle has a Leupold 4x that is so old it is a M7 instead of a M8. The rifle never changes zero so I take it out and shoot a three shots with a load consisting of the 165 gr. Remington corelokt and 4350, run a dry patch down the barrel and take it hunting. I hunt with the 165 gr. BTHP the most and every round fired from these 60 rounds has taken a deer or an elk. There ar 6 of the Mag Tips left and 10 of the BTHP's. Heck it's almost time to load some fresh ammo!

[billt]

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

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

All this .30-06 is from 1967. It goes bang beautifully. Bill T.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

My dad gave #3 son 240 rounds of that greek stuff and he was burning it up pretty fast. I asked him what he was going to do about hunting ammo. He kinda gave me that "Well, I figured you were springing for that Dad?" look. I pulled a bullet and weighed it. It did not weigh what the carton said it was supposed to weigh (I think 165 or 167 or some such). It weighed 150 grs. So I pulled bullets on about 50 rounds and seated some 150 Sierras in their place. They shot fine and he hunted with them last year. Now that he's a "workin man" I expect he'll be shooting Federal Premium this year! If he's smart he'll stick with the Greek stuff.

Alan

[billt]

If he's smart he'll stick with the Greek stuff. Alan

+1! I had my doubts when I ordered this stuff. But 1,440 rounds for $381.00 delivered to my door Fed-Ex, I couldn't pass it up. Now I'm damn glad I didn't! This stuff is great for informal shooting, and does a hell of a job ringing the steel plates at 200 and 500 yards at my club range. It figures at $5.29 @ box of 20. I can't buy .30-06 brass for that. As per usual, I wish I had ordered 10 cases instead of 3. Hindsight is always 20/20. I did splurge for some nice white cardboard boxes with Styrofoam trays from Midway to keep the ammo in after I opened the spam can. The cardboard boxes in the photo fall apart once you open them. You can't believe how small that manhole cover size plate looks from 500 yards away! And it's no easy task to hit from field positions. Bill T.

[skb2706]

I'm old enough to have developed a perspetive on most people's view of what's too old. Basically, no matter their age or the subject matter, most folks feel that anything (or anyone) older than themselves is "too old" to be useful. Truely!!! :D

That is far and away the most accurate post of information I have ever read on this or any other forum. Truly !!