57 year old reloads

[bear67]

Didn't know where to post this as it is not equipment, but it is old cast bullets, brass, primers and an old reloader

A good friend who had died a fews years back gave me some loaded ammo that he said he cast bullets for and reloaded back in early to mid 50's. There were .38 spl, .45 Colt and a few .45 ACP along with some 38-40 Win. I shot all of it except the .38 WCF last Sunday and all of it--except 2 rounds--went bang, recoiled properly and made a noise when it struck steel. I know the Colt was loaded with Bullseye and it was the only misfires out of about 75 rounds total. The primers had a great strike in the Ruger Blackhawk, just did not light off. . These had been stored in a tack room of his barn where he loaded all those years.

I pulled the two bullets and the powder charge was dry and correct and when I knocked the primers out, no sign of why they misfired as they were dry, no oil or anything else. I loaded them in bare cases and hit them with the revolver hammer again--no light/no bang. Really was amazed. His lead was alloyed to be close to Lyman #2, but on some of these there was oxidation on the part of the cast bullet outside the case. On the bullets, I pulled, the lead inside the brass case was tarnished but not affected by age.

Wish my friend could have been there to see us shoot it. The farm where our range is located is one I bought from him after he retired so it would have been twice as nice. Still got to shoot the .38*.40 though, Maybe next range day.

A bad day shooting is better than a good day shopping with the wife. Bear

[LUBEDUDE]

Well it sounds like your friend was a good reloader and caster. And his barn did a good job of keeping moisture away from the loads as well.

Glad all went well and you had some fun to boot.

[USMC87]

Good to hear that reloads last a long time if properly stored, I'm glad you got to shoot your ol pals reloads.

[Case Stuffer]

Not 50 plus years but justt over thirty.

I stopped shooting my Browning High Power back in the early eighties and ended up with a rather large amount of 9MM reloads left over . Well about a month ago I purchased a SA XD9MM Sub Compact as my new CCW (1911 getting to heavy) and during the past few weeks have went thru around two hundred 81-'82 vintage 135 gr. hard cast SWCn with 4.8 gr.WW231 and Feb. SPP with zero problems.

For the past 7 years this ammo was stored under a shead but still got misted by fog,blowing rain,got hot and cold and had condinsation on it from time to time. Yes I know I was avery bad boy and need a good spanking and I am available for such to be administered by a female with the proper atributes.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Last summer, my son spent a few days at my place in Southern Colorado on his way from Ft Benning to his new place in Seattle following the end of his enlistment. We fired maybe six boxes of 12 ga shells I had reloaded in the early 1970's. No misfires. And, they had been kept most of the time in an old garage with a tin roof in Kansas. Extreme temperature swings, but dry.

[s1120]

Im shooting Dads reloads from the early to mid 70's. No issues at all. All fire, and as on target as anything else I shoot.

[CJ8Ted]

Bear, Sounds like a good day of shooting and memories to boot.

Last summer I loaded some 30-30s with powder marked with a $3 on the side of the one pound can. The powder we got from a relitive (I never met) some were almost empty and did not smell fresh so I did not use them. The ones that were full and smelled fresh I gave a try, worked fine.

Ted

[I'll Make Mine]

I fairly recently shot some .357 loads made with commercial cast bullets, Unique, and CCI primers in the early 1980s. No problems at all after thirty years.

[.30/30 Guy]

A couple of years ago I shot some boolit reloads from the 1960's. Couldn't tell them from some new stuff.

[rmark]

I found a box of 20ga shells I reloaded about 1978-79, they all worked just fine.

[bear67]

I have a can of IMR 4350 that I bought in '59 or maybe '60 from Roy Vinson's Gun Shop and Range and the handwritten price on the can is $1.99. It has maybe 3 oz of powder. My favorite .257 Rob load is with 4350.
I think I will load up 20 and see how they group. I am also about out of my favorite Speer bullet that I used in these when trying to group as small as possible. Bought that Rem 722 in '59 also.
All of us "older" or "OLD" guys can't help but talk about what we used to pay for things. In '59 the minimum wage was 50 cents/hr and I was making six bits/hr and sometimes driving a tractor 80 hours per week. I never worked for minimum after that as I always could convince an employer that I was worth more. Then I went to work for myself and sometimes paid me nothing at all in order to make overhead and the payroll of those who depended upon their check to eat and be warm. But I have been able to do mostly what I enjoyed, keep a wife happy for 45+ years, raise good kids and enjoy good grandkids. I am blessed and try to thank the Good Lord several times a day for those blessings.