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View Full Version : Century ammo- should I shoot it?



fatelk
01-21-2017, 08:06 PM
No, not ammo from Century Arms, just ammo that is a century old. I picked up this box of .45 ACP a while back for $10. It is now a full century old.

I know, it seems a shame to fire something like this, but it's not particularly rare or valuable, and I just thought it might be fun to shoot ammo that's 100 years old, or at least a few of them.


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Added for clarification: I don't mean that I'm going to use this for "shooting ammo". That would be a terrible waste. I have PLENTY of modern ammo for regular shooting. My only reason for shooting a few is just the specific novelty of firing a few rounds of century old ammo. I'm confident that it's safe, and I know it's corrosive. I'm not concerned about the cost or value. This ammo is not so rare or valuable that the firing of one magazine/seven rounds is of any financial consequence.

I just thought it would be fun for the novelty of it, that's all.

Edward
01-21-2017, 08:23 PM
I wouldn"t ,save it for another 100yrs and you will double your money (at least):roll:

Big Boomer
01-21-2017, 08:24 PM
By all means!!! Then perhaps I can come along behind you and find some century-old brass. Nah ... I think I'd just keep it as is. But, then, I'm a scrounger and a hoarder. Big Boomer

Thumbcocker
01-21-2017, 09:11 PM
I would have to try a couple just to see.

skeettx
01-21-2017, 09:13 PM
NO!! Collectors ammo, way more valuable to sell and buy REAL AMMO

BrassMagnet
01-21-2017, 09:15 PM
NO!! Collectors ammo, way more valuable to sell and buy REAL AMMO

Probably balloon head as well! I found a fair sized fistful of 38 Spl brass from 1918 at the range a while back. Balloon head.

wv109323
01-21-2017, 09:18 PM
It may not shoot. IIRC the primers used it that ammo it not have the longevity of today's primers. I have a few rounds from 1916 and 1917. One has a firing pin mark but did not go off. I would just keep it

MT Gianni
01-21-2017, 09:26 PM
Know that it will probably have mercuric primers and need a thorough cleaning.

bob208
01-21-2017, 09:29 PM
first it has corrosive primers. so you want to got through the teardown and wash up for just a few rounds or even the whole box of 20 ??and shoot them to prove what they will go off ? you have a full box in the box why mess it up?

shdwlkr
01-21-2017, 09:36 PM
worth more to collectors then it would be to fire it, also being that old I would not want to test just how well they go bang in my firearm. At that age what has happened to the primer, powder, bullet strange things happen over time and 100 years is like firing a muzzle loader with modern powder bad idea from the even thought of doing something so stupid. If it were me and I wasn't a cartridge collector I would put an add out to sell them one cartridge at a time and take that money and buy a lot of ammo made recently

Texas by God
01-21-2017, 09:47 PM
Trade to an old ammo wheeler-dealer for new ammo. That guy is at every gun show.

fatelk
01-21-2017, 10:11 PM
I should explain better. I have plenty of modern ammo so my interest is not at all in just using it for "shooting ammo". I just thought it would be fun to shoot hundred year old ammo. I don't need to sell it, and I have ammo in my collection that's even older. I have a box or two just like this but in better condition.

.45 ACP brass has never been balloon head. I'm not scared of it due to age. In the condition that it's in I expect it will be fine. I pulled one apart and the powder looks like it was made yesterday. I've shot WWI ammo before, and lots of WWII. I'm well aware that it's corrosive. I know it's somewhat collectible, but it's not particularly rare or valuable. I'm not shooting it just to use it up or make noise, but for the specific novelty of shooting century old ammo.

I just thought it would be fun to fire a few at a hundred years. I also thought it would be fun to post about it. That's all.

fatelk
01-21-2017, 10:47 PM
BTW, according to what I've read, the use of mercuric primers in USGI ammo was discontinued around 1898. These rounds should have potassium chlorate primers, which are generally known for their long term stability. I expect they will go off, but if they don't, they don't. I'll try a few. Maybe I should record it and post it on youtube so everyone can make fun and criticize. :)

Green Ghost
01-21-2017, 11:01 PM
I'm no collector, but, if they were mine, I'd hold on to them just for the history.

Jerry

Tonto
01-21-2017, 11:09 PM
Did this once, consistent hang fire that was unnerving. About a three second delay, 45ACP in a Detonics.

Outpost75
01-21-2017, 11:50 PM
Another thing to consider with older ammo is that the arsenals didn't really figure out correct final stress relief to provide long shelf life with brass cases until the mid-1930s. It is likely that on rounds which do go off, that you might experience case mouth splits at minimum, and there is some risk of case failures in which the split may propagate through to the primer pocket, causing a large release of gas which could split the grips and blow the magazine out of your 1911 pistol.

Hangfires or misfires are likely, but rounds which do go off will have normal performance. I use WW2-era .45 ACP and .30-'06 ammunition all the time with no issues, other than the extra cleaning required. However, I have had frequent failures with pre-1930 ammunition and would recommend that you keep it as a historic curiosity. Of the ammos pictured below, only the WW2-era Evansville-Chrysler steel cased .45 ACP ammo was 100% sure-fire, accurate and reliable. At one time I had over 5000 rounds of that particular lot, which was as accurate as National Match hardball, and I shot almost all of it up in service pistol matches and used it as reference test ammunition. I have one meat-can left of it, which I keep for ballistic standards if anyone wants an example of what a "good" lot of military hardball .45 ACP ammo should do: 855 +/-25 fps at 25-1/2 ft. with 3.5-inch Figure of Merit at 50 yards from a test barrel.

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OptimusPanda
01-22-2017, 01:30 AM
Did this once, consistent hang fire that was unnerving. About a three second delay, 45ACP in a Detonics.

Just long enough to make you think about yanking the slide back.

varmintpopper
01-22-2017, 01:41 AM
Go shoot it and enjoy the experience

Good Shooting

Lindy

BNE
01-22-2017, 01:41 AM
I should explain better. I have plenty of modern ammo so my interest is not at all in just using it for "shooting ammo". I just thought it would be fun to shoot hundred year old ammo. I don't need to sell it, and I have ammo in my collection that's even older. I have a box or two just like this but in better condition.

.45 ACP brass has never been balloon head. I'm not scared of it due to age. In the condition that it's in I expect it will be fine. I pulled one apart and the powder looks like it was made yesterday. I've shot WWI ammo before, and lots of WWII. I'm well aware that it's corrosive. I know it's somewhat collectible, but it's not particularly rare or valuable. I'm not shooting it just to use it up or make noise, but for the specific novelty of shooting century old ammo.

I just thought it would be fun to fire a few at a hundred years. I also thought it would be fun to post about it. That's all.


I guess I'll be the one to agree with you. Go out and try it. Report back how it goes. I hope you enjoy it.

BNE

fatelk
01-22-2017, 02:28 AM
Thanks guys.

I think I will modify my plans a little, to accommodate your warnings. I dug out a ziplock bag full of loose WWI and earlier .45 ammo and picked out half a dozen head stamped W17. I'll shoot them instead, one at a time pulling the magazine out for each shot. That will preserve the full box unmolested, and lessen the chance of damage to the gun. How's that for a plan?

I'll post a photo of the target if they all go off. I think the bag full of loose ammo hasn't been stored as well so I'm less confident. The oldest .45 acp round I have is dated 1-12, but I won't shoot that one.

Alvarez Kelly
01-22-2017, 03:30 AM
Sounds like a good plan!

jonp
01-22-2017, 07:50 AM
Don't shoot any out of that box. A full box of it is worth much more than a half empty one to collectors. I see that you already came to that conclusion which is great! I'm not sure I would shoot any of it as people will want it too unless your just bound and determined to see if it will go boom and I can sure understand that.

If you end up shooting it let us know how it went and I would be very interested if you had a chrony to shoot a few rounds over to see what the numbers are

fatelk
01-22-2017, 04:28 PM
Of the ammos pictured below, only the WW2-era Evansville-Chrysler steel cased .45 ACP ammo was 100% sure-fire, accurate and reliable.
Good to know. I have seven or eight boxes of that same ammo but have never shot any of it. As long as I'm shooting some corrosive maybe I'll try some of them too, see how it does. Actually I think some of mine is '43 steel case and some is '50s USGI. I'll have to go dig it out.

I have a lot of this old WWI .45 ammo. There's over a hundred rounds in the bag and I've had them for maybe 30 years. I guess I never figured it would be worth my time to try to sell them, as common as they are. The same guy I got this box from for $10 also sold me a similar box of FA40 for $5. Maybe I'll hang on to those for another 23 years and see if they go off too. :)

The chronograph idea is a good one. I'll lob a couple over the chronograph when I do this. I have Wednesday off so if the weather isn't too bad I'll try to get out to the range then. In full disclosude I did shoot one out of the bag a few years ago. It was dated 1914 and shot just fine. It was kind of grungy and the tinning was rubbed off the bullet so I figured any collector value was minimal. That was probably a decade ago so it wasn't quite a century old yet.

Storage seems to be the major determining factor on how long ammo will last. I've shot a lot of WWII ammo that was fine, but have had some newer ammo that was dead. A few years ago I got a bunch of FN 30-06 from the '50s. It was mostly duds and hang fires. I broke it down for components.

I once bought some cheap battlefield pickup mixed 7.62x39 ammo that was imported from the Middle-East a couple decades ago that was pretty grungy. The brass cased Middle-Eastern stuff (Syrian and Egyptian mostly) had a fair amount of hang fires and duds, but the '50s Russian steel cased rounds from the same batch was all sure-fire.

fatelk
01-22-2017, 04:52 PM
I've been collecting, or rather accumulating, ammo since I was a teenager three decades ago. I used to consider myself a "collector", but once I had seem some impressive collections by some true collectors I realized that I wasn't really even an amateur collector. I have a lot of stuff, but not a lot that a serious collector would be interested in.

fatelk
01-25-2017, 09:56 PM
I only fired one across the chronograph; it clocked at 792 fps. I fired six more at a target at 50 feet. Accuracy was nothing to brag about but about what I expect shooting offhand without taking a lot of time. The were no misfires, hangfires, split cases, or malfunctions of any sort. After the first three I just loaded the magazine and shot them.

I know it seems like a waste, but it was worth it to me. I think it's pretty impressive that this ammo will still shoot like new after 100 years. I've got it out of my system now; this was kind of a one-time thing. I didn't shoot any out of the box. I think the ammo I shot today was originally given to me over 30 years ago when I was a teenager, by the manager of a surplus store that's long gone now. I used to spend time in there digging through the box of random rounds for a quarter each. I guess he took a liking to me and every once in a while when I would go in he would have some odd old rounds or something. I've been thinking about shooting a few of them for a very long time.

As far as value, from what I've seen old common rounds like this might go for maybe a dollar per round. If they were worth five dollars each I still would have shot them. I enjoyed a piece of history. :)

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Alvarez Kelly
01-25-2017, 10:59 PM
I LOVE it! I think I would have done the same.

KCSO
01-26-2017, 04:14 PM
In researching 45-70 I have shot up over 40 rounds of old ammo from 1878 to 1900. I have disassembled and weighed every bullet and powder charge and screened the powder. Do it in the name of research and shoot it over a chronograph and post the data here.

shooterg
01-26-2017, 05:45 PM
Guns and ammo were made to be shot ! Using something for it's intended purpose 100 years later is just flat cool.
Oldest stuff I've ever shot was 1940's (.45ACP) and I have reloaded that brass many times since.