how old is too old for shot shells

[Remiel]

got a box o stuff from a co-worker that has 12 and 20 ga shot shells. old olin/winchester, remington kleanbore, power piston, all looks 20-30years old, well kept and stored, is it safe? does the powder go bad after a while?

[labradigger1]

Shoot em, I bet all work great. Very old ones may be corrosive primed.

[oldlincoln]

Paper or plastic?

[Uncle Jimbo]

Shoot em, I bet all work great. Very old ones may be corrosive primed.


Corrosive primers or not, if you clean your firearm after shooting, not a problem.
And like labradigger1 said, "bet all work great".

[Remiel]

Paper or plastic?
plastic

[oldlincoln]

Shoot em' up! They'll be fine.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Properly cared for? Should be no problem.

In the mid-1960's I was shooting up shotshell ammo from my great-grandrather having moved out of his house. It was not a temperature controlled environment. Think of an old garage in western Kansas. Most of the ammo went bang. About one in 25 did not. Don't worry about it unless it might be what is now "collectible".

[Remiel]

128221128222128223 the other box(not pictured) is a modern looking 12ga rem slugs

[Mauser48]

I've shot lots of old ammo that's even older than that whether it be .22 shotgun or rifle ammo as long as its stored decent it should work fine. The old paper shotgun shells shoot good in my guns.

[too many things]

your center pic of the rem may be worth more to sell than shoot . if box is full.

[Minerat]

I have some 20ga shot shells that I loaded in 1983 according to the label. They still bust clays and pheasants just fine. You should be alright as the boxes look like they were stored properly and did not get wet.

[atr]

Plastic,,,shoot em !....I've still got some Remington Plastic that are more than 30 years old that work just fine. I Even have some old ALCAN with paper tubes and they work fine also.

[Remiel]

your center pic of the rem may be worth more to sell than shoot . if box is full.

its about 4 short of a full box

[Remiel]

I have some 20ga shot shells that I loaded in 1983 according to the label. They still bust clays and pheasants just fine. You should be alright as the boxes look like they were stored properly and did not get wet.

boxes look worn but no water damage seen, one shell has a small green spot when it was loose in the bigger box,bit it was surface only and loos as from the sling it was on w/ a copper rivet that was green

[duckey]

The middle picture, I have several unopened boxes, they can fetch up to $55 per box.

[Remiel]

The middle picture, I have several unopened boxes, they can fetch up to $55 per box.

where?

[gwpercle]

No , stored like that, 20 to 30 years is nothing. You're talking 1985 .
Gary

[JWFilips]

I have shells I have re-loaded in the late 70's Low Brass (plastic with Red Dot & Unique powders) Dove & Small game loads, that I'm still using to this day. Never had any problem

[Snow ninja]

Can't speak for shotshells, but Grandpa's still shooting .45LC's that he loaded in '64... Still shoot great, haven't noticed any loss in power or accuracy.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

About three summers ago, my middle boy and I were shooting up some shotshell reloads I made up in the early 1970's before heading off to Uncle Sam's Canoe Club. They shot just fine despite decades in a dusty ole tin shed in SW Kansas.

[GoodOlBoy]

A few years back (about 15) a old feller I knew brought me a dozen boxes of 20 gauge shells that were OLD waxed paper shells. #6 - 2 1/2 inch. Every one of them shot just fine, and 90% of them took a squirrel. The rest were my fault :p Shoot 'em. Wish I had been smart enough to keep the hulls. But back then I wasn't. Live an learn.

GoodOlBoy

[trapper9260]

Years ago when I was younger back in the early 70's I use some old paper 410 in my dads 410 bolt action and one of the cases blown the breach open and was deft for about 1/2 hour.Not long ago I know some one went to shoot some old paper 410 and 2 out of 3 did not fire and they where paper.need to watch the paper if you do not know how they are store.

[Ragnarok]

I have some 'Monarch' and Federal shells(same shells back in the day) I had reloaded quantities of back in the 1970's or 80's...anyhow they still work well..however the cork base-wads apparently have deteriorated. When you shoot those old loads in a semi-auto the ejecting shell leaves chunks of cork loose in the breech area...


I was trying to figure out what the odd stuff was left in my shotgun??...It was the base-wad from the shells and it wasn't even crumbly..it was about the consistency of peanut-butter except not sticky!! Hard to describe but that's what the junk was as I cut some shells open and dug the base wad apart with a screwdriver..same stuff..rotten base-wad cork.

[dh2]

I still have ammo rifle pistol and shoot gun factory and hand loads from the late 1980s that was left home when the Army moved me 22 years later I am still shooting it

[Remiel]

i may still shoot them but if they are worth more to collectors i my sell them,

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Even much older loads than that are likely to work fine. Even when they don't, extreme age of shotgun shells may cause weak shooting or misfires, but is very unlikely to cause excessive pressures.

[skeet028]

Heck I have a few shotgun shells that I missed shooting when I was a kidd..and they were old then. All paper of course.

[Remiel]

I may just shoot them in my old Model 9 Remington