Shooting Old Ammo and Components

[Loper]

I recently inherited some reloading items from my father-in-laws dad and am getting into reloading. I believe his father passed away in the mid or late 80’s and most of the components have been sitting in the back of a garage in Florida since then.

I got a press, some projectiles, brass, powder, a few primers and a couple of other reloading tools.

These is a bunch of 30-30 brass and 30-06 brass. I’m assuming brass is brass, and the same with projectiles, and age and the environment doesn’t have much of a factor on these items.

What about the powder? One container is sealed and the other is about half full (not half empty). I doubt the powder in the half full container is any good still and can be used. What about the sealed container? Can it be used or is it best to dispose of it.

Can the primers be used?

Also, as I was going through the brass, I found about 10 loaded 30-30 rounds. I recently got a 30-30 rifle and am wondering if it is recommended to used these rounds or just pull the bullet and dispose of the powder.

Thanks for the help!

 

[BFR]

I’d pull the loaded rounds, you don’t know what powder charge is in them, or what type rifle they were loaded for. As for the powders and primers, for me it depends on how they were stored, climate controlled, dry etc. The opened powder, if the smell burns your nose or smells acidic or off I’d toss it, the unopened one is probably ok but I’d start any loads at the low end and see if it performs consistently. Unless the primers have been wet they should be fine, I don’t know that I’d expect match quality but should work.

 

[Rich M]

Everything should function as advertised. Primers are fine. Sniff powder and see if there is an ammonia smell, if not it’s fine.

The old man was a loader, find his logs and see what he figured out.

3030 is low hp kind of bullet. I’d just use em. Folks still use ww2 ammo and it older.

 

[rayporter]

powder can last a long time. age is not a problem, storage is.

benchrest shooters still seek out t 32 powder from the '70s and consider it one of the best to have.

 

[Vern400]

You said FLORIDA and GARAGE. That's risky. That can easily reach 120F or more daily depending on a lot of things. I have seen some powders go bad in that kind of heat. Specifically H380. They typically have a different smell when they do. I have also had primers sit in a hot shop (by accident) start to go bad (meaning 2 or 3 misfires per 100 rounds from being too hot.

You can probably pop the loaded rounds safely, but don't expect much. Same for primers and powders. If they don't smell funny, they'll probably go bang. If you get serious shooting get fresh. And if powder has a rancid ammonia smell pile it in long skinny piles and burn it.

 

[Loper]

I appreciate all the feedback and apologize for the delayed response on this.

I’ll have to open the powder containers and see if there is any ammonia smell to either of them. If there isn’t, will the powders still perform as expected or will they have a decrease in potency or FPS?

If I pull one of the bullets from the loaded cases, should I smell it to see if there is a funky smell?

Thanks!