• Mossberg Owners is in the process of upgrading the software. Please bear with us while we transition to the new look and new upgraded software.

Found a old box of ammo I lost back in 2000

B

Brian Blair

.22LR
I found a old 100rnd box of CCI Mini Mag HP I bought during Christmass in 2000. I remember when I bought them because I went to Walmart with some friends from work because they wanted to do some shopping for their family. I had a little Jennings semi auto pistol, and I wanted some HP ammo for it. The only ammo I had was three very old bullets my father gave me. Anyway I remember unloading the old bullets, and loading the mag with the new CCI. Then I placed the old rounds in the empty slots of the CCI box. I lived with my parents back then, And later when I got home, I had somehow misplaced the box of ammo. Anyway a few days ago My mother called me wanting me to fix the closet rails in my old room for my niece. When I was in the closet I noticed a bag in the top shelf, and there they were. The receipt was even their.

Anyway, I was wondering if old bullets from 2000 would still be ok.
 
I inherited ammo that was over 40 years old. It had been kept dry and it shot just fine.
Now we live in the desert, and it was still shiny brass, but in a humid place like Florida that same ammo might have been green and fuzzy. ;)
 
Brian Blair said:
I found a old 100rnd box of CCI Mini Mag HP I bought during Christmass in 2000. I remember when I bought them because I went to Walmart with some friends from work because they wanted to do some shopping for their family. I had a little Jennings semi auto pistol, and I wanted some HP ammo for it. The only ammo I had was three very old bullets my father gave me. Anyway I remember unloading the old bullets, and loading the mag with the new CCI. Then I placed the old rounds in the empty slots of the CCI box. I lived with my parents back then, And later when I got home, I had somehow misplaced the box of ammo. Anyway a few days ago My mother called me wanting me to fix the closet rails in my old room for my niece. When I was in the closet I noticed a bag in the top shelf, and there they were. The receipt was even their.

Anyway, I was wondering if old bullets from 2000 would still be ok.
Click to expand...

I received a little over 1/2 box of 45 ACP from my Grand Dad's estate when he died. The head stamps are from 1917. This was 3 years ago, but I fired 3 of them out of my Blackhawk and all fired no problem and they hit what I aimed at.
 
Brian Blair said:
...I had a little Jennings semi auto pistol, and I wanted some HP ammo for it. ...

Anyway, I was wondering if old bullets from 2000 would still be ok.
Click to expand...
I would be less worried about the safety of the old ammo than the pistol.
 
Ahhhh, the Jennings .22 was a fairly decent inexpensive semi-auto. If it was clean and well lubed it worked.
 
I am a Handgun Instructor for the Sheriff's Office. We will not allow Jennings on the range. Nor Raven, RG, Phoenix, Bryco, or other junk.
 
I found some old Remington 22 LR from the 70s in my footlocker about 15 years ago. With my first firearm (Winchester 190), I loaded the magazine tube and racked the bolt. About 8-10 rounds into it the fun one of the rounds sounded like a dud and didn't cycle the bolt. Locked the bolt open to make sure I didn't have a squib. The bore was clear, but many of the remaining 500 rounds were off sound and sometimes would not cycle the bolt. No expert here, but from what I understand rim fire (lacking a primer) is the most likely ammo to go stale. In fairness to the old batch of Remington I found, it sat in garages, basements, etc., with a bunch of other stuff in a footlocker since the late 70s. Just beware of squibs.
 
I had a river/ sewer flood my basement I had 250 rounds of Remington 12g 2.75 00 buck completely submerged for 72 hours. I've fired about 50 rounds and they all fired, produced typical groups and ejected for an autoloader.
 
A while back when all ammo, particularly 22, seemed to have disappeared from the planet I found 3 boxes of 550 rounds each of Federal 22 hollow points that I had stored in my garage attic among some little used hunting stuff. I felt like I'd hit upon a pirates lair of buried treasure because 22s were so scarce at the time. They were in a Walmart bag, and the price for each box of 550 was $7.77. They'd been there a while.

I also came across a box of Hornady 30-30 3 years ago that were in the pocket of a pair of wool pants that I'd stored way up in the back of the same attic. They were in a sealed plastic tub with cedar branches and blocks. The price tag on them was from a sporting goods store that closed in the early 80's. Price? $4.44 for 20 170 grain.
 
The oldest ammo I have is from the early 80s. A couple of boxes of .243 . I haven't fired the rifle since then either. The rifle has been cleaned and lubed on a regular basis. I think one of these days I need to take that to the range .
 
We have what is billed as the largest flea market in the midwest, and my wife and I go from time to time. Back when I was accumulating my stash of reloading brass I found some older boxes of 30-06 ammo there. It was a good price for a 20 round box of Winchester so I bought all three boxes. (Actually one was a zip lock baggy) I wasn't concerned since I could pull them down if need be cause all I was really interested in was the brass. But my 06 has a strong action so we took it to fire it at the range. I don't still have the target but at 100 yards it all shot at least 1" groups so I was very pleasesd. It was old enough it had the "Western" head stamp on it, so it wasn't new ammo. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top