doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shooting Vintage Shells

What is everyone's opinion on shooting vintage shells? Is it unsafe? I know it has to do with proper storage over the years,condition etc. Over the years I have collected lots and lots of older shells. It's not that I need to shoot the ammo but thought it would be neat to shoot some of them in my older guns. I have quite a collection of old shells and boxes and wouldn't shoot anything considered collectable. Thanks.

No real knowledge on this myself so take this with a pinch of salt.

A friend said he was given a load of assorted loose eley paper case cartridges from way back when, some are nitro, some are black, it was his thought that the nitro had degraded? ( i don't even know if this is possible let alone true ) and that all the cartridges were really slow shooting but with enough lead they still brought pheasants down.

As i say no experience of this myself its just what he told me.

I have shot some really damp nitro cartridges, and they left the gun pretty fouled up and were slow shooting you had to seriously adjust your lead they still worked when you were on them but they were slow, i imagine the guy in the story above's nitro carts were just damp after years of soaking up moisture.

Black powder is similar in that its hygroscopic ( is that the word? ) i have cut old shells open and the black has been nearly a solid disk, i don't know how this would affect burn rate etc..

If your going to shoot them i would advise extreme caution, and follow best practice for miss fires. Pull the trigger, click, wait thirty seconds, then carefully open gun with the breech facing away from you and the barrels still pointed safe and open the breech, wait thirty seconds, then remove the cartridge and don't play with it until you are certain its safe.

The other option I was think of is taking them apart for the shot. The ones I plan to use or dismantle are just plain peters or Remington etc. nothing uniquely marked.

if stored right I would not think twice about shooting anything post ww2.....I do all the time

Great to use vintage ammo with vintage guns and you are NOT
Giving up anything in performance



Look at the 16 gauge Magnum load, wow !!

looks like some of the stuff I shoot when I'm in the mood 4 a nostalgic hunt.....the stuff without plastic shotcups also gives the full choked gun a little more open pattern...

I know this question is primarily shotgun shell oriented but I have shot 45acp military surplus headstamped during WW I(1915-1917) without any problems. I quit doing this when the price as collectibles rose to the point that it wasn't worth doing anymore.
Jim

I shoot 'em all the time. These were killed with vintage 16 ga. shells.



SRH

c. 30s Peters Victor 4s @ 30 yds/ .030 choke. 1 1/8 oz. 3 1/4 dram @ 1255 fps. 116/152 = 76%.



B&P MB Classic 5s @ 30 yds/ .030 choke. 1 1/8 oz. 3 1/2 dram eq. @ 1330 fps. 171/191 = 89.5%

I hate to confess but i have shot very old Peters 16 shells on quail with prefect results, Killed 6 for 6, they came out of my grandfather's basement and using them made me feel like I was hunting with him, something I never got to do in person.

Same for some 300 savage ammo.

I have shot WWII and Korean war ammo on the small arms range back in the 1980's with no issue. And motar ammo from 1945 with many issues (almost killed me when it fell near our OP)

All said if the ammo was stored and not water damaged etc it is more than likely safe. Use some judgment and err toward the safe side.