Very old SD ammo in my Glock 22

[BigT]

Went shooting with my dad a few months ago. used ammo he had reloaded about 30 years ago. Everything went bang and there were no issues.
This was for his Colt 45.
If ammo is stored properly, there shouldnt be any reason it fails to deliver.

How do you store ammo in your carry gun properly?

[Grant9]

How do you store ammo in your carry gun properly?

In the mag. In the gun. In the safe.

[smithcorne]

I think ammo is basically ruined by two things, shooting it through the barrel of a gun excluded. The first is "moisture". Any form, water, sweat, oil, sunscreen, rumandcoke, anything that can interfere with the propellant. But hold on, not only the propellant aka gunpowder, but also the extremely flammable primer compound. This unstable droplet is hygroscopic and loves to attract water. Just a little bit and it's unreliable.

Something copied from the internet :
Up to early 2000, the most common primer composition encountered was still the lead styphenate, barium nitrate, antimony sulfide and tetrazine type. In this priming compound, lead styphenate and tetrazine are the sensitive explosive ingredients; barium nitrate provides additional oxygen to increase the temperature of the flame, and antimony sulfide acts as a fuel to prolong the burning time. Aluminium, and occasionally magnesium, can also be encountered, but mainly in the higher-powered magnum pistol or rifle calibres.

I've read that some people believe that factory ammo is "sealed". I believe if this is true, that this "seal" is probably around the primer, and not on the bullet/case interface.

The second reason for a cartridge not to go bang, is probably due to the primer compound being destroyed or desturbed by vibration or shock. I've noticed that when buying primers in large quantities, a very fine black residue sometimes is visible. This to me is proof that the compound can be damaged.

The best conservative practice will be to swap out your carry ammo on a regular basis. It just makes sense, doesn't mean which way you would like to argue it. Yes, there are definitely some issues with it, price, regular availability of your preferred, function tested brand to name two. Although it will be impossible to deduct exactly what your specific situation is, I believe safe queen's and "bump in the night" guns probably don't need fresh ammo every six months. Stretching it to once annually won't bother me. But, after all this, I went and ordered brand new Hornaday XTP 180gr from Lowveld Guns and Bows in Hoedspruit. Peet doesn't know it yet, but he will deliver it to me in Stilfontein end of the month. R380 for 20...

When can we talk about reloading for self defense???

[BigT]

Safe queen and bump in the night guns barely need Ammo. The chances of you actually accessing one when needed make the cost almost a waste.

[Brendank]

Works fine until it doesn't.

I've witnessed old carry ammo cause a hangfire. I'm aware of multiple other issues.

The potential for drama is even higher in a 40


Remember a cartridge is only really designed tonlos once. But if you life isn't worth 500 bucks every couple of months then rock on.

I had a KB recently in my Glock 23 Gen 4 while shooting out old carry ammo. The offending round being an old 155gr Federal Hydra-Shok. Thankfully all parties involved are fine (apart from the nickel case which sheered off at the base). The moral of the story: replace your ammo often, especially the older stuff.

[Nyt Ryda]

I had a KB recently in my Glock 23 Gen 4 while shooting out old carry ammo.
The moral of the story: replace your ammo often, especially the older stuff.

Moral of the story is don't carry a 40

[Dinat]

I had a KB recently in my Glock 23 Gen 4 while shooting out old carry ammo. The offending round being an old 155gr Federal Hydra-Shok. Thankfully all parties involved are fine (apart from the nickel case which sheered off at the base). The moral of the story: replace your ammo often, especially the older stuff.

Maybe setback? Glad no humans or guns injured....


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[Brendank]

Moral of the story is don't carry a 40

The same applies to ANY caliber smart ass ;)

[Brendank]

Maybe setback? Glad no humans or guns injured....


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No, it was a new round out the box, but with what seems to be weak brass and an overcharge.

[Dinat]

Eish! Lucky all worked out and no injuries


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