Old ammo I found around the house

[bcraig]

I found some old ammo at the house while I was pilfering through a pile of gun stuff.

I found 38 special full wad cutters about 75 or so
And I know that at least 50 years old and factory loads as I never loaded wadcutters,all the cases are tarnished and wit some having what looks like rust on the brass cases.
Once I rub the tarnish off the cases I am wondering if they would be ok to shoot in my Rossi 38 special/357 magnum Carbine ?(single shot loaded of course)
I am thinking it will be fine .

I also found a raggedy box of Remington 158 grain JHP that I gave to my dad when I gave him my S&W Nickel plated 586 with a 6 inch barrel about 45 to 50 years ago.
Shortly Before he died he gave it back to me.
Curious if anyone knows the velocity of that ammunition somewhere around 1975 ?

I also found some 38 special 158 grain semi wadcutters 11 of them that I had left from reloading them with Unique

And with the exception of the wadcutters they all function through the carbine,one I got them loaded that is.
First 4 or 5 of the Remington 158 357 Magnums would load relatively easy then I could not get any more through the loading gate .then I could use a fingernail and pull back out of the loading gate the start loading them again
Is that strictly due to the loading gate spring being too strong or the physical dimensions of the gate itself ?
Or do I need to take a couple of inches off the magazine spring?
Or would the plastic cartridge follower have any thing to do with it ?
Maybe a small burr on the loading gate?

Same thing with the 38 special wadcutters

And the ejection of the Remington 357 magnum cartridges at 10 feet is hazardous and they might still be going if they hadn’t’ hit a wall !

Thanks

[Ray]

Cool find.....one thing about old, long forgotten then found ammo, if you have a dud is it due to age or would it have been a dud when it was still young ? No way of knowing but we seem to always assume age/moisture the cause when it might have indeed been a bad one from the factory.

[marlinman93]

I think the ammo for the 586 is newer than you think. The 586 wasn't introduced until 1980.
I'd try all of this ammo and see how it goes. Even if you lose a case it wont harm the gun. If you do, then I'd not shoot anymore of that particular ammo and dispose of it.

[JimT]

I've shot ammunition that was made in the 1890's and most of it worked just fine. There was a hangfire with some of them but they all went off. In the 1970's I bought a bunch of .22's that were made in the late 1940's and early 1950's. It had not been kept in a cool dry place but most all of it shot just fine. And I have a bunch of Bulgarian ammo for the 7.62x54R that I think were hidden in a farmer's field after WWII and dug up in the 1980's. It all still works just as intended.

Keep a cleaning rod just about bore diameter handy along with a mallet in case you have to drive a stuck bullet out of the barrel. And if you have one that doesn't fire, keep the gun pointed downrange and wait for a bit to make sure it's not a hangfire. I never had a hangfire with smokeless loads, only with black powder ... but you never know. Always choose the safe way.

[Paladin]

Last year I found a couple of hundred rounds of "Scorpion" bullets I reloaded in the late 70s in .38 SPL. They still fired and were just as accurate as when I first loaded them.

[AJMD429]

.
I've fired really old and really corroded ammo, but ALWAYS in a very strong gun. Also I avoid semi-autos for that sort of thing.

Old 22 LR in a Contender Pistol - hard to find a stronger action I'd think, nor an easier to clean one.
Old 45 ACP in a Ruger Redhawk Convertible 45 Colt/ACP - super strong action, easy to clean.
Old 12 gauge in a Ithaca M66 breakopen slug gun. Same deal.
Old 223 in a bolt action Remington 788, although I did fire a LOT of stuff that was reloads in brittle brass that split about every third round down past the shoulder, and would case-head separate about every 20th round, but I fired them SLOWLY, and made sure the entire case came out, bullet went downrange, etc. Plus I was young and reckless.
Some old 308 I fired in a M98 Mauser that was built like a tank - mostly just so I could clean it easily with soap and water as the primers were corrosive - the brass wasn't all that bad.

[jeepnik]

When I learned to reload I learned a very valuable lesson. “Don’t shoot someone else’s reloads”.

Following that rule I’ve never had an issues. I’ve known others that didn’t follow it and had some problems.

[buckeyeshooter]

I also found a raggedy box of Remington 158 grain JHP that I gave to my dad when I gave him my S&W Nickel plated 586 with a 6 inch barrel about 45 to 50 years ago.
Shortly Before he died he gave it back to me.
Curious if anyone knows the velocity of that ammunition somewhere around 1975

According to my old ammo chart velocity was rated at 1230.

[bcraig]

I think the ammo for the 586 is newer than you think. The 586 wasn't introduced until 1980.
I'd try all of this ammo and see how it goes. Even if you lose a case it wont harm the gun. If you do, then I'd not shoot anymore of that particular ammo and dispose of it.

I had already Had a Dan wesson 357 Magum and a Colt Python 357 Magnum in my teens,might have been from that.
If I have any trouble from it I will get rid of it.

[bcraig]

Cool find.....one thing about old, long forgotten then found ammo, if you have a dud is it due to age or would it have been a dud when it was still young ? No way of knowing but we seem to always assume age/moisture the cause when it might have indeed been a bad one from the factory.

true
Thanks

[bcraig]

I've shot ammunition that was made in the 1890's and most of it worked just fine. There was a hangfire with some of them but they all went off. In the 1970's I bought a bunch of .22's that were made in the late 1940's and early 1950's. It had not been kept in a cool dry place but most all of it shot just fine. And I have a bunch of Bulgarian ammo for the 7.62x54R that I think were hidden in a farmer's field after WWII and dug up in the 1980's. It all still works just as intended.

Keep a cleaning rod just about bore diameter handy along with a mallet in case you have to drive a stuck bullet out of the barrel. And if you have one that doesn't fire, keep the gun pointed downrange and wait for a bit to make sure it's not a hangfire. I never had a hangfire with smokeless loads, only with black powder ... but you never know. Always choose the safe way.

Thanks

[bcraig]

Last year I found a couple of hundred rounds of "Scorpion" bullets I reloaded in the late 70s in .38 SPL. They still fired and were just as accurate as when I first loaded them.

Looks like a canidate for some massive expansion !
Thanks

[bcraig]

.
I've fired really old and really corroded ammo, but ALWAYS in a very strong gun. Also I avoid semi-autos for that sort of thing.

Old 22 LR in a Contender Pistol - hard to find a stronger action I'd think, nor an easier to clean one.
Old 45 ACP in a Ruger Redhawk Convertible 45 Colt/ACP - super strong action, easy to clean.
Old 12 gauge in a Ithaca M66 breakopen slug gun. Same deal.
Old 223 in a bolt action Remington 788, although I did fire a LOT of stuff that was reloads in brittle brass that split about every third round down past the shoulder, and would case-head separate about every 20th round, but I fired them SLOWLY, and made sure the entire case came out, bullet went downrange, etc. Plus I was young and reckless.
Some old 308 I fired in a M98 Mauser that was built like a tank - mostly just so I could clean it easily with soap and water as the primers were corrosive - the brass wasn't all that bad.

Yea I have had several Contenders and barrels,Had J.D Jones(SSK Industries Make me a 300 Savage 10 inch barrel
a 22 Match 10 inch barrel and a 44 Magnum 10 inch Barrel the Centerfires would hold 1-1/2 inch rested at 100 Yards with Factory loads.Had a factory 10 Inch 44 magnum,22 lr and a 35 Remington 14 inch barrel that I had a lot of misfires with and a 14 inch 223 barrel .

Also tried an Encore with I think a 15 inch barrel in 30-06
Had a 454 Casull with a 6 inch Barrel and a bead front sight ,fine made revolver but didn,t need that for deer hunting.
Never fired any old ammo in them
Fired any ammo I could find old or not including some Paper hulled from an Ithaca 37 that was my dads and a 20 Gauge Remington 1100 and a single shot Brazillian 20 guage single shot.
Same thing for a Iver Johnson 16 Gauge that My Grandpa owned with auto eject .
Same thing for a H&R 22 pistol 9 shot double action Pistol ,Ruger single sixes,High standard double Nine,Ruger semi autos,and one s&w 41 5-1/2 bull barrel,a Ruger Bearcat and so on.

Thanks

[Paladin]

Last year I found a couple of hundred rounds of "Scorpion" bullets I reloaded in the late 70s in .38 SPL. They still fired and were just as accurate as when I first loaded them.

Looks like a canidate for some massive expansion !
Thanks

They were GREAT revolver loads for low to mid loads and inexpensive. Too bad Federal bought them out and now sells them as Hydra Shok.

[bcraig]

Last year I found a couple of hundred rounds of "Scorpion" bullets I reloaded in the late 70s in .38 SPL. They still fired and were just as accurate as when I first loaded them.

Looks like a canidate for some massive expansion !
Thanks

They were GREAT revolver loads for low to mid loads and inexpensive. Too bad Federal bought them out and now sells them as Hydra Shok.

At first glance looks like something that Jim Cirillo and Bill Allard might have worked on !

[Paladin]

Last year I found a couple of hundred rounds of "Scorpion" bullets I reloaded in the late 70s in .38 SPL. They still fired and were just as accurate as when I first loaded them.

Looks like a canidate for some massive expansion !
Thanks

They were GREAT revolver loads for low to mid loads and inexpensive. Too bad Federal bought them out and now sells them as Hydra Shok.

At first glance looks like something that Jim Cirillo and Bill Allard might have worked on !

The rest of the story https://revolverguy.com/the-38-special ... p-journey/