High hopes for old ammo…dashed

[psteinmayer]

I've used the Lee universal decapping tool to decap live primers. After talking to someone who had done it before with no problems, I decapped 100 old cases. slow easy pressure (while wearing safety glasses) did the trick with none going off.

I've done this also using the LEE decapper. Never had a problem so long as you use slow, easy light pressure!

[CJCulpeper]

Glad to hear I am off on the right foot as to primer disposal. As for storage, the vet died at 110 yrs old in 2011. I have no earthly idea how old the ammo is. I know one thing, however…his home was without central air. There was heating, bout none of the rooms in his 200+ yr old farm home had air. Probably explains the condition.

You got ammo from Frank Buckles' estate? That is too cool.

[Griff Murphey]

I've driven to a match with my older brother steel-wooling corroded 1950's GI ball to shoot in the match.

In high school I was given a tobacco tin full of WW-2 M-1 carbine, all heavily corroded and covered with verdigris. I wire brushed it and wiped it down with WD-40 (not yet known to be a no-no it was a new product!) and xxxx it away... Maybe 75 rds. All fired perfectly!

Does this mean all my old .30 Mauser commercial should not be shot in my broomstick 96?

[dave]

The 1950's sounds about right. One box still had the price tag of $2.30 on it. Imagine that.

Yeh, sounds cheap to-day, in '56 I was just out of the service and went back to work on the railroad for 1.96 an hour! Few months later started at oil refinery for 2.03! So 2.30 was not cheap!! More then an hours pay!