Straight Dope Message Board

[Ronald C. Semone]

In 1967 I bought a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver and several boxes of ammunition. After a few visits to a firing range to learn how to use the gun, I put it and two boxes of ammunition on a shelf in my closet where they have remained ever since. I ran across them the other day and was wondering if the ammunition is still good after 38 years. If I tried to use it, would it misfire or blow-up?

[UncleBeer]

It'll probably work fine. At worst, you might have only a round or two misfire - that is fail to discharge. There's no danger of it "blowing up," though.

[silenus]

Take it to the range and use it there. It's probably perfectly good, but I wouldn't trust it in a self-defense situation. Or give it to someone who has a .38 and wants practice ammo.

[Ethilrist]

There was a case a few years ago of a man in Oakland who bought a gun for home defense in the 50's, took it to the range a few times to practice, then put it under his bed until, a few years ago, somebroke into his apartment in the middle of the night. The guy was awakened by the intruder.

The ammunition still worked.

[Crafter_Man]

There should be no problems with it.

[butler1850]

As long as the cases show no sign of corrosion, you should be fine. I routinely shoot old shotgun shells, and some other centerfire ammuntion that my father-in-law has stored for many years. Much of that ammo is dated pre-1970.

I've found that much of it actually shoots BETTER than new factory loads that I can purchase today. Whether this is a case of better quality control then, better components, or simpler processes, I'm not sure.

[Kevbo]

I've fired plenty of WW-II vintage ammo w/o problems of any kind.

Black powder era ammo might be an issue.

The only real concern is corrosive primers, but good cleaning after shooting will deal with that.

I might worry if the ammo was exposed to high levels of vibration. Burn rate depends on grain size.

Otherwise, if it looks OK it probably is.