How Old is Too Old?
The Question For The Handloading Hoarder
Boy, would you look at that price. If we could only go back.
Occasionally, I must clean my gun room. It’s a bittersweet endeavor that’s necessary from the growing pile of “stuff” blocking my ability to move freely. The bitter part? I hate doing it. The sweetness comes from recovering the forgotten treasures I find.
When you’re a lifelong member of the Handloaders Hoarders (HH), you’re always obtaining supplies from constant scrounging. A lot of loot comes from fellow hoarders when cleaning their gun rooms. It’s a vicious cycle of give and take, and folly in what goes around comes around.
HH tend to associate with fellow HH. The same junk gets passed around more than fruitcakes do at Christmas time.
Believe it or not, all these powders are still useful, passing the “sniff test.”
The Big Dig
On my latest excavation, I concentrated on my loading bench and the peripheral area. Discoveries from past clean-up attempts were unearthed. Several heavy cardboard boxes, the kind smokeless powder and primers are delivered in, were found under layers of debris. Ironically, these boxes were the result of previous clean-ups, and a “deep dive” was necessary to remind me of what lay lurking in the cardboard tombs.
Most were for vintage smokeless powders and primers. Some powder cans were heavily rusted from living in damp environments from past owners. Old price tags having ridiculous figures on them were a clue to their vintage.
Primers were mostly in the form of single packs of 100. I liked the efficiency of the old packs. Rather than having individual compartments for each primer, much like today’s bubble-wrapped kids with helicopter parents, these old primer packs have ten rows with just enough room to place ten primers lying on their side like tiny wheels.
It reminded me of riding in the bed of our coach’s pick-up truck for ball games when I was a kid. Hell, the coach transported the whole team this way without injury to any of us. It was easy transport and fun as we sang on the way to the game.
This old can of Winchester 296 is from Ken Kelly and was from his
father’s loading room. Still good and a wonderful memento to boot!
“The Clash”
Uncovering 50+ year old powder and primers made a popular college song ring in my head, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash. So, what did I do? For handloaders, the answer is obvious. Being frugal is one of the main prerequisites for handloading. In other words, cheap. For smokeless powder, it’s simple. Sniff it. If the olfactory lobe detects a rotten egg smell, your powder has deteriorated beyond useful purposes. Either dump it in your garden for fertilizer, or, even more fun, burn it. Smokeless powder is an accelerant, not an explosive. It will burn slow and safely if you exercise proper care.
I also inspect the powder against a known powder of the same type, checking color and flake size. If it looks identical, I use it.
A variety of old primers that still went “bang.”
POP Test
Primers take more effort. Unfortunately, we can’t test every primer, for obvious reasons. But we can test a few from each pack. Seat the primer in your brass and load the primed empty case into your gun. Results will help you determine if you’re going to keep or throw the primers away.
Bullets
Bullets are always a safe bet. Even when covered in green verdigris or are just tarnished badly, they can easily be cleaned up. One of my favorite ways is to use water, Dawn dish soap and some Lemi-Shine, a dishwasher additive. Place your bullets in a container, give them a squirt of Dawn soap and a .45 ACP case full of Lemi-Shine and add hot water.
Swirl them around every 15 minutes for an hour while soaking. Rinse clean and let dry. Voila! Clean bullets!
The rewards of cleaning up are finding powders
you didn’t know you already had.
Ammo
Vintage ammunition is always welcome in my house. Be it WWII era or earlier, I’ll take it with a smile. What’s the worst that could happen? If it misfires, so what? Try them all! In more cases than not, they will fire. If the brass case appears to be in fine shape, go for it. If the cases appear corroded, you may want to reconsider on account of them possibly rupturing. Otherwise, shoot away. Just make sure you clean your gun after shooting, as older ammo may have corrosive primers. Better safe than sorry.
Before and after donated bullets cleaned up with Tank’s easy method.
Plink Away!
With ammunition loaded with questionable components, or age, or older factory ammo, save it for plinking. Don’t use it for hunting or your EDC gun. Factory fresh is best for your EDC, and fresh components for your hunting handloads.
