High hopes for old ammo…dashed

[Liam]

I received 4 boxes (80 rnds) of .30-06 ammo from the daughter of a deceased WWI vet. They hoped I could use the ammo. However, upon inspection, I found some verdigris on the outside of the cases. Having read this could indicate an internal issue INSIDE the case, I opted to open a couple. In the end - whether displaying obvious outward signs of decay, or not - all of the rnds show some level of "green." I am tumbling the bullets and plan to reuse. The powder is going on my lawn before tonight's scheduled rains. The brass will be tossed in the recycling bucket. I used a bamboo chopstick to scrape the inside of each shell, as the extruded powder was sticking to much of the inside. One query for you folks: how does one safely dispose of 80 verdigris'd primers? They are currently soaking in gun oil in the gun room. Replies most welcome. - Liam
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[Dan Shapiro]

Soaking them (swish the container around once a day) in oil for at least one week should render them inert. HTH

[psteinmayer]

This is a great example of why one should store ammo and components properly. This ammo could have been good had it been stored properly!

[Hecklerusp45]

After the primers have soaked they can be tossed without worry.

[Liam]

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.

[PhillipM]

I'd have shot them, but follow your own judgment.

[stripper clip]

In a similar situation once, I chambered the empty case in my M1917 and popped the primer that way. Not all went off of course, due to the age and pre-existing corrosion. Afterwards, I cleaned the barrel with hot water/soap followed by regular bore solvent. No problems thereafter with the barrel.

[Sunray]

No Winchester Silvertips for 30ish years, unfortunately. Literally an SP with a thin Al cap. Fabulous bullet. It's corrosion is just copper oxide. Nothing to worry about.
The first picture doesn't look too badly corroded. Fine steel wool will fix that one. Ditto for the bullet. If there's no hole under the corrosion it's likely fine.
Mind you, the shoulders don't look quite right. Soft rounded shoulder. Isn't something I'd worry too much about though. Fire that case and it'll be back to the right angles, etc.

[JBinIll]

The Winchester and Western boxes are from the mid-1950s.I'd goes the Remington box about the same vintage.

[Liam]

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