Rusty ammo

[Richard Flanders]

The ones I had split around the rim were/are likely at least 50yrs old if not 60 so the brass had turned brittle. I have one in front of me that is split completely around the rim but nothing separated. I give nearly anything a try but will always be very careful to check the bore after shooting them. I have a lot of old rifle ammo from my grandfathers collection. Most of old 6.5mm mauser ammo has split around the neck where the bullet put tension on the neck. I've seen that in a lot of old bottleneck type rifle ammo.

[Parker Bachelder (Brad's Profile)]

Jay, the greatest risk with rusted ammo is damage to the chamber and stress on the ejectors, extractor. As the base metal expands, it forces the rust paticles into the pores of the chambers. At first they may look fine, but with time, that trace rust will grow, rusting and pitting the chamber. The majority of repairs I do on extractors are due to corroded or poor quality ammo. I have a 311 that I use up bad rounds in. I would never fire any compromised cartridges in any of my fine doubles, rust is the bain of quality steel. I would allways reccomend using only the best quality rounds, in new condition.

Brad