Would you buy/shoot 65 year old .50bmg ammo?

[Vt.birdhunter]

Found a deal on .50 ammo, "TW" headstamp, USGI issue circa 1945.

Stored and packed in original spam can, cans stored in climate controlled environment.

Brass cased, corrosive boxer primes, FMJ-lead core.

$1.75 a round.


Would you buy it and shoot it?

 

[rickyrick]

Sure If I owned a 50cal

 

[Microgunner]

No.

 

[mapsjanhere]

I can only think one thing - what kind of birds do they have in Vermont?

 

[Vt.birdhunter]

I can only think one thing - what kind of birds do they have in Vermont?

They foam at the mouth and carry switchblades

 

[Willie Lowman]

Yep.

I've shot 8mm ammo that old.

 

[Recoiljunky]

I hear the squerils are 12 storys tall and shoot fire out of there eyes in Vermont.

 

[Vt.birdhunter]

I hear the squerils are 12 storys tall and shoot fire out of there eyes in Vermont.

You've been grossly misinformed sir.......they shoot napalm, and its from their furry little butts

 

[Slamfire]

Do are really certain of the storage conditions for the last 65 years?

This is related to posts on gunpowder and ammunition life that I have made in the following threads.

Don't be surprised to find issues.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=583965

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=445820

 

[Navy joe]

I think I would. If you notice any inconsistency like hangfires or differences in report, then stop. I shoot the crap out of my stock of SL 43 .30 cal ammo in my Garand, it is lovely ammo.

 

[Vt.birdhunter]

For $1.75 a round, its worth a shot

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=795741?cm_cat=Cart&cm_pla=ProductDesc

Just bought 120 rounds; told the wife if they blow my face off she should post pics here

 

[Rob228]

In the two years immediately following the invasion of Iraq there was a bit of a strain on the stateside training ammo situation. A bunch of .50 cal ammo from the mid to late 40's got "re-conditioned" (Still not sure what that meant, nor did the ammo techs issuing it) and used during pre-deployment training. It still worked pretty darn good.

 

[kraigwy]

Why not?

I don't have a 50 cal rifle but I do have a 50 cal dearmor (used for disrupting bombs). You wont find much differance in old and new 50 cal shells if you don't go back far enough to find corsive primers, then you just have clean the gun after shooting.

 

[Rob228]

but I do have a 50 cal dearmor

I've got a feeling you've found some fun uses for that around the house.

 

[kraigwy]

I've got a feeling you've found some fun uses for that around the house.

Oh yeah that sucker is fun to play with.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Buy and shoot it. Have fun, repeat as needed.

 

[radom]

I found some FA .50 stuff dated 1943 on the beach..it worked just fine after 50 years of being in the sand.

 

[Scorch]

I would carefully consider the fact that WW2 50 BMG ammo is notoriously inaccurate, on purpose! (Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Cone of dispersion makes up for inaccurate gunners!) Seriously, the US Ordnance board made sure the ammo would not fly straight so it would increase the likelyhood of random hits! Other than the fact that you won't hit what you are shooting at, go for it!

 

[kraigwy]

50 BMG ammo is notoriously inaccurate, on purpose! (Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Cone of dispersion makes up for inaccurate gunners!) Seriously, the US Ordnance board made sure the ammo would not fly straight so it would increase the likelyhood of random hits!

The "cone of dispersion" you are talking about is built into the barrel of the MG, not the ammo. The reason is to give a cone or football shaped pattern at extended ranges to target "troops in the open". You can control this cone with the design of the crown of the barrel, you can't control it with inaccurate ammo.

Its the same for the M-60 machine gun. For my NG Machine gun teams I would take the flash hider off the '60 barrel, cut off about 1/4 inch and re-crown it with a "target crown". This made the gun quite a bit more accurate.

You can see the same thing loading todays ammo by shooting the same ammo in a Browning M-2 and a Barrett rifle.

You'll find a good discription of this if you can find a copy of Gen Hatcher's "Machine Guns, 1916".

 

[Jimro]

In Iraq we rolled with 50 BMG ammo from the 50's on occasion. Wasn't uncommon to have 30 cal from the 60's either. Found a belt of Radway Green and shot it at the test fire pit one day, worked very well.

Jimro