Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans

[M1911A1]

I have an old Russian Mosin bolt action and have fired ammo made by various former Warsaw Pact countries during the 50s, all went bang! I've also fired 5.56mm ammo made in Guatemala from the 80s in which the entire cardboard box had been eaten away by some termite/bug leaving the cartridge to sit in insect excrement. They also went bang when fired. I carried .50 cal ammo on my tanks and trucks in OIF I,III that was last inspected in 1950! Never had a hiccup. My point is that the age of the ammo shouldn't be suspect. Ammunition stored at marginal levels are likely to outlast most human beings. Especially the old commie ammo with the corrosive primer. Of course dented, corroded ammo should be suspect.

Now of course I've heard from some that the Bulgarian brass 7.62 x54 casings could split when fired, but this is only what I have heard.

[SethB]

The oldest ammo I've fired was from 1918. It worked OK. I don't put that ammo in my carry weapon, but I'd shoot it on the range.

As time goes on, the muzzle velocity will drop. But the ammunition will typically still work. In the civilian world, we think nothing of shooting 40 year old ammo, unless there is a significant amount of corrosion on a steel case. Part of that is because I've been shooting South African, Guatemalan, Portugese and German surplus ammunition for the last decade without any problems.

In fact, corrosive primers, like most 7.62X39 ammunition will last longer.

I have an AK74 clone at home with ammunition that dates from the late 1970's. I expect every round of it to fire.

One thing I will say. I once had Chinese 7.62 ammo that was from roughly the same vintage. A single round fragmented in the bore of a Mini-30. Now, that may be my fault for pushing a .311 bullet through a .308 bore, but modern ammunition would not have done that.

[Vic Bout]

Well then, judging from the decrepitude of most of the 80's Soviet era ammunition I saw the bad guys using during my last trip, I'd have to say that the ANA and ACM are now firmly planted on equal footing...ammo-wise. On another note, our ANA received a shipment of Egyptian Ak's that started falling apart in the first 30 rounds...front sights flying off, etc. Go figure. That boy in Miami reminds me of the Girls Gone Wild fella...making money while the sun's shining.