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7.62 x 54R spam can-how old is too old? Manufacturers? Login/Join 
Smarter than the
average bear
posted
I don't know much about this stuff. SGAmmo has 1985 vintage spam cans (440 rounds) for $175. A guy locally (individual, not a store) is selling cans for $110 each, and they appear to be 1973 vintage from the photo. But I can't read Russian, and that's all I can tell from the photo.

Any concerns about this stuff lasting forever? Anything to look out for? I imagine a swollen can or rust, but I don't know past that. What do y'all think?
 
Posts: 3425 | Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Registered: June 20, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
"Member"
Picture of cas
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Tough to say, but probably just fine. Who, what, where and how play a big factor.



I've shot 303 British marked as made by FN in 1933 (dunno who really made it), and it was just fine. Yet some late 1960's Pakistani 303 was nothing but duds and hang fires.


_____________________________________________________
Sliced bread, the greatest thing since the 1911.

 
Posts: 21053 | Location: 18th & Fairfax  | Registered: May 17, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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I've shot milsurp ammo that was over 100 years old. 1973 or 1985 vintage ammo is still relatively young.

I have quite a bit of surplus 7.62x54R ammo, and most of it dates from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Stored properly, age is not an issue.

There are certain types of problematic surplus ammo in various calibers out there (Syrian 7.5x54, Pakistani .303, Indian 7.62x51, etc.), but I have yet to be made aware of any specific x54R ammo that has issues, other than various ammo that simply hasn't been stored properly. So provided the spam can is not rusty, you should have no problems.

If you'll post the photos of the 1973 spam cans, I can tell you what they are.
 
Posts: 32430 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Mensch
Picture of kz1000
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I have a sealed crate w/2 spam cans of 1948 Russian 7.62x54r. Crate is in good shape, ammo will outlast me.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yidn, shreibt un fershreibt"

"The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind."
-Bomber Harris
 
Posts: 16119 | Location: Ivorydale | Registered: January 21, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Smarter than the
average bear
posted Hide Post


This is the image that was posted with the WTS ad. What can y'all tell me?
 
Posts: 3425 | Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Registered: June 20, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
440 rounds of Romanian surplus 148 gr. steel core light ball "silver tip" ammo, produced in 1973.
 
Posts: 32430 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted Hide Post
I think as long as it was sealed up, it's fine.

I had read that our forces were shooting off .50 caliber ammo in the sandbox that was produced during WWII!


 
Posts: 33608 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Non-Miscreant
posted Hide Post
Ammo is like milk, eggs, or bread. It has a shelf life of 2 weeks. Or maybe not. You can look in the business end, the one opposite the primer. If the bullet is gone, its no longer good. Except for painful reloading. Smile

I used to love these threads because it gave me the opportunity to tell the poster to just send it to me for proper disposal. Probably not the best ammo to use for self defense because there is an outside chance it might not fire or be accurate. But I don't want anyone shooting at me with it.

I've been told some antibiotics get stronger with age. I've not heard of that with ammo. It might get weaker once past the century mark, and I don't think I'd trust black powder ammo very far. I don't know much about primers. I do know they didn't want to use non-corrosive primers for military use because the old corrosive were considered to last longer. Any body know if that's still true? Maybe the military just wanted something for the troops to do, like clean rifles.

So I guess we can summarize by saying if the bullet is still in the case and the primer isn't dented, its probably good as gold.


Unhappy ammo seeker
 
Posts: 18385 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: February 25, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go ahead punk, make my day
posted Hide Post
It's never too old for a Mosin.

I bought a crate of Russian 762x54R Silver Tip from 1974, two spam cans and opener for $175 5-6 years ago. I wish I had bought another 2-3 for that price.
 
Posts: 45798 | Registered: July 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go ahead punk, make my day
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by honestlou:
A guy locally (individual, not a store) is selling cans for $110 each, and they appear to be 1973 vintage from the photo.
For $110 a can (assuming they are sealed), I would buy every one he had.

It's Xmas time and he likely needs Xmas money.
 
Posts: 45798 | Registered: July 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Mensch
Picture of kz1000
posted Hide Post
I have a Soviet sealed case (2 spam cans) from 1948. I don't have any worries that the ammo has gone bad. Bought cheap & stacked deep when it was .10 a round.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yidn, shreibt un fershreibt"

"The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind."
-Bomber Harris
 
Posts: 16119 | Location: Ivorydale | Registered: January 21, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of maladat
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I've shot a lot of ammunition, both rifle and shotgun, that sat in cardboard boxes in an un-climate-controlled garage in Houston since the 80's. Never had a problem with any of it.
 
Posts: 6319 | Location: CA | Registered: January 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by kz1000:
Bought cheap & stacked deep when it was .10 a round.


Ditto. Even after selling off most of my Mosin-Nagants and about half of my x54R stockpile a couple years back, I still probably have about 8k-10k rounds squirreled away.

I was buying one or two 880 round crates every month back in the mid/late 2000s, when it was like $80 shipped per crate.
 
Posts: 32430 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of steelcityfishanddive
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That stuff is perfectly fine. I shoot it underwater in power heads. Great round for my purposes.
 
Posts: 1312 | Location: Tampa, FL | Registered: June 26, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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