Judging by pics, is the ammo still usable?

[gsrturboek]

I received these from a friend. These were left in his garage quite some time. He thought they were still okay, but haven't really seen them in a long time. When I came to pick it up the looked like this. In the first pic, it's not really that detailed. The second pic is more detailed of what some of them looked like.

[joelogic]

Rust or stain? smooth or rough?

[Gio]

If you have time to have someone look at the rounds first it would be a better bet, you might also be able to tumble them for a little bit and see what it looks like afterwards. To me it looks like it had some moisture and it stuck to the box or something. If it is not badly pitted I would feel safe using it, but it would be better to have someone that loads ammo look at it first.

[damndave]

Brass does not rust since it is mainly copper & zinc. It just looks dirty. Grab some Nevr-Dull and wipe them clean. Should be fine to fire.

[Sub95]

tumble and then shoot them.

[joelogic]

ahhh, yes. It must be late.

Brass does not rust since it is mainly copper & zinc. It just looks dirty. Grab some Nevr-Dull and wipe them clean. Should be fine to fire.

[wtkaiser]

Ummm, tumbling live ammunition is a bit risky. I know most of you have done it forever, and I would think about it and then not do it. Call me over-cautious, but any activity that causes a live primer to contact a bullet, however gently MOST of the time, has the potential to cause a KB (which I am told means a KABOOM - not ideal under most circumstances). It truly does just take one time...

[sequoia_nomad]

Most of the danger in tumbling live rounds lies in rifle cartridges with sharp pointed tips. The chances of a round nose handgun round are pretty remote, but there is that slight chance. Moreover than a kb, a more realistic potential problem I've heard of is the vibration causing damage to the explosive charge in the primer, causing a dud. I've never experienced either of these problems and I tumble most of my handgun rounds in corn cob after loading, provided they have jacketed bullets.

Personally, I would just throw them in the tumbler, but it is totally up to the individual to decide how they feel about the potential risk of this kind of thing.

[pisarski]

just wipe them down and shoot them

[CSACANNONEER]

Send them to me and I'll tumble them for you. Just to be on the safe side, I'll personally test each round to make sure it functions properly before I return them to you. Please include return postage along with your shipment. I will provide this service at no charge to you.

[GMG]

As said above, clean them up and send them down range.

[Hogxtz]

If you are shooting them from one of those wussy la-la silvery 1911's than you should wipe them down first. If you are shooting them from a Glock, you dont need to wipe them down. Justr shoot'em!!!

[Fishslayer]

I'd chuck 'em in the vibrator with some lizard litter & Nu Finish.

If they were clean & shiny after a couple hours or so, I'd shoot 'em up.

EDIT: I am assuming this is factory ammo? If they were handloads of unknown origin I would disassemble & salvage the components.

[Yugo]

Send them to me and I'll tumble them for you. Just to be on the safe side, I'll personally test each round to make sure it functions properly before I return them to you. Please include return postage along with your shipment. I will provide this service at no charge to you.

+1 ^^^^ or wipe each one by hand like others have said, worst case they are duds.

[wtkaiser]

He has a point there. An unknown load stored an unknown time in unknown conditions is a crap shoot.