Past history... old Luger Ammo
Marvin,
When I was a young man (around 1966), my Dad allowed me to shoot up his supply of about 100 captured rounds of 9mm Pistolen Patronen ammo that was green steel cased. I wish now that I had not done so, but only because the ammo itself would be of historical signifigance today... The supply is not limitless and someday most of it will be gone.
I bought him some modern ammo in return to replace it with and proceeded to the range with my friends. The ammo was dated 1944 and with a clean and lubricated Luger, not a single round malfunctioned and all shot to point of aim at 25 yards...
Later in the mid 1970's I also purchased a couple hundred rounds of ammo from the same vintage and once again had no problems. Military ammo, as I am sure you are aware is sealed when assembled to keep moisture from getting in around the bullet or primer. In my experience, if the ammo is from a known good lot, is not corroded on the outside, and has been stored in a reasonable environment, I would probably trust my life to it if a random test firing of a few rounds proved reliable...
Anyone who fires this old ammo should be aware that the primer is corrosive and the weapon should be thoroughly cleaned several times (preferably with U.S. borecleaner) to insure that it does not attack the barrel/chamber if left unattended.
My advice is to "hold what you got" because in the not too distant future, this ammo that is the peer of your Luger will be valuable as collectors items... there is plenty of inexpensive surplus ammo around so that you don't have to shoot up "history". To me it is the same principle as not firing collectibles, only shooters...
Hope that helps...
regards, John Sabato
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