Some Comments & Questions on Ammo - Page 2

jim haycraft · 08-24-2002, 03:34 PM

About 10 days ago, I took my 1940 Mauser P.08 "shooter"to the range for the first time in 50 years! The reason for the lengthy pause is a lengthy tale in itself, which I won't go imto here. The P.08 (along with others) had been stored in a gun case, under conditions of controlled temperature and humidity, had been field stripped and inspected frequently and was in perfect condition. I took along 2 cartons of new Remington-UMC 124 grain FMJ cartridges, plus some old Winchester rounds - and I mean OLD! The first two full magazines functioned through the gun perfectly - I even managed to hit the target with every round, but not necessarily where I aimed! Bifocals don't help! From then on, I experienced some 'stove-piping' with the cartridges nicked and scratched in the process. I put these aside for further inspection. I also had some failures to eject, the cases getting a little squished in the process. I ended the shooting session with a full 8-round magazine of the old Winchester stuff, which worked perfectly. All in all, after 58 firing attempts, I had 4 'stove-pipes' and 6 failures to eject fully; all from the UMC ammo. This amounts to a 17% failure rate, which sounds like a lot, but I nevertheless had a 'blast' (no pun intended), and received admiring glances from other shooters (youngsters) who had never seen a Luger! Part of this was due to the handsome look imparted by a new set of plain walnut Nill grips I had recently received. Examining the UMC rounds afterward, I noted the bullets were seated deeper in the case than the older Winchester cartridges. Consulting a reference, MILITARY SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION OF THE WORLD 1945-1980 by P. Labbett, it mentioned the overall length of the 9 mm Parabellum cartridge to be 29.6 mm (standard). The UMC rounds were almost 2 mm shorter and I believe that may have been responsible for the 'stove-piping.' The cartridges were being stripped from the magazine, but were not 'ramping-up' properly and entering the chamber. What do you think? The old Winchester rounds were right on the money at 29.6 mm long. The failures to eject properly may have been random occurences due to the widely held belief that US 9 mm rounds develop pressures on the low side; the European stuff a little hotter. These are the comments. The questions: what kind of shelf life do modern smokeless powder pistol cartridges possess, given proper storage conditions? Over time, the powder may degrade, especially if moisture gets into it, but I feel confident that they can be safely fired. If anything, I would think performance would be lousy, with pressures on the low side. In 1947, I shot some German mlitary ammo that was manufactured in 1917 - 30 years old. In this recent instance - 50+ years old. I would welcome some comments and perhaps further discussion. By the way, my 75th. birthday is coming up this coming week and I'm going to celebrate with another shooting session (with another brand of 9 mm, this time), 50 or 100 rounds with a Mauser Hsc and maybe 50 or so .45 ACP, with a WWII vintage Model 1911! It looks like the bug has bitten me again, and I think my wife is pissed!

08-24-2002, 03:34 PM	#1
jim haycraft User Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 20 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Some Comments & Questions on Ammo About 10 days ago, I took my 1940 Mauser P.08 "shooter"to the range for the first time in 50 years! The reason for the lengthy pause is a lengthy tale in itself, which I won't go imto here. The P.08 (along with others) had been stored in a gun case, under conditions of controlled temperature and humidity, had been field stripped and inspected frequently and was in perfect condition. I took along 2 cartons of new Remington-UMC 124 grain FMJ cartridges, plus some old Winchester rounds - and I mean OLD! The first two full magazines functioned through the gun perfectly - I even managed to hit the target with every round, but not necessarily where I aimed! Bifocals don't help! From then on, I experienced some 'stove-piping' with the cartridges nicked and scratched in the process. I put these aside for further inspection. I also had some failures to eject, the cases getting a little squished in the process. I ended the shooting session with a full 8-round magazine of the old Winchester stuff, which worked perfectly. All in all, after 58 firing attempts, I had 4 'stove-pipes' and 6 failures to eject fully; all from the UMC ammo. This amounts to a 17% failure rate, which sounds like a lot, but I nevertheless had a 'blast' (no pun intended), and received admiring glances from other shooters (youngsters) who had never seen a Luger! Part of this was due to the handsome look imparted by a new set of plain walnut Nill grips I had recently received. Examining the UMC rounds afterward, I noted the bullets were seated deeper in the case than the older Winchester cartridges. Consulting a reference, MILITARY SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION OF THE WORLD 1945-1980 by P. Labbett, it mentioned the overall length of the 9 mm Parabellum cartridge to be 29.6 mm (standard). The UMC rounds were almost 2 mm shorter and I believe that may have been responsible for the 'stove-piping.' The cartridges were being stripped from the magazine, but were not 'ramping-up' properly and entering the chamber. What do you think? The old Winchester rounds were right on the money at 29.6 mm long. The failures to eject properly may have been random occurences due to the widely held belief that US 9 mm rounds develop pressures on the low side; the European stuff a little hotter. These are the comments. The questions: what kind of shelf life do modern smokeless powder pistol cartridges possess, given proper storage conditions? Over time, the powder may degrade, especially if moisture gets into it, but I feel confident that they can be safely fired. If anything, I would think performance would be lousy, with pressures on the low side. In 1947, I shot some German mlitary ammo that was manufactured in 1917 - 30 years old. In this recent instance - 50+ years old. I would welcome some comments and perhaps further discussion. By the way, my 75th. birthday is coming up this coming week and I'm going to celebrate with another shooting session (with another brand of 9 mm, this time), 50 or 100 rounds with a Mauser Hsc and maybe 50 or so .45 ACP, with a WWII vintage Model 1911! It looks like the bug has bitten me again, and I think my wife is pissed!