Question about firing old ammo (.43 Mauser!)

[Ron3]

So I've got this old Model 71/84 Mauser rifle in great shape.

After years of keeping an eye out I found a box of .43 Mauser (11.15x60R) cartridges that also look great. They are in the original box and I believe they were made in 1957.

Safe to shoot? That's what I'm not sure of.

I notice that the bullets are not seated to the same depths, they vary quite a bit. Does that make them dangerous? I can hear powder moving freely inside the case. Is there supposed to be a filler in there? Was the bullet lubed and if this lube has deteriorated is that dangerous?

I'm not worried about accuracy or fouling because I only plan to fire 3 to 5 shots. But I don't want to blow the gun up or get hurt. (I plan on the first two shots being string-fired!)

I know this isn't the Castboolits forum but I'll bet someone here knows something about reloading..thanks!

[markm]

You could try shooting an email off to Handloader Magazine. Those guys are pretty knowledgeable on prehistoric stuff like this. ;)

[anachronism]

It all comes down to: you'll never know until you try. You can pull a bullet and weigh the powder charge, but that won't tell you anything unless you know exactly which powder was used to load them. After that, you could fire the empty case in the rifle to see if the primers seem viable. As far as the powder sloshing around inside, that's a potential good sign, it means the powder isn't caked up... probably.

This is the reason guys used to tie the rifle to an old tire, and test fire them with a long piece of string.

[opsoff1]

I've witnessed first hand, some pretty horrific kabooms that traced the cause to old factory ammo. I have a shooting buddy who now shoots lefty as a chunk of his 03 Springfield went through his right eye. Ammo was the culprit. I watched a father / son team grenade an M1 with old ammo. The ammo in question was old surplus WWII stuff that had two significant issues;
1. It was degraded (see next paragraph) and
2. It was actually .30-06 aircraft machinegun ammo that is loaded to higher pressures - designed to be fired at significant altitude - all the ammo had special double crimped primers and the boxes were color coded.
The father son team had no idea and were happy to have found some cheap surplus ammo. The M1 had an op rod that looked like a piece of spaghetti, the op rod spring shattered - 25+ pieces and the action actually split the stock all the way through the butt plate. The internals were bent and the headspace opened up beyond safe limits. I watched it go boom - pretty interesting situation.
One of the issues with ammo like that, is unfortunately, some of it has been moved quite a bit. A lot of vibration and jostling. The powder rubs on itself and basically wears the deterrent coatings off. This effectively changes the burn rate of the powder - significantly. A sure way to determine this is to pull a bullet and dump the powder - if you see a lot of fine "dust", this is exactly what has occurred. Don't shoot it.
An empty case test fired to check primer viability is a good test. If you don't have any of the "dust" in the powder, free burn a sample pile outside - it should burn quickly and progressively - no sputtering or odd flair ups. Given these rudimentary tests come out ok - you're "probably" good to go. I'd absolutely test fire with a string first though....

[anachronism]

Hmmm... I did a little research. Is the ammo you found loaded with black powder? The reason I ask is because black powder should be loaded slightly compressed in any cartridge, and you mentioned that you can hear the powder swish around inside the loaded case. It is time to pull a bullet and see what you have. The original loadings appear to have been paper patched lead bullets. It does appear that 43 Mauser ammo was loaded commercially for many years, and that the later commercial loadings may not have either paper patching, or black powder. Do you reload your own ammo? It may be wisest to pull down the ammo and reuse the major components with fresh powder and primers of known identity. Reloading dies should still be available. Did we mention using a long string to fire the rifle from behind cover?

[Ron3]

Thanks for the advice.

I do not reload.

The ammo is commercial Canadian ammo of "Dominion" brand. From the box markings it appears it was made in 1957. I doesn't have a paper patch and is not black powder.

I was going to fire two rounds with a string and one from the shoulder. But now I'm thinking If I fire a round from the shoulder maybe I shouldn't put my face behind the bolt..

[Suwannee Tim]

Thanks for the advice.

I do not reload.

The ammo is commercial Canadian ammo of "Dominion" brand. From the box markings it appears it was made in 1957. I doesn't have a paper patch and is not black powder.

I was going to fire two rounds with a string and one from the shoulder. But now I'm thinking If I fire a round from the shoulder maybe I shouldn't put my face behind the bolt..

I would shoot it without a second thought. I might hold my head to the side for the first shot. :)