How long do reloads last?
Well, this weekend I took my oldest son and a friend of his shooting. He wanted to shoot the old Ruger Speed Six revolver I gave him several years ago so I dug up some .38 special reloads and some .357 magnum factory loads.
The .38 special reloads were 148 grain hollow base wadcutters loaded backwards over 3.2 grains of bullseye powder. At the time the reverse loaded HB wadcutters sounded like a good idea (anyone who remembers this may remember how far back the idea and the reports in the gun magazines goes). In reality many of them begin to tumble not far out of the barrel and the range is probably pretty limited. No doubt, at 10 yds., a sideways .38 special wadcutter would make a nasty hole in someone.
Anyway, the friend had never before shot a gun, of any kind. My oldest son had not shot his revolver in 10 or 12 years and rarely shoots at all.
At 10 yds. all but a couple of shots where in the black of a standard 25 yd. pistol target (sold at Walmart). They each shot a 50 round box of the .38's and then a cylinder full of the 125 grain .357 magnum hollow points for a comparison of .38 to .357 recoil for them.
Now, how long do reloads last? I didn't find out, exactly. We shot them on Saturday, March 9, 2013. The tag on the boxes said the .38 specials were reloaded on March 8, 1982. So they had been on the shelf (attic/bedroom closet/garage) for 31 years and one day. They lasted much longer on the shelf than at the range
Every one went bang and every one would have been a hit on a torso at 10 yds.
The .357 magnum ammo was from the same time period as I have not bought any .357 magnum ammo since I moved to VA in 1985.
Ammo lasts a long time if you keep it dry and inside.
