Average shelf life of an indian Ammo .32

[mariner]

Dear IFGns,
Greetings!
I have few queries and doubts,can someone help me clear out.
1-what is the average healthy life of an indian ammo .32(has anyone experienced any problem firing 3-4 year old ammo).
2-where in india do we get fresh/latest ammo,are all the centers of IOF making same type of ammo,or is it manufactured at one place as someone told me all are made in pune.
3-what is the name/brand for .32 bore ammo indian/foreign.
4-i was told that in mumbai a licencee is alloted a quota of 250 grains per year whereas in UP its only 25,why this difference.
Please someone guide me through this and do forgive my ignorance.
Regards,
Mariner.

[vrohan59]

Well it all depends on the conditions in which the ammo has been stored,extreme head,moisture can cause changes in the chemical compositions of the propellants,but then I have experienced misfires(even more scary hangfires)in KF ammo(2008 batch).Getting ammo in India is always a problem,you can search the site,all relevant information is available;as for foreign made ammo,I've seen GECO,Kynoch,Magnatec,Winchester,Sako;but I guess other brands are also available,but the prices are really high.Moreover dealers get their hands on old stocks and "brasso"them to make them all shiny and new!!This can cause the case to crack as ammonia present in Brasso makes them brittle.As for your last question,people have licences in Assam with unlimited ammo quotas,but are allowed to purchase only 4(four)a month!!!One more thing if you're planning to use imported ammo in IOF .32 revolvers, DON'T!!
Regards
Rohan

[The Doc]

One more thing if you're planning to use imported ammo in IOF .32 revolvers, DON'T!!

Why not

[joydeepm]

I have used imported ammo safely in my Ashani . Over 200 rounds . No poblems at all .
Joydeep

[mariner]

thankyou Mr.Rohan
That was a good piece of information,can u also tell me,where all in india .32 ACP is manufactured,is it only in pune.
Regards
Mariner

-- Mon Nov 29, 2010 2:45 pm --

[Devrishi]

One more thing if you're planning to use imported ammo in IOF .32 revolvers, DON'T!!

Why not

Please refer to this thread:imported Vs KF ammunition - pressure statistics... it will give you some insight.

Regards

[The Doc]

One more thing if you're planning to use imported ammo in IOF .32 revolvers, DON'T!!

Why not

Please refer to this thread:imported Vs KF ammunition - pressure statistics... it will give you some insight.

http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/am ... /sc/12.htm

This is the page that gives the mean maximum pressure of the KF .32 S&W long ammo. They have not however given the values for .32 short and .32acp. I sincerely hope to God that the value 4.724 kg/mm² or 46.4 MPa. is incorrect otherwise we have a cartridge which has a mean max. pressure of 6730 PSI as compared to imported .32 S&W long ammo with a max. pressure of 14000 PSI . So in other words Indian .32 revolver ammo has less than half power than the imported counterpart . Do the values hold true for .32 acp ammo too ?

Having said all that there is no evidence that the IOF .32 revolver cannot take higher pressures than generated by the KF ammo .

Your thoughts gentlemen .........

best,
Rp.

[TwoRivers]

Doc: A given maximum pressure for a cartridge does not mean that the cartridge is actually loaded to that pressure, especially with an older cartridge, such as the .32 S&W Long. The more so when there are a lot of old and weak revolvers around. With today's powders, the old ballistics can normally be achieved at considerably lower pressure.
Also, factories normally load to a pressure 10% below the maximum allowable pressure to be on the safe side.

[Devrishi]

It's highly ADVISABLE not to use imported .32 S&WL in IOF Revolvers. If we use, we use entirely upon our risk, responsibility & cost.

Mind you, all over the world, it has been established that, for self defence, .32 bore calibre is very much on the lower side however .38 is understood to be a decent calibre.

In our case pressure of KF .32S&WL 6730 PSI is almost 50% of imported .32S&WL 14000 PSI. Just see where we stand in terms of Self defence .

At times it feels that IOF is really distributing 'jhunjhuna' @ Rs.83,000/+

Best regards

DevRishi

[The Doc]

A given maximum pressure for a cartridge does not mean that the cartridge is actually loaded to that pressure, especially with an older cartridge, such as the .32 S&W Long. The more so when there are a lot of old and weak revolvers around. With today's powders, the old ballistics can normally be achieved at considerably lower pressure.
Also, factories normally load to a pressure 10% below the maximum allowable pressure to be on the safe side.

I agree completely , however I was trying to compare the max. pressure difference between the Indian made .32 S&W long with the imported counterpart available these days. I have often thought why was there a little difference between the size of both the above mentioned bullets, the Indian .32 S&W long obviously shorter than the imported one . I will post a comparative picture here.

best,
Rp.

[dr.jayakumar]

good info rohan.i shoot almost every bullet i get in my licence and borrow some from non user's and there is no question about selflife except for the few imported one's for emergency.happy shooting.

[mariner]

thankyou all
For sharing your knowledge base and experiances,one thing i would like to know,in .32KF ,what does KF stand for,is it manufactured at all the centers of IOF or somewhere in pune.

Regards,Mariner.

[xl_target]

Properly prepared ammo should have a long shelf life. There is plenty of WW2 surplus ammo still being fired. I can't say much about IOF ammo as I am not that familiar with it anymore.

However, properly prepared ammo made with modern components should be able to withstand quite a bit of heat and cold as well as being exposed to moisture. For example, I used to carry a spare mag in my pants pocket. Inevitably, some of these fully loaded magazines went through the washing machine before they were discovered. Sure they were nice an clean and smelled like fresh linen but I was unsure about their viability after that. They had gone through two agitation cycles, two rinse cycles and two spin cycles. I took them out to the range and shot them off with no issues. The ammo was 115 grain Hornady JHP XTP 9mm ammo. This happened several times and I never had a cartridge failure.
With a full sized washer and a big tub, the sides are are travelling along at a pretty good pace during the spin cycle. i though for sure water would have been forced into the cartridge casing. This never happened. I was amazed.

[TwoRivers]

Well, we may be trying to compare maximum permissible SAAMI pressure of 14,000 psi for the cartridge, with the actual pressure of the the IOF round. I really doubt that the .32 S&W Long is nowadays loaded to its full potential. Also, pressure taking methods are probably not the same, which would make comparison meaningless. Would be interesting, though, to be actually able to pressure test the IOF vs. "phoren" rounds. Regards.

[The Doc]

Well, we may be trying to compare maximum permissible SAAMI pressure of 14,000 psi for the cartridge, with the actual pressure of the the IOF round. I really doubt that the .32 S&W Long is nowadays loaded to its full potential. Also, pressure taking methods are probably not the same, which would make comparison meaningless. Would be interesting, though, to be actually able to pressure test the IOF vs. "phoren" rounds. Regards.

I think you are right , this comparison seems to be a little vague indeed. Here is an pic of various types of .32 S&W long ammo that I have , I did not use calipers to measure the exact length.



L to R
S&B , CBC (Brasilian) , Kynoch , Geco , R-P (Remington) , KF , GFL (Fiochhi)

best,
Rp.