Any value in saving rare discontinued ammo?

Koda · May 23, 2020

I'm a long time 10mm auto fan for hiking and camping. About 20+ years ago I bought some Corbon 180g 10mm soft point hunting rounds packing an (advertised) 700ft lbs of muzzle energy. These are discontinued now, have been for a while. I have 3 boxes left.
Ive since found equal performing alternatives, so no issue there.

So I have this mag loaded with the old corbons, and as every good gun owner aspires to never need to use their gun that mag is still full. Ive been thinking I should probably shoot these up. The other side of me wants to put them back in their box and just keep them since they no longer make them... but then whats the point; a tiny bit of sentimental value, nostalgia maybe a bit more of... is it worth it?

sobo · May 23, 2020

As I tell everyone when it comes to ammo... SHOOT 'EM UP!

titsonritz · May 24, 2020

Use it for it's intended purpose.

BrandonQuixote · May 24, 2020

Don't deny them their purpose. BLAST EM

sobo · May 24, 2020

RVTECH · May 24, 2020

'Rare' has no meaning for anything unless the item is deseriable and collectible and can be verifiably sold for considerably higher than its original retail price.
If this were a box of .45 Colt dated 1873 of course you wouldn't shoot it but in your case blaze away!
I was in a similar situation. Several years ago I traded for a 1967 Winchester that came with a box of ammo in a Montgomery Wards box!
Well this box (actually 18 rounds) sat on my 'antique' ammo/gun paraphernalia display for a couple years until I realized it had no value other than shootable ammo and reloadable brass so off I went with gun and ammo to the nearby woods for 18 rounds of the most brutal .30-30 Winchester ammo I had ever shot!
They dont load it like that anymore!

Koda · May 24, 2020

These boxes of ammo I bought 20+ years ago, its not an antique and its been replaced with newer items I already purchased just sitting there unused. It was a question I decided to reconcile yesterday as I inserted the old magazine and headed off to the woods where Ive spent my life hunting with my dad who I recently lost this year. It finally stood out to me now this morning, that the moment of deciding if its an item worth moving on or setting aside for the sentimental value, triggered an emotional response to the serendipity of the good memories of the past and the cycle of life as I move forward.

I don't normally expose my personal experiences publicly but this one slipped by last night as I pondered the question of what to do with the old boxes of ammo. If my dad was still with me I would take them out and let him send them off. He was with me when I bought my first guns including this one, and this box of ammo well over 20 years ago...