Hi Ya Everyone. About 25-35 years ago I had a good friend that I reloaded pistol shells with.
I have quite a few boxes of reloaded .38 and .357s. My question with ALL HONESTY,,,,
Do you think these shells are SAFE to shoot???? They've been inside the whole time.
Other than it blowing my hands off what else should I be worried about?
Sadly to say but when my friend passed away I quit reloading.
Anyway I plan on carrying my Ruger SP101 with me the next  time I go
and plan on flinging some lead at the targets with them. Sitting for so long
What say ye???? You all I ain't right in the head,,,, BUT I would like to keep it around
for a little while longer and I have really gotten close to my hands and fingers
so I am not ready to lose them yet.

PLEASE tell me what you think. Does the powder change in a way that would make shooting them un-safe?
Please tell me of your experiences and what is the oldest reloads you have shot.
Thank you all so very much for your time & help! Take care & have a great night/day!!!!

As long as they where safe loads put together with appropriate loading practices when they where originally loaded, they should be fine. Just be careful, and watch out for squibs when shooting.

Thank you so much for your time & help.

Shoot it!

I have 7.62x25 ammunition from the 1950s that is not just functional, it's still amazingly precise.

I ran it over the chrono to find that the velocities had a standard deviation of 15.5 fps.

Thanks a lot for your help. Take care.

As mentioned. If they were made using safe data with appropriate reloading practices used, I'd have no hesitation to shoot them in a gun in good condition. Be aware of the possibility of a squib but the likelihood if that is very low if ya'll knew what you were doing :)

As proof I walk the talk I recently shot a few hundred rounds of 9mm that I'm certain I reloaded at least 18 years ago and likely even 20+ years. I never hesitated or had the slightest doubts. They worked 100%,  just as expected.

+1 what others have said above. If they were safe back then, they're safe now.

The only thing I would worry about is that decades ago many recommended handloads were hotter than the data now available.  I know because I loaded and shot them myself.

I shoot my own handloads, even the ones 38 years old.  That is about how long I have been handloading.

Some one elses?  I would have to have known them extremely well to trust them.

I have shot a lot of my fathers old loads both 38 and 357 . Some of the 357 loads flattened primers and were very accurate . The 38's were range loads and were a little smokey . they ran 100%

OP, are the load contents marked?  Age shouldn't be an issue as others have stated.  I have an older Speer manual (20 some years?) that lists a few handgun loads a good bit hotter than max from their current one, so I would check that out if you are worried.