Disposing of ammo

[mjbskwim]

Recently I bought some Hornady 7mm mag ammo. Made 2 shots and to pound the bolt against the concrete table to get the brass out!
The ammo lot was 11 years old so they would t warranty it
I hand loaded some other hornady brass and had the same problem
I won't buy hornady 7mm any more and won't buy ammo from that gun shop.
Only had 1 Winchester brass swell like this so I'm guessing it isn't the chamber.
Anyway,I wasn't going to shoot the ammo and didn't want to garbage live ammo. So I took the inertia puller and took them apart. There was only 18 left.
I soaked the primed brass in water before throwing it in the trash
OK? Or stupid?
How do you dispose of live ammo you refuse to shoot?
Haha and I left the shiny brass I shot out at the range. Some one will get excited!

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[slimmer13]

Oil to deactivate the primers, sprinkle the powder on the grass.

 

[Joe13]

Bonfire

 

[Stomper]

You know, if you put a bullet in the fire.... it'll explode.

 

[mjbskwim]

You know, if you put a bullet in the fire.... it'll explode.

Actually the bullet will melt. The cartridge may explode,but out the side before it sends the bullet anywhere.
I used to just throw the cases in the fire pit but the dog doesn't like it and I have neighbors now.
Yeah I threw the powder on the weeds. Now I suppose they'll start growing better

 

[Medic!]

One problem I have seen with gun barrels chambered in belted magnum calibers.
The chamber area that is opened up to contain the belt is not well shaped. Either from poor shaping when made. Or from corrosion or other damage. As this is an area water can easily get into and stay perched.

This can let an expanded belt take a death grip on the chamber. A problem that may go unnoticed until pressures get higher. But are still safe to shoot.

So make sure this area is cleaned and inspected. Since this is not a standard chamber feature it often gets overlooked and under serviced.

 

[OutlawHoss]

I have heard multiple people having problems with Hornady brass in magnum, large caliber rounds. My friend had a long nasty discourse with Hornady about their 338 LapMag in which fully 90% of the brass would jam in his bolt action. He wrote and called them, got a totally new lot of brass to replace the 'faulty' one, and still the same problem. Did it a 3rd time, and the same problem. They don't seem to be able to correct the issue, so for now I consider their brass for magnum rifles to be no-go.

 

[OutlawHoss]

You know, if you put a bullet in the fire.... it'll explode.

I have 'studied' this phenomenon a bit. Since the bullet is heavier than the brass, the brass is more likely to be 'moved', but it also depends how the round sits in the camp fire. I put a round in an old wood stove, and later recovered the brass (under conditions where the stove was outside and away from people; obviously it must be said not to do this): it had ejected forcefully enough to deform the case head as the brass had hit the inside of the stove. I couldn't easily find the bullet, and gave up after a while, so I can't say what condition it was in, but probably mostly melted from the fire. It was a 240gr 44 mag round, with a copper plated lead flat nose bullet.

 

[ageingstudent]

Recently I bought some Hornady 7mm mag ammo. Made 2 shots and to pound the bolt against the concrete table to get the brass out!
The ammo lot was 11 years old so they would t warranty it
I hand loaded some other hornady brass and had the same problem
I won't buy hornady 7mm any more and won't buy ammo from that gun shop.
Only had 1 Winchester brass swell like this so I'm guessing it isn't the chamber.
Anyway,I wasn't going to shoot the ammo and didn't want to garbage live ammo. So I took the inertia puller and took them apart. There was only 18 left.
I soaked the primed brass in water before throwing it in the trash
OK? Or stupid?
How do you dispose of live ammo you refuse to shoot?
Haha and I left the shiny brass I shot out at the range. Some one will get excited!

The gun club I go to has bins for unexploded munitions and dud rounds. I drop them off in there from time to time.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Medic! points out a possible problem I have seen with belted magnums in many different rifles! I had a .300 mag that would do this very same thing with pretty much every brand or handload, needless to say, I no longer own that one! I have also heard that Hornady is using sub par brass, I.E. too thin, or incorrect formula and is known for swelling when fired! I have had this happen with my .338 win mag and my .375 Weatherby mag! So, I stopped using Hornady Brass/loads! I don't trash brass, I sell/give it away, and I pour the powder in the lawn! If your worried about the primers, de prim them! I have heard of folks doing this and being able to re use the primer in the next bunch!

 

[Stomper]

One problem I have seen with gun barrels chambered in belted magnum calibers.
The chamber area that is opened up to contain the belt is not well shaped. Either from poor shaping when made. Or from corrosion or other damage. As this is an area water can easily get into and stay perched.

This can let an expanded belt take a death grip on the chamber. A problem that may go unnoticed until pressures get higher. But are still safe to shoot.

So make sure this area is cleaned and inspected. Since this is not a standard chamber feature it often gets overlooked and under serviced.

You make it sound like a..... dirty belly-button.

 

[PBinWA]

I've deprimed live primers. Just go slowly and wear all the protective stuff. No bangs yet but I'm also aware if the risks.

 

[The Heretic]

Oil to deactivate the primers, sprinkle the powder on the grass.

^^ This

The powder will serve as fertilizer and don't throw away brass without deactivating the primer. Spray some penetrating oil into the case or fire it in a firearm after removing the powder and projectile if it isn't corrosive.

Eleven years should not be a long time to store ammo - it should probably be good (unless stored really badly, and even then...), so whoever made that ammo F****d up. I have ammo that is older than some people on this forum and it is fine.

 

[Brutus57]

Clearly mark it as End of the World, last Ditch, improvised munitions of the last resort, not to be used in a rifle but well, you'll figure something out when the time comes! Container.

Brutus out

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Recently I bought some Hornady 7mm mag ammo. Made 2 shots and to pound the bolt against the concrete table to get the brass out!
The ammo lot was 11 years old so they would t warranty it
I hand loaded some other hornady brass and had the same problem
I won't buy hornady 7mm any more and won't buy ammo from that gun shop.
Only had 1 Winchester brass swell like this so I'm guessing it isn't the chamber.
Anyway,I wasn't going to shoot the ammo and didn't want to garbage live ammo. So I took the inertia puller and took them apart. There was only 18 left.
I soaked the primed brass in water before throwing it in the trash
OK? Or stupid?
How do you dispose of live ammo you refuse to shoot?
Haha and I left the shiny brass I shot out at the range. Some one will get excited!

Pretty much what I do, 'squim. Cept I use penetrating oil instead of water

 

[rick benjamin]

I took the inertia puller and took them apart. There was only 18 left.
I soaked the primed brass in water before throwing it in the trash
OK? Or stupid?
How do you dispose of live ammo you refuse to shoot?

Inertia puller to remove bullet and powder from case.
Remove primer and re-size case.
Powder spread under rose bushes
Primers go into tin can, within the burn pile.
Cases go into tubs by case size for future reloading.
Stuck bolt indicates extreme pressure.
Chronograph might indicate extreme velocity.
Fired case might show buldging, flowing, expanded primer pocket, flattened primer.

 

[mjbskwim]

I have had good luck with hornady but this would be the first belted mag. So I won't use their brass for this gun.
It was only 18 rounds so I'm not *depriming* them. Not my cup a tea,for 18 primers.
And the loads weren't HOT at all . I started at 60gr and the last ones were 62. Well within specs for hodge on h4831

 

[mjbskwim]

And thanks for the responces

 

[PaulB47]

There was a big to-do years back in Precision Shooting magazine (the benchresters...) about something called "cold welding". It turns out if you load some very clean unoxidized bullets into very clean unoxidized brass, and let it sit some years, the bullet will tend to weld itself to the case to a certain extent. This clearly can raise pressures.

There was some speculation the military uses (used?) tar between case and bullets for this reason.

This is one of the reasons I don't tumble cases, or clean neck interiors other than a little brushing. I want that carbon and oxidation between the bullet and the case.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

I have about 125 rounds of surplus 7.62x51. Shot two rounds (after 5 flawless rounds of ZQI) through my new to me Mossberg MVP..

Long story short, the bolt is locked in place, a piece of plastic in the magwell broke off and hot gas somehow shot through the bolt and poured into the magazine.

I knew the 7.62x51 I had was bad as it would blow primers in my Cetme, C91 and M1A.. After the M1A I stopped shooting it until I got the MVP.. I too now have to throw the stuff away.. But saving the projectiles sounds like a good idea.. But Im a novice when it comes to reloading. This thread was great and in perfect timing.

Thank you OP and all those who gave advice.