Dud round disposal

[Member 5605]

A dud round is not dangerous if left in a metal barrel.

After a few hours it's pretty clear it's not going to go off.

The range down here has drums to drop the duds and brass into.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I generally just throw them out on the local school yard.





I've no idea how clubs go about dud disposal. I soak them in a small container with penetrating oil covering them. Then solid waste disposal.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I generally just throw them out on the local school yard.





I've no idea how clubs go about dud disposal. I soak them in a small container with penetrating oil covering them. Then solid waste disposal.

I mail mine to the Tokyo airport.
just kidding!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I mail mine to the Tokyo airport.
just kidding!

Oh, look look, it is the big lizard!
Get the massive amount of dud ammunition!

 

[Camelfilter]

Oil? Why not water? Please elaborate.

Not being a wisearse, I really don't know squat about this and I should. My gun club just keeps an empty tin coffee can hanging on the wall for duds. I suppose some members salvage what's in there.

When shooting, what's the appropriate time to wait before handling centerfire and/or rimfire rounds that didn't go bang? I've had 'em at one time or another in every common caliber from .22 up to 30-06.

My understanding, but mind that I'm a relative newby:

water may or may not "deactivate" a primer, particularly if lacquered. Petroleum products will have a better opportunity to do so, and also will "save" brass by not oxidating it.

Can then safely pull for components (or not). For a simple example, set a few of your range brass pickups you don't want in a glass/cup of water. See how long they turn into a big 'ol green lump of uselessness.

Whereas the bucket of water will likely still deactivate over time, more than likely the brass will not be useful. So I'd imagine that method would be perfectly fine, if it's not your personal range.

 

[MasterChief]

This is actually a thing to think about for commercial/public/local/paying dues (outside) ranges....When I used to shoot in certain places, they were working on an EPA reclamation plan b/c so many ranges were being "studied" for EPA regulation violations.....esp near water (creeks/river/lakes/sloughs/navigable & un-nav waters).....food for thought. EPA as my understanding as long as your working on a plan you can't be investigated....only inspected.........if anyone has any further info I would love to learn...ESP if I'm wrong

 

[MasterChief]

I heard 100rds dud ammunition in a women receptacle is pretty dangerous

 

[teflon6string]

Aha! Thanks fellers. It's never too late to learn something new every day (oil vs water in the dud can).

What would be extra telling is if the self-labeled "brass-whores" among us saw a distinct trend toward any particular brand. Have you guys noticed that one company makes more duds than some of the others?

Like I've mentioned before, in shooting since the 60s, I've probably seen pretty much every brand and caliber fail at least once. But a broadly sampled 10% failure rate with 2 separate Winchester products on 2 separate occasions is less than confidence-inspiring to me.

I use other brands in my EDC and home defense weps.

 

[Tully Mars]

Honestly it's been so long ago I couldn't say. Other than .22 LR/Mag the only factory ammo I really shoot any more is IMI/PMC for testing weps after I work on them. All my stuff is my own reloads and my own bullets.

 

[Certaindeaf]

You just know that some clod would toss his lit stogie into that oil and incendiary laden vessel and that'd be some interesting six Oclock news right there. just saying

 

[Camelfilter]

You just know that some clod would toss his lit stogie into that oil and incendiary laden vessel and that'd be some interesting six Oclock news right there. just saying

Watch this...hold my beer...

 

[Certaindeaf]

It solves so many problems at once it's truly elegant.

 

[Lilhigbee]

I don't know how many years this pistol laid outside before it came to me, but it was a long time. Of the eight rounds of ammo in it, only one didn't fire. Point being, severe exposure to wet conditions didn't affect 87.5% of the ammo.

 

[CLT65]

An acquaintance once gave me a handful of M1 carbine rounds that she found buried in her driveway, along with the rusted-away remains of the magazine they were in. The mag was literally 80% gone. The ammo was dated 1943. How long they had been buried in the dirt, mud and gravel I do not know, but clearly many years and likely decades. I used steel wool to scrape and clean off the exterior of a round in order to pull it apart, salvage the bullet, and see what it looked like inside just for curiosity. It looked sealed and clean inside and the powder looked fine. Even the brass looked sound after I cleaned it up.

OK, here's where I might get flamed for being reckless. I won't recommend anyone else fire found ammo dug out of the ground, but I did. Yes, I put it back together and shot it, just for curiosity, and it shot just like a new one. The sealant they used on WWII GI ammo must have been really good stuff. No it didn't blow up my gun. I only did that based on careful inspection of the round and lots of experience.

Other wise this is what happens to found ammo, duds, most random ammo given to me (lots over the years), etc..

The range I used to be a member of had a can on the wall for duds and stuff people didn't want. The range master on several occasions told me to take it if I found ammo in it, with the understanding that I pull it down for components, said sometimes it would pile up for a while, but eventually there was always someone who was glad to take it. I've never understood the fear some people have of old ammo, or worry about it "going off" when pulling it down, or burning it. Honestly though, I've accumulated a lot of these bullets but haven't really used a lot of them.

On another note, I did once find the can at the range full of WWI and WWII era 6.5mm Italian Carcano ammo. RM said take 'em. There were even a couple mixed in that were somewhat collectible. Another time I was given about a hundred rounds of WWII USGI 30-06. Maybe a dozen were corroded beyond safety, so I pulled them down to salvage the bullet and scrap the brass. The rest were fine and we shot them.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I don't know how many years this pistol laid outside before it came to me, but it was a long time. Of the eight rounds of ammo in it, only one didn't fire. Point being, severe exposure to wet conditions didn't affect 87.5% of the ammo.

View attachment 376835 View attachment 376836

yeabut what did you do with that one dud round? lol

 

[CLT65]

By the way, shotgun rounds are typically not sealed so well. Long ago I tried to fire a 12ga round I found outside. It was near a duck blind and had gotten wet. Stupid. The primer went off but didn't ignite the powder. It exploded and flattened back against the bolt, blowing debris at me. Didn't damage the gun but sure startled me. No, I don't fire found or questionable ammo anymore.

 

[Lilhigbee]

Pulled it down, cleaned it up, new primer and powder, reloaded it and shot it!! The same treatment the gun got.

 

[woody06]

Pull the bullets and reload them and the brass, dispose of the powder and primer.

 

[Stomper]

Duds in 9mm on up make for GREAT expedient ear plugs!

 

[CLT65]

Re-purpose as slingshot ammo?