What to do with squished ammo?

[CountryGent]

We have two firearms (a vz61 and a Mac-10) that have a weird habit when they malfunction they squish the bullet down hard into the case. Here is an illustration of what I mean by this; squished ammo on the left, unsquished on the right.



Heretofore I've just placed it in range satchel and brought them home. But now there is a small bunch of these misshapen cartridges and am curious what to do with them. Thoughts?

(And, yes, I'm killing time at the present. )

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[F2CMaDMaXX]

Factory rounds i assume? pull and reseat if you're careful enough?

 

[CountryGent]

Yes, all factory.

 

[4x401]

I would pull the bullet, resize the case, reseat the bullet.

 

[Medic!]

There'll be another ''What Happened'' thread if you try and shoot them.

 

[DLS]

The safest route is to do what @F2CMaDMaXX and @4x401 have recommended but it requires more work than below.

If you have a Lee Factory Crimp Die and an inertial bullet puller you can use the puller to "pull" the bullets a bit beyond normal OAL. Then reseat to the bullet to proper OAL with your seating die. Then run it through the FCD and it will restore the taper crimp. The FCD also has a sizing ring that will iron out any bulges or bumps that may now be in the case stemming from the bullet being pressed deeper. You will have to be careful not to "pull" the bullet completely out of the case to do this, but it will be less messy and you don't have to worry about recharging with powder etc.

You might want to look at your magazines and feed ramps on the pistols. If the magazine is presenting the round incorrectly, it can ram against the feed ramp and be seated like you see. The ramp itself may need polishing. This is important to fix, especially with small case capacity rounds like the 9x21. A deeper seated bullet can drastically raise pressures when fired.

 

[Nwcid]

I agree. If you reload pull them and do over.

 

[ColeInOregon]

 

[CountryGent]

Thanks all. I don't reload at the present, so don't have the tools to do so. There isn't a ton like these and the malfunctions that result in this are fairly rare. Though, over time, I've, evidently, managed to pocket a few. I noticed on a few of the 7.65㎜/.32 ACP ones, the cases are bulged a bit.

Anywho, I am glad I didn't shoot them, though I assumed that would be a no-go. If there is a safe way to dispose of these, that would be the best bet. Otherwise I'll keep them segregated from the rest of the ammo as they are now.

 

[thorborg]

View attachment 788088

Range master needs to tell the kid to use hearing and eye protection on the hand gun range.

 

[Nwcid]

Thanks all. I don't reload at the present, so don't have the tools to do so. There isn't a ton like these and the malfunctions that result in this are fairly rare. Though, over time, I've, evidently, managed to pocket a few. I noticed on a few of the 7.65㎜/.32 ACP ones, the cases are bulged a bit.

Anywho, I am glad I didn't shoot them, though I assumed that would be a no-go. If there is a safe way to dispose of these, that would be the best bet. Otherwise I'll keep them segregated from the rest of the ammo as they are now.

You can pick up a puller for $20, kenetic bullet puller

 

[JO JO]

depending where you shoot but many ranges have a dud bucket or can to dispose of live ammo gone bad

 

[DLS]

You can hold onto them until there is a fairly big batch, and then bug / beg a reloader to help you out. I'm sure there are those here that would be happy to help ... me included but I'm a ways away from you.

If there is a range nearby, or a police station you can take the rounds there for disposal.

You can just list them here as components, someone may be interested in taking them off your hands.

 

[CLT65]

I'm sure you know already, but whatever you do, don't shoot them. Bullets deep in the case like that can raise pressures dramatically.

Like others have said, if you don't reload, just toss them or give them to a reloader who will pull them down for components. I pick up live rounds at the range all the time, stuff that people have dropped or tossed. I pull them down for the bullets and primed brass.

 

[CountryGent]

I do almost all shooting on private acreage where our home is located. There is, however, a small gun club down the way I used to shoot at years ago. I don't recall one when I used to go there, but they might have a dud bin or some such.

 

[Member 34319]

Keep them.

Right tools and they are back in the game.

Besides, I'm not done talking you into reloading until you are reloading!

Or sell them. Factory seconds, you could call them. Still likely get at least half of the going rate for them. That's almost $4 worth of ammo in that picture alone by today's standards!

 

[Wombat of Doom]

We have two firearms (a vz61 and a Mac-10) that have a weird habit when they malfunction they squish the bullet down hard into the case. Here is an illustration of what I mean by this; squished ammo on the left, unsquished on the right.

View attachment 788081

Heretofore I've just placed it in range satchel and brought them home. But now there is a small bunch of these misshapen cartridges and am curious what to do with them. Thoughts?

(And, yes, I'm killing time at the present. )

I stick them in my bullet puller, give it a few taps, if acceptable, use. If I pulled the bullet too far, run it through the press and pushe it down to usable. . My STEN loves to do this.

 

[aflineman]

Toss them into the burn pile. Make the day more exciting...

 

[3MTA3]

Toss them into the burn pile. Make the day more exciting...

Many years ago I was standing around a campfire when a 22LR that had been left there exploded. It hit one of the other kids in the belly. Fortunately the part that flies off a loose round is the case as it is much lighter than the bullet. Unlikely the bullet moved very far or very fast. Fortunately all that happened was that he got was a cool quarter inch scar where the end of the case hit him and then bounced off.