where do you dispose of ammo?

[rickyp]

the RCBS bullet puller is not an option. if you use the puller it could set the round off and be an issue.

What I do is take 2 vice grips and pull the bullets out and put the powder in the yard and put the bullets in my melting pot.

 

[krashmania]

the RCBS bullet puller is not an option. if you use the puller it could set the round off and be an issue.

What I do is take 2 vice grips and pull the bullets out and put the powder in the yard and put the bullets in my melting pot.

Someone is gonna walk through your yard smoking, drop some ashes, and be blown a mile high.

 

[rickyp]

Someone is gonna walk through your yard smoking, drop some ashes, and be blown a mile high.

Since no one in my family or friends that come over dont smoke and i put the powder inside the finced back yard i would hope they would.

Really it breaks down fast and the ammount in the shells isnt all that great so there is no danger but the niturgen in the powder is great for the flowers

 

[Hotrod Diesel]

Get an automatic center punch, hold with pliers and aim...

 

[teratos]

Get an automatic center punch, hold with pliers and aim...

The pliers need a tax stamp. They become an AOW.

 

[Nanook]

Get an automatic center punch, hold with pliers and aim...

There are those who don't know better and may just do that. FYI, without the chamber and bolt face to keep the case together it becomes shrapnel. Yes the .22 bullet does move a few feet....but if it can go over a mile out of a gun, where does that other energy go? This is even cooler with bigger cartriges.

Francis is lightening up now, but remember that our noobs may not know better.

 

[ProShooter]

The recommended way to dispose of damaged / old ammo is to take it to your local police station.

End of story.

 

[BenL]

Dud box at the range.

 

[ShOrebird]

Old ammo disposal (Wicomico County)

I just had to deal with this issue. For some reason, my father collected unfired rounds he found in the wild and brought them to his house. OK! Yeah! He's a pack-rat and he never throws anything away.
So, I have a hand full of old H&R .25 auto rounds, some ANCIENT .22 rounds, a .44mag round, and a .30 round from an old M-1. These rounds were ALL found in a saltwater-marsh and had been weathering there for decades!.
I called the local Sheriff's Dept. and after several calls, I found a deputy who told me to bring them in and told me that he would take care of them.

 

[Seagrave1963]

In an old coffee can with used motor oil

 

[chale127]

Local PD...I ended up with an almost perfect WWII vintage box (minus rounds) of .45 ball via a LEO friend, says they probably get 1-2 calls a week like that (but rarely stuff as cool as vintage Mil. Issue Ball)

 

[IJM]

I DO throw mine in the wood stove in the winter, POW, 1/4 plate lines with brick it just cleans out the chimney a bit.

Do you find a puddle of melted lead when you clean out the ashes?

 

[Pinecone]

Without the chamber to hold the case together to generate pressure, the case splits at a fairly low pressure.

In the past, I have tossed them in the fire, and they go bang, not even tossed that much ash around.

 

[DCSCO]

Sell them in the classifieds.

 

[DocAitch]

I would be careful pulling rimfire cartridges apart since the primer material is in the rim and exposed to trauma.
If the cartridge has simply failed to fire, even with a good primer strike, I rotate the rim so that the pin hits another spot which (hopefully)has primer compound.(easier with a revolver or bolt action)
If it is really bunged up, then I would bury it or drop it in the range dud bucket.
"Shrapnel"
There was an article in the 1960 NRA reloading manual about exploding loaded rounds with heat. The 30-06 rounds detonated with a hot electrical wire inside a ~20"x20"x20" (this is from memory)cardboard box failed to produce any fragments that would go through the box. This does not rule out stuff that could injure eyes, but the injury would not be life threatening.
Therefore don't do it if you value your or your buddies eyes.
DocAitch

 

[TrevorWills]

Yeah for all my .22 misfires I usually just pull them apart.

 

[jrumann59]

Mythbusters cooked some bullets in an oven, and the bullet and casing did not have enough energy to damage the glass in the oven. In an open environment the energy is blasted out in all directions whereas in a gun it is channeled within the chamber. Still throwing a bullet in a fire still is not smart, for the possible projectile and lead fumes.

 

[Right2Carry]

I break open old ammo removing the bullet, and give the powder to my crazy brother in PA who likes to throw it into bonfires.

 

[GNLaFrance]

This has been discussed before. Search is your friend.

General Julian S. Hatcher, US Army, addressed this subject before most of us were born. Hatcher's Notebook page 520, Chapter XXI Explosions and Powder Fires.

Also, http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=93420&highlight=Hatcher's+Notebook

 

[jimbobborg]

If it doesn't go off the first time, try it again. If it doesn't go off the second time, it's definitely a dud. I just did this with about 30 round of Winchester bulk ammo. They all went off the second time. Make sure the first dent is not under the firing pin.