Range discard bin ammunition

S

silveroak

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2023
Messages
47
I thought I'd post here since we do not have a dedicated ammunition umbrella.

This is on a lighter note :)

I've been finding myself going through the failure-to-feed, failure-to-fire discard bins at my range.

Never know what may be sitting there. Part curiosity, part demonstrating the visitors with me the calibers we do not shoot or have on hand.
Somehow I feel this is an acceptable and nobler form of garbage bin rummaging. What do you think?

You can easily visualize the difference between 5.56 and .223, or keep an interesting one for research.. and all in between.
As an aside, failures-to-fire that I could chamber that day or another never failed to fire given the second chance. Huh. I eagerly try them. Why not?
I have avoided the really crooked failures-to-feed.
Latest finds are several of Turkish 7.92 Mauser from the 40s (I will try to fire them, I've read they are hot, corrosive and have spotty reliability) and a 7.62x54R silvertip that is just asking for country and date of origin research.

A an incendiary and provocative question for the ammunition experts here :)

Could you think of calibers found in the discard bin that from the looks could lead you to a snap mistake of believing you can chamber and fire it that day or next in one of your firearms - and in reality are not compatible, but may chamber without alarming you, or, worse, fire, potentially creating a hazard.

Please list the dangerously-close-but-incompatible calibers and, respectively, chambers you own!
 
I have a personal rule, I don't shoot unknown ammo. I'll take it home and break it down. It its something that I don't have in my collection I'll add it to the collection cabinet.

Most of the 223/5.56 failure to fire ammo that I find has a lite firing pin indention, probably from a dirty AR. But I don't shoot unknown ammo. Call me paranoid if you want but..........
 
I go through the discard bin at my range. Mostly I find 22LR that have a strike on the rim. If only one strike I will fire again and most often they go off. If they have several strikes I leave them. Other than 22LR I find 9mm ( and others) that have light strikes. These almost always go off when fired again. I do this just for fun and sometimes I find stuff I can't explain. Like the four 45/70 rounds that seemingly were perfect. I also have found various rounds that when shaken, and later pulled apart, have no powder in them. This is just for my entertainment after I set up for my RSO shift. Best wishes!
 
silveroak said:
I thought I'd post here since we do not have a dedicated ammunition umbrella.

This is on a lighter note :)

I've been finding myself going through the failure-to-feed, failure-to-fire discard bins at my range.

Never know what may be sitting there. Part curiosity, part demonstrating the visitors with me the calibers we do not shoot or have on hand.
Somehow I feel this is an acceptable and nobler form of garbage bin rummaging. What do you think?

You can easily visualize the difference between 5.56 and .223, or keep an interesting one for research.. and all in between.
As an aside, failures-to-fire that I could chamber that day or another never failed to fire given the second chance. Huh. I eagerly try them. Why not?
I have avoided the really crooked failures-to-feed.
Latest finds are several of Turkish 7.92 Mauser from the 40s (I will try to fire them, I've read they are hot, corrosive and have spotty reliability) and a 7.62x54R silvertip that is just asking for country and date of origin research.

A an incendiary and provocative question for the ammunition experts here :)

Could you think of calibers found in the discard bin that from the looks could lead you to a snap mistake of believing you can chamber and fire it that day or next in one of your firearms - and in reality are not compatible, but may chamber without alarming you, or, worse, fire, potentially creating a hazard.

Please list the dangerously-close-but-incompatible calibers and, respectively, chambers you own!
Click to expand...
Ammo form the 40's I would suspect the powder is breaking down and would not shoot them. As for any ammo that I did not purchase or hand load it gets broken down for components. Shooting unknow source ammo is just asking for a disaster. All it takes is someone's double charge, wrong powder and the damage is done.
 
.300 Savage in a .308 could be interesting in a bad way. The .300 will chamber, with a lot of extra space to rattle around. I suspect the worst result would be a little extra gas blowing around in most actions. The .308 case is most often used to form .300 Savage also, so the headstamp may be incorrect also.
 
silveroak said:
Please list the dangerously-close-but-incompatible calibers and, respectively, chambers you own!
Click to expand...
There’s a few, mostly obsolete, but the one that sticks in my head is 9mmFederal. It was a standard velocity 9mmLuger with a rim for revolver use. They look like and will easily chamber in any .38S&W. Somebody just wasn’t thinking.

I’m another one who doesn’t bother picking up mystery ammo. I just have no interest in it.
 
If you found one of my hot rod loads and shot it out of a cheap(weak) gun, you’ll be in for a surprise.

There are also 45Super loads that most 45ACP pistols probably wouldn’t like.

You’ll be fine doing what you’re doing, until a gun blows up in your hand and/or face. You might get lucky for years but eventually…..
 
I do my part to protect others, and never leave my 38-44 loads. I've only had 3 misfires but that would be ugly. I brought them home and broke them down. You would have zero visual indication of what was coming.
 
silveroak said:
I thought I'd post here since we do not have a dedicated ammunition umbrella.

This is on a lighter note :)

I've been finding myself going through the failure-to-feed, failure-to-fire discard bins at my range.

Never know what may be sitting there. Part curiosity, part demonstrating the visitors with me the calibers we do not shoot or have on hand.
Somehow I feel this is an acceptable and nobler form of garbage bin rummaging. What do you think?

You can easily visualize the difference between 5.56 and .223, or keep an interesting one for research.. and all in between.
As an aside, failures-to-fire that I could chamber that day or another never failed to fire given the second chance. Huh. I eagerly try them. Why not?
I have avoided the really crooked failures-to-feed.
Latest finds are several of Turkish 7.92 Mauser from the 40s (I will try to fire them, I've read they are hot, corrosive and have spotty reliability) and a 7.62x54R silvertip that is just asking for country and date of origin research.

A an incendiary and provocative question for the ammunition experts here :)

Could you think of calibers found in the discard bin that from the looks could lead you to a snap mistake of believing you can chamber and fire it that day or next in one of your firearms - and in reality are not compatible, but may chamber without alarming you, or, worse, fire, potentially creating a hazard.

Please list the dangerously-close-but-incompatible calibers and, respectively, chambers you own!
Click to expand...

Why in the world would you rummage through discarded ammo? Times are not that tough.
Heck even breaking them down for a few primers or bullets, is it worth the time and effort?
 
Bush Pilot said:
There's a reason they're in the discard bin. It's hard to justify a $700 gun (or body part) for a round worth 2 bits.
Click to expand...
I pretty agree with this. I can’t think of any good reason to shoot random rounds that others have tossed aside for various reason. I’m sure most are just rounds that got away from a someone loading or unloading a gun or magazine and probably safe but I’m not going. To take that chance. Any random round could be a reload that was made incorrectly.
 
Rule3 said:
Why in the world would you rummage through discarded ammo? Times are not that tough.
Heck even breaking them down for a few primers or bullets, is it worth the time and effort?
Click to expand...
Yes, yes it is worth the effort. I just broke down a double handful of range discards.
I have over 100 SP primers and a few SR primers, that I will use in blammo ammo, and several pounds of lead to add to my next melt.

A dozen LPP 45 ACP brass to add to my trade bin, along with a half dozen 38 spl. Some 40 SW, and a pile of 9. Some 223/556 brass to add to the pile too.

It took maybe 30 minutes to break it down.
 
I have found a lot of strange ammo in the dud buckets at our club range. The only round I will try to shoot without pulling first is .22s. Because I don't think anyone reloads .22s. I do pull down the .223/5,56 round & the ones with crimped primer If everything checks normal. I load them back together & put it in a plinker box of ammo for the days I just want to make noise.
The .22s that I can't get to fire in a bolt action, I pull the bullet out of them, dump the powder & while holding the case in a pair of plyer's I heat the bottom of the case to set off any primer material.
Don't ever just toss live ammo in the trash, even if you have tried multiple times to get it to fire.
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
Yes, yes it is worth the effort. I just broke down a double handful of range discards.
I have over 100 SP primers and a few SR primers, that I will use in blammo ammo, and several pounds of lead to add to my next melt.

A dozen LPP 45 ACP brass to add to my trade bin, along with a half dozen 38 spl. Some 40 SW, and a pile of 9. Some 223/556 brass to add to the pile too.

It took maybe 30 minutes to break it down.
Click to expand...

I was responding to the OP

You must have a range with a rainbow that ends in a bucket of gold.
 
Hooda Thunkit said:
Yes, yes it is worth the effort. I just broke down a double handful of range discards.
I have over 100 SP primers and a few SR primers, that I will use in blammo ammo, and several pounds of lead to add to my next melt.

A dozen LPP 45 ACP brass to add to my trade bin, along with a half dozen 38 spl. Some 40 SW, and a pile of 9. Some 223/556 brass to add to the pile too.

It took maybe 30 minutes to break it down.
Click to expand...
The OP is not breaking them down, he’s shooting them in his guns. Do you think that’s worth it?
If so, have at it and best regards.
 
Wow… well I sure wouldn’t shoot it. I shoot about 2 people (besides my own) loads, and no other exceptions(they taught me, so I trust them) To each his own. I’d be pulling stuff for components, but NOT shooting them!
Edit: I see I just said what’s already been said.
 
If I didn't load it or buy it new in the box, I'm not shooting it. No way no how.
I can see breaking them down for the bullet or brass if you enjoy doing it. I'd of course toss the unknown powder and primer.
 
Thanks everyone for replies. Not being a reloader, I have not thought through the incorrect load aspect of it.
And, 38/44 and 9 mm Major - very interesting reads, did know these existed.
 
Rule3 said:
Why in the world would you rummage through discarded ammo? Times are not that tough.
Heck even breaking them down for a few primers or bullets, is it worth the time and effort?
Click to expand...
Just caliber interest. Nothing on the economical side. After finding an 8 mm Mauser - fired it since the thinking went why not add a few rounds of that to the day.

I am not a reloader, so my safety concerns did not go to the possibilities of incorrect or purposefully incorrect reloads, more towards being able to make a visual mistake and to chamber and fire - and mostly this is about rifle rounds.

But I see the light now.
 
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