Rendering a round inert

[Der Stro]

Hi guys,

I'll soon be purchasing a Nagant 1895 revolver and plan to display it among various Soviet-era stuff I've collected over time. I would also like to display a few of the unique 7.62 Nagant rounds with it, however I'm a little hesitant about having live rounds next to a revolver on a shelf. There are no children in the house nor do any ever come, but it just doesn't strike me as a bright idea. I was wondering if anyone knew a method of making a cartridge safe without reloading equipment.

I imagine I can't exactly take a power drill to the primer and drill it out and dump the powder, would it be possible to perhaps drill a very small hole in the brass and then soak the entire round in...something to ruin the powder/primer?

Again, I've never done anything like this and it's largely just a "Can I do it" kind of question. Any and all input would be welcome.

 

[TennJed]

I assume you do not reload, but If you do just make some primerless/powderless rounds.

I made up some example non live rounds to mount to my reloading bench. Wanted to display the calbers I load for

 

[Der Stro]

As I mentioned before I do not have access to any reloading equipment, however I don't think any exists for the 7.62 Nagant

 

[Shadow 7D]

As I mentioned before I do not have access to any reloading equipment, however I don't think any exists for the 7.62 Nagant

FAIL
besides the fact that if can be reloaded by other dies, (.32 S&W long with the seater put all the way down)

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/570?
yeah, um google works and all that....

Drill a hole through the case, dump the powder and soak the inside with oil, then put in the the gun, pointed in a safe direction (say down range at a gun range) and pull the trigger, either it worked, or it didn't, but it should work

 

[Der Stro]

As I don't own a reloading press, or any of the necessary equipment, I did not even bother searching for reloading dies for the cartridge, my apologies.

Will the oil keep the primer from firing as well? Or should I expect a possible squib.

 

[MuleRyder]

The oil should render the primer inop

 

[J-Bar]

Once upon a time I had to send a jammed revolver back to the factory. There were live rounds in the cylinder but I could not unjam the gun to remove them.

The representative at the factory instructed me to get a gallon of WD-40 from a hardware or auto parts store, remove the grips from the gun, and immerse the gun in the WD-40 for a week before shipping it back. So I did.

I figure they know what they are doing. I would not drill on a live round. I would soak the ammo in WD-40 for a week. If you don't have a friend with a bullet puller, blow $15 and buy one:

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSearchQuery=bullet+puller

Pull the bullets from the case, dump the powder, then put the case in the rifle and pop the primer, if it will pop. It shouldn't after soaking, but you know, Murphys law.

Then replace the bullet in the case and crimp it with a pair of pliers. You will be able to identify the dummy rounds ..they are the ones with the dented primer.

 

[BeerSleeper]

Fire the round into a sufficiently deep bucket of water.
Recover the bullet.
Stick it back in the case.
No reloading tools required.

The bullet puller would be the better way. If you're willing to buy that $15 tool, you can dump the powder, load the casing, pop the primer, and put the bullet back in the casing, with spent primer, no powder, and the additional advantage that the bullet will fit tighter due to the case not having been stretched from firing.

 

[BeerSleeper]

This has me tempted to test this on a handful of rounds.

 

[Black Knight]

Why not give Midway, Brownell's, and Dillon Precision a call? Ask them if they have dummy rounds for your purpose. If they don't they may know where you can get some. Nothing beats a try but a success. Good luck.

 

[leadchucker]

An inertial bullet puller is around $15 - $20 from dozens of reloader suppliers. That may be cheaper than a gallon of WD40. Or find someone who reloads, who has a bullet puller. It's certainly a surer way of rendering the ammo absolutely inert.

Pull the bullets with the inertial puller, dump the powder in your yard, fire the empty shell in your pistol to pop the primer, then reseat the bullets by hand or with a few small hammer taps.

Maybe drill a couple of holes in the shells to make them readily identifiable as inert rounds.

 

[Shadow 7D]

You can drill a case if you are smart about it, first, a unrestrained (as in not chambered) will at most pop the BRASS across the room not some KABOOM.

the powder I doubt is a compressed (packed) load, so if the round is on it's side, there should be room between the case and powder, secondly, brass is non sparking, even if the steel bit is, so you would set it off via pressure/friction.

yeah, oil will render the primer inert, or a large enough hole and no powder will let the primer vent, if struck in a vice.

 

[blarby]

Anyone ever attempted pulling one of these with a bullet-hammer ?

Good luck with that.

If you've ever had to pull an overcrimped round.....imagine pulling THAT out.

OP : Sorry for all of our fellows, so greatly helpful at times.

having read your question in your post, along with your tool limitations I would deduce you lack both the tooling and the skills to make this ammunition inert on your own.

I would consult anyone handy with reloading at your local shop, or search for gunsmiths in the same. You'll have what you are looking for in short order.

 

[Murphy4570]

You might just be best off buying a few brass cases and hammering bullets into them.

 

[BeerSleeper]

Alternatively, instead of rending the ammo inert, one could render the firearm inert.
No one ever accidentally shot anything with a gun sans firing pin.

 

[HGM22]

http://theboxotruth.com/docs/bot39.htm

Don't be so sure soaking in solvent/oil will deactivate the primer.

 

[jcwit]

Anyone here suggesting the OP to use a bullet puller happen to take the time to look at the picture of the factory loaded rounds?

 

[Magoo]

I would consult anyone handy with reloading at your local shop, or search for gunsmiths in the same. You'll have what you are looking for in short order.

This

Or if you tell us where in NC you are, there's likely a reloading member close enough by that could help you out.

 

[jcwit]

Tell me, does any of the reloading equipment allow one to place a crimp as shown on the factory loaded ammo, I've yet to see it.

The OP wants display ammo, as in looking orginal not reloaded!

 

[rcmodel]

a unrestrained (as in not chambered) will at most pop the BRASS across the room not some KABOOM.

I would have to strongly disagree with that right there.

If one goes off while attempting to drill it, you will very likely be making an unplanned trip to the ER.

This is actually what happens when unrestrained handgun ammo blows up.






rc

 

[TennJed]

Go to ebay and do a search for 7.62 bullet. Lost of results for 7.62 dummy round keychains for under $10. I imagine you can remove the keychain part easier than you can make your own dummy round. I did not study them too hard, but saw a couple that just had the chain running thru the lower portion of the cartridge. Just clip the chain and you are ready to go

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=7.62+bullet&_sacat=0&_odkw=7.62+ammo&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

If you are anti ebay amazon has dummy rounds for around $20

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=7.62+bullet&x=0&y=0

 

[Der Stro]

7.62 Nagant is VERY different from a standard 7.62x39/54R/etc. The bullet cannot be pulled, and they are not available in a "dummy" configuration as far as I have found.

I think I'll give drilling the case and washing with oil, if that fails then off to a machinist and see if they can work some magic.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[BeerSleeper]

Tell me, does any of the reloading equipment allow one to place a crimp as shown on the factory loaded ammo, I've yet to see it.

The OP wants display ammo, as in looking orginal not reloaded!

You can get a crimp die for whatever type of crimp you want. Taper crimp, roll crimp, factory crimp, there's dies for all of them.

An inert round, just for show, is not that critical about crimp. It doesn't need a uniform crimp for consistent ballistics, and there's no concern for the bullet coming loose from the case under recoil.

 

[jcwit]

The OP is asking for Pistol display rounds not rifle rounds.

 

[jcwit]

You can get a crimp die for whatever type of crimp you want. Taper crimp, roll crimp, factory crimp, there's dies for all of them.

An inert round, just for show, is not that critical about crimp. It doesn't need a uniform crimp for consistent ballistics, and there's no concern for the bullet coming loose from the case under recoil.

Bear, did you look at the picture shown in post #3?

It defiantly is not a taper crimp, or a roll crimp or the common factory crimp we are familar with. Show me a die thats crimps as shown in the picture on post #3.