What to do with dud rounds?

I had my first high primer strike FTF in over 900 rounds at the range, with the XD-S. My fault (did not return to battery) as I was fatigued and grip loose for the shot. I pointed downrange for 30 secs., racked to remove it, kept firing, loaded it back up in another magazine and it went bang second time.

Don't own a .22, but it is next on the list; maybe a Ruger 10-22 or something equivalent.

I suggest toss 'em into a creek or lake.

TR

Buy a bucket of range brass and you'll usually find two things other than spent brass:

1) rounds in which the primer was struck but didn't ignite, referred to in this thread and generally as "duds."

The usual wisdom is that when you have a dud round you should keep the firearm pointed downrange for about 20 seconds to ensure it's not gonna prove to be a hang fire, then eject the round and deposit it into the dud box. Every range ought to have one, so if yours doesn't, talk to the RSO about getting one. Or you could try again to fire it. When I find duds, I pull them and recycle the components.

2) rounds that seem to have not been struck at all, which could be misfeeds, double racks, or simply dropped rounds.

It's surprising to me how many of these unstruck rounds hit the range floor and just get tossed into brass bucket. I don't try to fire them because I have no idea whether they're factory rounds that may have been chambered a dozen times or someone's double charged or uncharged handloads. Nor do I pull them. They just get marked as unshootable and sit in a row on top of a bookcase, next to my reloading "lesson learned" rounds, among my military awards and such. Maybe I will pull them some day.

Hello ObsidianOne,,,

They're saying to toss the powder on the grass, not the whole round.

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Nope, the powers that be at my range don't want a dud bucket,,,
Their official stance is, what would they do when the bucket got full?

Officially they have no written policy on duds,,,
Unofficially they say just toss it in the grass in front of the firing line.

That's why I won't mow grass when work day comes around.

Aarond

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Toss them in your neighbors burn barrel when he is not looking. LOL

You guys should really learn to relax more. Life's hard enough without sweating this kind of stuff. Maybe watch Mythbusters or something.

GoWolfpack said:

You guys should really learn to relax more. Life's hard enough without sweating this kind of stuff. Maybe watch Mythbusters or something.

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+1
.22 duds are little bitty noisemakers if they go off un-chambered. The cartridge will travel farther than the round.
I just toss them in my range kit and eventually throw them away in the trash. I do try to fire them again after the first mis-fire and 80% of the time they go bang the second time. Just pay attention to squibs.
Hobie

I just throw them away in the trash. Any aerosol can is much more dangerous and you probably toss them away without thinking.

I trash them too. I used to have a lot but have changes to better 22 ammo and don't have them too often anymore.

Hammer type bullet pullers are cheap. I keep the brass and bullet, throw away the powder and primer.

Throw them away? There still a live round. Not only foolish but dangerous.

I'm sure people have been throwing away duds since the self contained cartridge was invented, and I've never heard of anything happening. Have you?

Duds

Rimfire, rotate them and try again.
Centerfire, take them apart when I get home. Boxer primed get reloaded, Berdan primed get tossed, bullet goes into reloads.
I'm not wasting them, I've gone GREEN.

Throw them away? There still a live round. Not only foolish but dangerous.

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Nonsense, If you say tossed one in the fire the lead bullet is not going to go anywhere, the brass might fly some but it has no weight. Compared to tossing an aerosol can in the fire its nothing. That can will explode.

Throw them away? There still a live round. Not only foolish but dangerous.

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As stated, this is more an imagined danger than anything. A bullet needs a barrel and chamber to develop velocity. Without it the propellant just leaks out into a very large space with little time to push the projectile up to speed.

If you want to save the bullet then pull it and do so, but there's nothing wrong with just throwing them away.

We use the duds as targets.

It's a dud bullet, not a nuclear missile. either stick it in your pocket or toss it in the trash if you don't save lead and brass. The world won't end.

It's a dud bullet, not a nuclear missile.

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LOL

There is a special "inertia" hammer used to remove bullets from unfired loaded cases. My friend and I used it to "disassemble" some reloads. A little unnerving whacking the hammer on a hard surface with a bullet in it but it works!

As a kid I always dropped my 22 duds down a woodchuck hole. Ole' Woody would undoubtedly bite into the shiny object and blow his head clean off!

Yeah, even then I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen but putting a few duds several feet into the earth seemed a pretty safe way of getting rid of them.

Dan

I give them to one of my shooting buddies. He recycles the components.

>Rant mode on

Most of this thread reads like a Josh Sugarman idyl ! It seems the "antis" have taken "control of the debate" in a very big way ! The topic involves no exotic or nefarious, of even sensitive, devices/technology, yet some are insisting the PD needs must be involved ! No doubt they'll also be the first decry further enacted government intrusion in firearms/accessories they've invited with their foolish demands !

IOW, put your "big boy britches" on, man up, learn how to deal with the occasional kerfluffle you'll encounter in a safe and environmentally sound way.

>Rant mode off

Seriously, .22 RF are soft lead heeled bullets and can be easily pulled. Often with only your fingers. Capture the powder and put it on the grass; or other house plants you're fond of, its good fertilizer ! If you feel so inclined, the easiest way to inert the priming compound is to hit it with any POL compound, say WD-40, gasoline, kerosene, etc. BTW, same goes for CF rounds/primers.

Modern ammunition/components are extremely reliable and stabile. As owners/possessors/users its our responsibility to deal with them safely; not ship the responsibility off to the local PD. This road leads to further controls and eventual confiscation. Why ? You're sending the PTB a very clear message you aren't capable of safely handling this (very safe) level of technology ! >MW