How to safely dispose of ...

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creitzel

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Ok, so on my last range trip ( which was also my first with my new and only gun ) I had about 7 rounds fail to feed properly, and the cases were dented when this happened. Needless to say, I didn't feel safe just reloading them into the magazine and firing them off. I also didn't feel safe just dumping them in the garbage can at the range. So I brought them home with me. Problem is, I don't feel safe just dumping these in my garbage can either. So how should I safely dispose of these? Should I take them apart, then throw them out? What do all of you guru's recommend?

Thanks in advance,

Chris
 
Seriously, though...

Is the range staffed?
If so, explain it to them and ask what they do.

(Don't worry, better answers from other folks are on the way...)

:)
 
If you have a kinetic bullet puller, you can always take 'em apart and dispose of the pieces separately. Otherwise, it's probably best to give them to the range staff.

But you do realize that dented cases doesn't make them unsafe to fire, right? What would make them unsafe would be obvious splits or cracks in the brass, or if the bullet got pushed deeply into the case.
 
Frankly, I'm new to this whole thing, and I didn't know if they were safe to fire or not. The owner's manual for the gun says that if you have any failure to feeds or failure to fires, not to re-fire them. So I was just doing what the manual told me to do. They were all stove piped when they were about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up the feed ramp. So they all have a little dent from the bolt on the side. So, would these be safe to fire? If so, I'll just take them to the range with me next time, and fire them.
 
Yeah, I was wondering about why I was getting them. Some other folks on here have stated that different guns like different kinds of ammo, and I was just chalking it up to that so far. I still have 300 rounds of this stuff, and I'm planning on putting them through it next weekend. Then I'm going to try some other ammo, and see if it makes a difference. Oh, and if it helps, the gun is a Ruger Mark II and the ammo I'm using is Remington .22LR Thunderbolt.

Oh, and since I shouldn't be re-firing them, I guess my only option is to take them back to the range next time, and give them to the range employees? I just have bad feelings about dumping them in the garbage can, and potentially hurting some sanitation worker if they were to go off in the trash collection process.
 
The range probably has a bucket for duds.

I asked one of the range safety officers at Ben Avery what they did with duds. He said they use pliars to wiggle the bullet out of 'em and then dump the powder.

The powder makes good fertilizer, I hear. Lots of nitrogen bottled up in it. Or you can be like me, and burn little piles of it while grinning and laughing and carrying on like it's the Fourth of July.
 
Actually as we are discussing this, I just pulled them out, and took another look at them. It appears that the heads of all the bullets are deformed as well. Where they should be coming to a point, they all have an indentation in them. So apparently, the head of the bullet was catching somewhere on the feed ramp, and that's why they weren't feeding. Maybe this failure to feed problem will go away if I used jacketed ammo instead of these? I only got these, cause they were cheap, and folks on here said to use some cheap stuff for the first 500 rounds as a break-in period. It appears my gun doesn't like these at all.
 
I expect you could hand them in to your local police or fire station and they will dispose of them.

As for pulling the bullets and dumping the powder... what do you do with the case and primer? I don't think the garbage men would appreciate them blowing up in the compacter :D
 
Pulling bullets from rimfire ammo is dangerous as the rim can be crushed causing the round to fire. I normally just toss dud .22rf ammo into the weeds. You could bury it or soak it in a bucket of water. I've shot a sh!tload of Rem. ammo through my Mk-2, no problems......... Try different ammo and if it still jams send it back.
 
Trash can. they're just .22lr and they wont do much if setoff outside a gun anyway, i mean, they're soo tiny anyway, i doubt they'd even go off in a compactor, in the event they did, nothing much is gonna happen without a barrel and chamber to direct the pressure and bullet.
 
When I had my Ruger Mk3, I noticed it absolutely LOVED CCI Mini Mags and Stingers. The pistol range I go to has dud buckets in every stall.
 
Well, that's two votes for CCI. The range I've been going to sells them, so, I'll have to check some out and see how my gun likes them.

As far as the current duds I have, I think I'm gonna take them back to the range and let them dispose of them. I don't yet feel comfortable enough to try and take them apart myself. Also, a couple years back, someone around here threw out an old gas can, and it exploded in the truck when the guy compressed it. The cops came out, and went door to door about it. I don't need that kind of greif being aimed at me lol.

Thanks for all the replies,

Chris
 
After you dump the powder, the primer isn't really going to have enough power to hurt anyone ... just smash 'em with a hammer (with your eyes and ears on of course).


As a kid I found a box of centerfire primers and promptly smashed every single one with a hammer in the driveway ... was great fun (until dad found out).
 
Steelharp is the winner!!!

soak in oil

although pulling the bullet and pouring out the powder then lighting it is a fun thing to do
 
I just toss .22 off in the weeds but then I shoot in a rural area.

I have a Ruger 22/45 that has zero failures of any kind to date using the bulk Remington Golden Bullets (550/$8 at Wal-Mart). A friend of mine has the same gun and gets constant failures out of the bulk Federal.

I personally think .22s range from picky to sluty from one gun to another within each model number. One will shoot cheap junk ammo all day, the next gun of the same model will only shoot super, snazzy super-duper velocity pimpalicious ammo.
 
I've always been a fan of CCI Green Tab - I buy the stuff by the case.

Then again, my normal .22 is a break-action Contender, so if there's a feed problem it's usually because I dropped the %$&^* cartridge.
 
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DISASSEMBLE RIMFIRE AMMO.
Thats an accident waiting to happen as Shell Shucker already pointed out. Soak in oil or return to the range dud bucket.

Otherwise try some other ammo in you pistol, keep being safe, and keep having fun.
 
+1 on soak it in oil.
+100 on crappy remington ammo My walther P22 hates it. I can burn CCI blazer or stingers all day and not have a single malfunction. Reminton averages one in 25 rounds a FTE or FTF.

SW
 
Although not recomended, Unknowingly,I recently dumped several hundred live rounds that had accumulated in my loading room in a burning trash barrel. Everything from .38 specials to .270 winchesters, the burn barrel is less than 30' from my carport. I was maybe 45 feet away when they began igniteing, sounded simular to a machine gun:eek: Not one round penetrated the barrel, thankfully! I had been doing some remodeling, I had several trash containers with various heavy items in them, just grabbed the wrong one. Haste is not always good!
 
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