Loaded Ammo as targets?

[Henry Bowman]

You could just shoot money...
Much faster way of doing something silly.

When I first started shooting trap and skeet, I soon learned to think of it as "shooting two quarters at a dime" every time I said "pull" and pulled the trigger.

 

[brighamr]

The only thing I've ever done remotely close to this was cut open a birshot shell, dump all the bb's, stick it in the side of a dirt hill, then shoot it with a .22 at about 50 yards. This was in the days before explosive targets and made things exciting.

Now, I would recommend buying tannerite or some of the other exploding targets, out of safety concerns.

 

[bnkrazy]

Live ammo, no thanks...

Get some reactive targets. Spinners, soda cans, etc. Apples and oranges that are going bad explode nicely with high velocity ammo. I do like knocking down empty 12GA shells at 100yds with my .17HMR.

 

[bnkrazy]

The only thing I've ever done remotely close to this was cut open a birshot shell, dump all the bb's, stick it in the side of a dirt hill, then shoot it with a .22 at about 50 yards. This was in the days before explosive targets and made things exciting.

That's not a bad idea. Reloaders could simply pack a larger amount of powder in a shotgun shell and close it up leaving out the shot. Then, drill some holes in a 2x4 that would snugly hold them with the brass facing you, and shoot away at 50+ yds. That might be fun. Still have to worry about the brass coming at you though unless you really made a decent way to hold them in there.

 

[cmidkiff]

I bounce empty shotgun hulls around with a .22 all the time... it's my favorite free target.

I did find a live 12g birdshot shell on the ground at the range once... stuck it through a bit of cardboard, hung it at the 50 yard line, and punched the primer with my .17hmr.

Probably wasn't the smartest move I've ever made, and the results were less than spectacular. It do go poof... but that's about it. The (low) brass and most of the hull was found about 3 feet from the target, I'd assume the shot and wad went downrange a short distance. I'd not recommend the activity.

Sweet-tarts, Ritz crackers, or Necco wafers are more fun, much safer, and way cheaper!

 

[Hiaboo]

I may get flamed or dirty looks from this but I do pick up "busted" shells from the live ammo deposit from the range and put it out at 50 yards and shoot it out there w/ the .22 the 7.62's make the biggest bang Never had a problem but I feel pretty safe with it at 50 yards and just stuck in a peice of cardboard primer facing me. Closer than that? nah.

 

[woolfam]

My dad tried it when he was a kid. Found a .38, set it up against a fence post and shot at it with his .22.

He had surgery to try and remove a part of the round from inside his head, but they decided it was too risky and left it in there.

Seeing the scar on his forehead where they had removed a piece of his skull and hearing the story pretty much convinced me shooting at live rounds was a bad idea.

 

[skidooman]

I bounce empty shotgun hulls around with a .22 all the time... it's my favorite free target.

Me too. Its pretty satisfying to see them jump when you hit them.

 

[novaDAK]

With today's ammo prices, please just send the ammo to me and I'll properly dispose of it by shooting it out of my guns.

 

[boatbod]

I've shot a few .22LRs with a pellet rifle at various ranges. Its fun for about 10 seconds, but beyond that not much happens. Usually the cases split and pieces get redistributed in various directions.

 

[Zoogster]

Generaly a bad idea. The bigger the difference between the weight of the projectile and the cartridge the worse it is, or if the brass is against something that offers resistance.

That's not a bad idea. Reloaders could simply pack a larger amount of powder in a shotgun shell and close it up leaving out the shot. Then, drill some holes in a 2x4 that would snugly hold them with the brass facing you, and shoot away at 50+ yds. That might be fun. Still have to worry about the brass coming at you though unless you really made a decent way to hold them in there.

The problem with this is the brass itself becomes the projectile. All that force from the explosion is being applied directly to the brass as the item in the spot of the "projectile" (the board or hill) is not going anywhere. It may work sometimes without a problem. However when you get a piece of brass launching from what is essentialy a makeshift earthen barrel the length of how far it is in the dirt hill etc it could be very bad. Brass is relatively light, so that means it won't take that much energy to get it moving nice and fast. This could really turn out bad if you are shooting a high energy stationary round with a low energy bullet. The path of least resistance could be directly back at the shooter without any need to ricochet because the energy from the formerly stationary round you shot can easily overcome the energy from the round fired at it and continue at a high speed in reverse. It could even reverse the bullet shot at it and shoot it back at yin your direction using the back of the brass also coming in your direction as its launching pad.

 

[mbpautz762]

Funny story - I once bought some really awful 9mm ammo for my beretta 92. it was really cheap (440 rounds for 20 bucks!) because it had a wax bullet with a small BB-sized ball bearing at the nose. it was supposed to be just as accurate as the real deal within 50 feet. well apparently the ball bearing wasn't always centered, and the wax would melt as it went down the barrel (or something). the BB would bang around the rifling, causing numerous dents and pits in the barrel

after I discovered that, I was seriously pissed off. it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I swept the rest of the rounds off the table (This was in a wooded backyard, not at the range - I would NEVER do this at the range), stepped back about 20 yards, and just went to town on those things with everything from a .22 to 10mm.

anyway, none of the rounds actually detonated, but I ended up with a HUGE mess of spilled gunpowder and obliterated cases. I sure did feel better after that!

The best (or worst) part is that I covered the mess up with dirt and promptly forgot about it. About a year later, I decided to build a bonfire that just happened to be in the exact same spot
I must've jumped about 30 feet in the air when the first round cooked off! I could've sworn I left my shoes right there at the fire. anyway, the point is that nothing really happened when i shot that ammo, although I would NEVER do it again, and would never recommend someone else do the same. because if it all goes as planned, it's not that interesting, but if something does goes wrong, you have serious potential to injure your property, yourself, or others. It's just not a responsible thing to do.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

You could just shoot money...
Much faster way of doing something silly.

That's what I was thinking...I haven't tried it, but I don't see it doing anything special...I'd rather take that SG shell and shoot a clay pigeon.

 

[RoadkingLarry]

A guy I went to school with has a real neat little scar he got when he thought it would be fun to shoot a .22 RF with a BB gun. when he connected the casing came back and embedded itself in his stomach just under the skin. I imagine it would have really sucked had it hit him in the eye.

 

[Gun Slinger]

I can still remember my Dad telling me, as a little boy of 6, that shooting at live ammunition was "dangerous, foolish and wasteful" when I asked him what would happen if someone were to shoot at a piece of live ammunition.

Still seems like a sage observation today, perhaps even moreso with the price of ammunition being what it is.