Safely Disposing of Ammunition

[Armed&Bitter]

Bought a bulk case of ammo (Federal XM193) and found 13 rounds badly dented and unusable. What's a safe way to dispose of them or render them inert?

 

[Auburn1992]

pull the bullet, dump the powder, shoot the primer... atleast this is the way I heard to do it from this website.

 

[Mr White]

How badly dented? I've shot some pretty bad looking ammo that has shot just fine.

If you have to get rid of it, do you know anyone who reloads? Just give it to them and they can pull the bullets, drop the powder into their garden and recycle the cases.

If you don't know any reloaders, you could pull the bullets with pliers, dump the powder and put some oil in the cases to disable the primers.

 

[CBS220]

Small dents are no big deal.

 

[Armed&Bitter]

Some are slightly dented (but on the nape of the neck, which bothered me some), but others look like they were caved in with a hammer.

I don't re-load and didn't know how safe it was to just yank out the bullet. My cousin reloads, but won't see him till Thanksgiving probably. I'll disassemble them for now.

Thanks.

 

[scout26]

put some oil in the cases to disable the primers.

Chances are they'll still fire......

 

[TAB]

if you don't want to mess with them, check with your local FD or LEA. if your in a larger city chances are they have an ammo dump.

 

[xx7grant7x]

Chances are they'll still fire......

I agree, a magazine "guns" that i read did a test about this very thing and soaked primed cases in oil, water etc, and if i remember they all still fired albeit some in a diminished capacity

 

[bl4ckd0g]

Small dents can be fireformed out from the casing. Just go ahead and shoot at close-range targets, it should be fine unless there's a sharp crease in the casing.

Then reload to you're heart's content.

 

[06]

I would be hesitant to involve any gub org. You may be inviting inspections of your storage facilities and techniques. None of us have anything to hide but I just would shy away from inquisitive eyes/noses. wc

 

[bogie]

Throw them in the trash.

Do not throw in garbage disposal or trash compactor.

 

[06]

Don't know where I would throw them in the trash or not. Some is compacted, some incinerated, and some buried. Not knowing where it is going is a potential risk to others. Suppose some kid playing in the dump finds them and hits them with a rock or tosses them in his heater back home. Just too many unknowns. With the projectiles out and the powder removed there is not much danger in them. wc

 

[TAB]

any any of those three there is no risk to anyone and only a very mild risk to the envro do to the primer.

 

[Dumpster Baby]

I could use some disposal opinions also.

I have a several hundred .303 British cases loaded with Cordite strands that won't come out, and have live primers (maybe). The ammo was funky when it was given to me so I just pulled the bullets for reloading.

I also have 700 rounds of .303 South African ammo that I bought but haven't test fired yet. It had obviously been stored for a long time in a very hot environment. If this ammo produces any misfires or hang fires when I test it I'll have to pull the bullets and dispose of the Cordite loaded cases, with live primers.

I could potentially have about 1 K of Cordite loaded and primed cases to dispose of some day, and the only practical way I can think of right now is to dig a hole in the back yard and bury them so that Mother Nature can handle the disposal. I could find a stream or creek some where around the city and dump them, but the legal risks involved don't appeal to me at all.

 

[SomeKid]

Wouldn't simply letting the ammo be exposed to the elements for a few days (maybe weeks?) ensure it was rendered unable to fire?

Example: Take say a 5 gallon bucket, put a gallon of water in it, toss the unwanted ammo in, and set outside.

 

[texas bulldog]

i have to admit that i threw some ammo in the trash once. it was rusted steel-cased ammo, and i was anxious to get rid of it so it wouldn't spread to the rest of it (i was having some moisture problems in my house at the time). i let my wife convince me to just throw it out. bad excuse, i know. i probably should've looked here for advice at the time.

 

[coloradokevin]

I had the same problem with some Federal XM193 a few years ago. I can relate to what you were saying too: While some of the cases had small dents, others were just hammered.

I took back five boxes worth, and swore off ever buying that stuff again. Ironically enough, it is now one of my department's choices for practice ammo for our AR-15's. No problems with it at work so far (thousands and thousands of rounds).


Anyway, more to the point:

A range I used to shoot at had a "dud" bin for live ammo. Don't know if many ranges have these (as I typically shoot either at work or on public land), but you might check with local ranges to see if you can dump it off there.

I've also pulled bullets from these before, and planned to just fire the primers, reload the bullets and plinkers.

 

[revjen45]

Hit it with a hammer or toss it in a fire. This was a joke- professional driver on a cosed circuit.

 

[MaterDei]

If they won't chamber and fire, pull the bullet and dump everything in the trash. Don't try to ignite the primer outside of your chamber, not too safe.

 

[qajaq59]

Our range has a live ammo bucket that the local PD picks up and disposes of for us. Check at your local range and see if they have one.

 

[moooose102]

if they will chamber, shoot em. if they wont, i have been told (by a michigan state police trooper) that most major metro area's police departments can dispose of defunct ammo. call to make certain brfore you go.

 

[moooose102]

i just thought of something, maybe somebody could kick me for thinking! but what about putting them in your septic tank? there should be enough nasty stuff in there to eat up all but the lead in a couple of years.

 

[qajaq59]

what about putting them in your septic tank?

The guy that pumps your tank wont like that much...

 

[Hk91-762mm]

I would be hesitant to involve any gub org. You may be inviting inspections of your storage facilities and techniques. None of us have anything to hide but I just would shy away from inquisitive eyes/noses. wc

=====WE WISH TO AVOID IMPERIAL INVOLVMENT==!!!!!!

 

[W.E.G.]

Bury in moist soil, and forget.