Salvaging components from disassembled cast rounds (fair warning: LOTS of questions)

[Rule3]

Don't toss the powder. You can fertilize grass with it or it will also melt ice and snow.

I wish people would stop saying that smokeless is a good fertilizer.
All it will do is chemically burn what ever plant or grass you put it on.Plus it is a tiny amount, Even if it was a good source of Nitrogen it would not do more than a square inch or so of "grass"

But as a rule of thumb, your lawn needs no more than one pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet.

Put it in a little pile and ignite it tonight. !

 

[Highland Lofts]

I thought these were handgun, revolver ammo? They do not "grow" What bolt??
Just load them and shoot them.

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My mistake, forgot they were straight walled pistol cases.
With the cases being crimped and the projectiles being lead they probably got shaved when they were pulled making them aller in diameter so when reusing them they would be loose in the new case.

 

[BJung]

I like to burn smokeless powder in front of kids to watch. All think it will blow up and are surprised that it just burns slowly. Doing so demystifies the wrong perception Hollywood teaches.

 

[barnfrog]

I like to burn smokeless powder in front of kids to watch. All think it will blow up and are surprised that it just burns slowly. Doing so demystifies the wrong perception Hollywood teaches.

That's exactly how I'm going to dispose of this powder. My wife still thinks I'm going to blow up the house. We'll have a little demonstration this weekend.

 

[mdi]

I have a collet puller, but it distorts lead bullets if not tight enough to stop slipping and some jacked bullets are "crimped" by the collet. Measure the diameter of the pulled bullets. Good diameter (withing .001"-.002" smaller than new? Still round? If the collet has swaged the diameter/ made the bullet undersize and/or out of round, I'd toss them in my scrap lead pot to be remelted for my casting. Cases, remove decapping stem and resize. While I have tumbled primed brass, I think I'd reload and shoot the cases (and bullets if not too distorted) and tumble them next time (I never had a problem with media getting stuck in the flash hole, but inspecting tumbled/primed brass is tedious and hard on the eyes.

BTW I use a Frankfort Arsenal inertia pullet (hammer type) and a lead ingot for an anvil...

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I have a collet puller, but it distorts lead bullets if not tight enough to stop slipping and some jacked bullets are "crimped" by the collet. Measure the diameter of the pulled bullets. Good diameter (withing .001"-.002" smaller than new? Still round? If the collet has swaged the diameter/ made the bullet undersize and/or out of round, I'd toss them in my scrap lead pot to be remelted for my casting. Cases, remove decapping stem and resize. While I have tumbled primed brass, I think I'd reload and shoot the cases (and bullets if not too distorted) and tumble them next time (I never had a problem with media getting stuck in the flash hole, but inspecting tumbled/primed brass is tedious and hard on the eyes.

BTW I use a Frankfort Arsenal inertia pullet (hammer type) and a lead ingot for an anvil...

Same here for things that will drop from inertia. Not everything will. I use a old butcher block for smacking. The FA holds a case holder perfectly. Much better than the little rings and rubber bands they come with.

 

[Thomasss]

I wish people would stop saying that smokeless is a good fertilizer.
All it will do is chemically burn what ever plant or grass you put it on.Plus it is a tiny amount, Even if it was a good source of Nitrogen it would not do more than a square inch or so of "grass"

But as a rule of thumb, your lawn needs no more than one pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet.

I didn't say it was a GOOD fertilizer. I did say you can fertilize your grass with it. I have never burned my grass with it either. I spread about 50 grains over 10 sq. feet. That's better than just dumping it. And by-the-way Univer. Wisc. Madison recommends 3 lbs. of Nitrogen per year/per 1,000 sq. ft. for home owner's lawns. I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Gayle F. Worf, Univ. of Wisc. Dept of Agriculture for several years. Gayle Worf was considered a worldwide leader in Plant Pathology and producing turf grass and corn. His books have been translated in over 50 languages.

 

[mdi]

Same here for things that will drop from inertia. Not everything will. I use a old butcher block for smacking. The FA holds a case holder perfectly. Much better than the little rings and rubber bands they come with.

I quit using the aluminum collets long ago, just too much fiddeling. I have used a plain shell holder for many years with no problems. Several years ago I saw a thread abount rounds firing when a round was held by a shell holder in an impact tool. The thread never had any bona fide examples and the final consensus was "probably internet wisdom". Haven't heard/read of any such "warnings" since...

 

[Rule3]

I didn't say it was a GOOD fertilizer. I did say you can fertilize your grass with it. I have never burned my grass with it either. I spread about 50 grains over 10 sq. feet. That's better than just dumping it. And by-the-way Univer. Wisc. Madison recommends 3 lbs. of Nitrogen per year/per 1,000 sq. ft. for home owner's lawns. I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Gayle F. Worf, Univ. of Wisc. Dept of Agriculture for several years. Gayle Worf was considered a worldwide leader in Plant Pathology and producing turf grass and corn. His books have been translated in over 50 languages.

Yes, you can put it on the lawn, you can also do a lot of other things with it. As I mentioned the tiny amount will do little to nothing. It is more fun tp ignite it.
That is 3lbs per year, at three applications which yields 1/2 to1 lb N per application.
My yard is 10,00 square feet so smokeless powder is not real cost effective,

UW Madison is good but IFAS at UF is better! We grow stuff all year not 3 months of the year. I lived in Madison for a while.

The recommended disposal is to wet it down or burn it,

As they say I used to be in the Business,

None of the ingredients is a recommended for plants or turf.

https://hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/hpcsphericalsds.pdf

https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfy.../FertilizerRatesforLawnsandLandscapes_000.pdf

 

[Thomasss]

Rule 3 said: The recommended disposal is to wet it down or burn it,
As they say I used to be in the Business,
None of the ingredients is a recommended for plants or turf.
I never said it was more effective or better than anything else. Distribution over grass is an easy and effective method of disposal and you can water it in on your own property if you like without bothering anyone else.
You were the one that said 1/lb. of N per 1,000 sq. ft. You forgot to mention multiple applications so I assumed you meant 1 lb. per year. I was also in the Business. Nitrogen comes in many forms and may be used in many ways. I am also OSHA certified. Your MDSS doesn't impress me. If you like to watch a bright burn, that's up to you. I like to watch the grass grow 7 to 9 months a year.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I quit using the aluminum collets long ago, just too much fiddeling. I have used a plain shell holder for many years with no problems. Several years ago I saw a thread abount rounds firing when a round was held by a shell holder in an impact tool. The thread never had any bona fide examples and the final consensus was "probably internet wisdom". Haven't heard/read of any such "warnings" since...

Rounds going off in a shell holder? To quote the current worlds most powerful leader and holder of the nuclear button, “C’mon, man!”

 

[Swampman]

...My yard is 10,00 square feet so smokeless powder is not real cost effective...

Wait, did I miss something?
Who recommended BUYING smokeless powder specifically as lawn fertilizer?

 

[mdi]

Rounds going off in a shell holder? To quote the current worlds most powerful leader and holder of the nuclear button, “C’mon, man!”

Yep! I don't know if I should mention the forum name, but there was a discussion that went on for several weeks. I got tired of the "facts" and after a couple weeks chalked the whole thing as myth and internet wisdom...

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Yep! I don't know if I should mention the forum name, but there was a discussion that went on for several weeks. I got tired of the "facts" and after a couple weeks chalked the whole thing as myth and internet wisdom...

“…internet wisdom.”

I never even bothered mentioning the shell holder in a inertial hammer thing because I figured everybody knew about it and did the same thing. I started with it back in 1980 or so when I was still learning how to set a crimp on a bullet with no crimping groove in a .38Spl. I think the collet thingees lasted two whacks.