To Fire or Not to Fire

[BillBloggins]

Occasionally when I sweep up my brass an unfired round is included in the mix. When I am sorting the brass later I set these unfired rounds aside. I examine them for fitness, make sure they have a good primer, etc.- if any do not pass muster I trash them. Then next time I am at the range I fire those that passed muster off- of dozens of examples have had 2 that were duds.
Curious what others think of this.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

If a round doesn't fire, I usually set it aside. Like you, I check it and if all is ok, I then load it by itself and then attempt to shoot it again. If it doesn't fire, I put it aside to disassemble and use the reusable components.

Now, I haven't been reloading long, so I'm still learning. Thankfully I haven't had many of these. The biggest problem I had was with a box of ammo that I made that was too light a charge for my S&W pistol. It would fail to eject in the S&W. It was fine in my PF9.

Like you, I'm curious to see what others think/do.

Oh and any rounds I find that aren't mine and haven't been shot, I don't use. I'm not willing to subject myself to the risk of someone else's possible mistake.

 

[Mauser69]

It all depends on where you are doing the "sweep up". I would NEVER consider picking up an unfired round of unknown origin and just putting it in a gun to see what happens. But then again, NO unfired rounds of my own ever hit the ground to be swept up. I understand that there are certain self defense practice scenarios that focus specifically on clearing an unfired round, but I would be using a dummy round for that instead of just jacking out a random good shell.

I also would never just "trash" any loaded round, under any circumstances. Anything with a live primer or a bullet in the case absolutely gets disassembled before the brass goes into the recycle bucket.

 

[dgod]

If I find rounds that have "MisFired", I take them to my Reloading Bench, and Disassemble them. I don't know what they are, I don't know if they are safe. If I can salvage anything after disassembly, SUper, if not, Oh Well. At least I didn't take a chance on breaking a firearm.

Just my $0.02
Dan

 

[Walkalong]

Toss them, or dissemble to save components.

 

[Doublehelix]

I find those occasionally as well, and dump them immediately unfired.

"When in doubt, throw it out."

You never know why it is on the ground. Was it just dropped? Was it a misfire? Factory or handload?

I don't find enough of them for it to be a worry, I just toss them.

 

[Blue68f100]

The indoor range where I use to shoot if you dropped a round it may roll under the bench. If you don't get down on your hands and knees you will not find it. That said I examine the round to determine if it was factory or not. If factory round I shoot it. If it's been reloaded I don't. Take it back home and break it down for the components.

 

[kcofohio]

I'll add to what others have and will say here.

Even if I know that it is from a safe load of mine. If I didn't seperate it from others with any load info, what good/bad can be taken from the way it shoots. Hopefully I have enough of like components for the next reloading session.

Pull 'em dar boolits!

 

[Jim Watson]

If I drop and recover one of MY cartridges, I shoot it.
If I find an obvious factory load, I shoot it.
If I find somebody else's reload, I pull it to salvage the brass.

 

[mdi]

If they are my reloads that for some reason didn't fire, I'd pull the bullets and find out why. If the pickups have a dent in the primer, I might save and reuse the components (brass and bullet). Even if they are "new, virgin looking", I would be hesitant about shooting them, might be reloads...

 

[hdwhit]

I keep meticulous records of my reloading so that each batch of loaded cartridges is in a numbered box which ties to the reloading data sheet and reloading checksheet that travels with the box. If a cartridge gets out of its box, it is replaced immediately otherwise my ability to track my reloads starts to fall apart. So, I don't sweep up any of my own ammunition, I don't shoot factory loads (except the first magazine in a new gun) and if I come across someone else's handiwork, I disassemble it to salvage the case and bullet.

Before I discard a primer or a primed case, I soak it overnight in denatured alcohol.

Not too long ago someone in a nearby town discarded something flammable in their trash (propane cylinder or something like that, not a reloading component) and burned the trash truck to the ground. The investigators figured out who it was and the waste management company asked him rather impolitely to buy them another truck, so I'm very careful to follow proper procedure in disposing of my reloading waste.

 

[Sunray]

Absolutely not if it's a centre fire. Moreso if it's a reload.

 

[hdwhit]

Hokie_PhD wrote:
Oh and any rounds I find that aren't mine and haven't been shot, I don't use. I'm not willing to subject myself to the risk of someone else's possible mistake.

Very wise.

You never know when you're going to run across a round loaded by someone who thinks published maximum loads are intentionally understated because the publishers are wimps afriad of a lawsuit.