What is the rarest single empty brass case, loaded round (just one) or shotgun shell you've ever found at a shooting range?

I found a .43 Mauser round on the ground a few years ago.

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Lefty38-55 said:
A 505 Gibbs? Jyzus, how does one drop one of those and NOT know it??????

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No kiddin! Thats like dropping a Monte Cristo cigar and not noticing! :oops:

jmorris said:
I’ve only come across one of these.

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Telescoping simunition, so it can cycle a firearm just firing a plastic BB.
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Those, and the 5.56 simmunition cases were all over the ground when we did shoot-house force-on-force training. By the end of the day, you get so focused on the scenario that the concrete floors could get dicy if you stepped on them while moving!

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Stay safe.
 
I found a dud .41 Magnum round at the range years ago. I know its not "rare" by any stretch, but it was the first and only one I have seen in the wild. Sadly it got lost during a move at some point.
 
Was at a range an a guy there had a Contender and gave me one of his worn-out reload casings--a .218bee. Dunno where that case has wandered off to, but, I've moved like three, four times since then, too.

I want to remember I have a found RP, Remington Peters 45acp casing somewhere in all my stuff.
 
Lefty38-55 said:
A 505 Gibbs? Jyzus, how does one drop one of those and NOT know it??????

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Click to expand...
??? Like I said, would love to know the story! Just gotta be a good one!

I have a small assortment of odd stuff that I have found over the years. 300 Winchester cases fired in a 300 Weatherby chamber, 308's fired in a 30-06 chamber, a fully separated 223 case with a loaded cartridge shoved up in the case neck (thank you forward assist) partially separated 223 cases folded partly into, just stuff!
 
tmd16556 said:
7.5 French was the oddest I’ve found.
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Somewhere I have 19 rounds of 7.5 MAS and the rifle they fit is in the safe. It was my first center fire rifle purchase from a Sears store in Evanston, IL. $19.95 in about 1962 with several boxes of ammo. Only 19 rounds left.
 
Did go the public range once and there alone on a clean bench (I was only one there) was a new green and yellow box of once fired .222 somebody had left.
Obviously not a reloader, Thought that was a nice gesture.

Have found some Weatherby magnum stuff, .300 and maybe lesser. None of the biggies.
Have found .458 win.

Pops had a collection of all sorts.
 
Back when I was relic hunting (Civil War) I found a number of Sharps, Spencer, and even a few Burnside carbine cartridges, some spent cases and some unfired rounds. I guess the area of the "Seven Days" and "Cold Harbor" qualified as shooting ranges. Those were not the only self-contained cartridges we (my grandfather and I) found, but they were the biggies.
 
JmacD said:
Not exactly uncommon, but extremely rare for the ranges I frequent; I found a 25 ACP. Most of the guys around that area shoot 10 mm 44 mags and 454. A 380 is too small for most of them :) I believe it’s actually the only 25 ACP case I’ve ever seen.
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I collect the old tip up Beretta and was showing dad one I bought 5 or 6 years ago in 25 and he wanted to carry it. (I objected but relented) I bought him a couple boxes and it was over a dollar a round. Lol. Best of my knowledge ive never even paid more than a dollar a round for 44 magnum or 300 mag. Lol.
Bob Willman said:
Somewhere I have 19 rounds of 7.5 MAS and the rifle they fit is in the safe. It was my first center fire rifle purchase from a Sears store in Evanston, IL. $19.95 in about 1962 with several boxes of ammo. Only 19 rounds left.
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Buddy of mine bought a savage 99 in 303 savage 25 years ago I believe at a Rose's store. He bought some 303 British ammo they sold him for it. Lol . He was pissed. We were all pretty poor back then and deer hunting was the plan but back to archery we went. As far as I know that's the only gun he owns of 200 or more....that he never fired. Never found ammo and of course once he got better rifles he gave up looking I guess. He did kill a few with a 99 in 300 savage after that and I even borrowed it for my first deer hunts after he and his brother moved on to semi auto 30-06 amd 25 05 Remington rifles
 
The rarest that I can remember finding was 7.65x53 Mauser, but I actually found an entire box worth of them just laying on the ground next to the bench. It was modern PPU brass so I assume someone had just bought a new to them Argentine Mauser and just picked up a box of ammo so they could shoot it without planning on reloading it. I was able to sell the empties for a pretty decent amount on gunbroker a little while later.
 
lightman said:
??? Like I said, would love to know the story! Just gotta be a good one!

I have a small assortment of odd stuff that I have found over the years. 300 Winchester cases fired in a 300 Weatherby chamber, 308's fired in a 30-06 chamber, a fully separated 223 case with a loaded cartridge shoved up in the case neck (thank you forward assist) partially separated 223 cases folded partly into, just stuff
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I had a Ruger Mk II tear apart a .22LR case and left part of the case stuck in the chamber. Even that weak recoil spring wedged the next round into the stuck case body but good. 😞

Stay safe.
 
I didn't find them on a range but I have a box of WWII era 30-06 manufactured in the Denver ordinance plant that a gunsmith friend gave me when we were cleaning out his shop after he closed it. I had bought at least 30 rifles from him over the years and he said the box would complement my collection.
 
Someday when I'm dead and gone they will find casings ive misplaced from every country and 100 different cartridge around my place. 220 Swift, 338 lapua, 22 rem jet, 23-35, 38-55, 25 acp, 257 wby, 5 45x39, 10 ga..... They will assume a great battle was fought there between all nationss......and a lot of them used a 22. Ammo from the 30s to right now. Lol
 
I have picked up tons of stuff including 257 Weatherby and on rare occasions I find a lapua 6br case. In my time searching only once I have found 22 hornet and there were three of them together....
 
.22 Winchester Automatic (right) with a CCI MiniMag .22 Long Rifle for comparison.

I found this abandoned at the range. I had to look it up in a reference book.

.22 Win Auto was introduced for the Winchester Model 1908 .22 semiauto rifle.
.22 Win Auto in smokeless powder only was developed by Winchester because .22 Long Rifle in dirty black powder loads was still popular and on store shelves. Remington also introduced a competing .22 Remington Model 16 in 1916 with its own similar but different smokeless rimfire cartridge.

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Not at a range, but a friend at a gun shop gave me a bunch of old surplus and corroded ammo from the basement once. Stuff had been there since the 1950’s. One of the rounds was a loaded .32 rimfire, which is probably the most rare I’ve ever personally owned.
 
CapnMac said:
Was at a range an a guy there had a Contender and gave me one of his worn-out reload casings--a .218bee. Dunno where that case has wandered off to, but, I've moved like three, four times since then, too.

I want to remember I have a found RP, Remington Peters 45acp casing somewhere in all my stuff.
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I’ve got a bag of 218 Bee new brass in my stuff. I actually had a 218 Mashburn Bee barrel for my Contender at one time. Fun little case.
 
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