Disposing of dug up unfired ammunition??

[generic username]

Every once and a while I come across unfired ammo here in the city, nothing particular really.. most recent i found a deer rifle and handgun ammo/bullets whatever its called ive always called it a bullet.. maybe its a bullet in its casing anyhow.. been a long while since ive shot some guns.

Question is, is it generally safe to toss them in the trash or am i better off driving to the police dept and dropping it off there?
the last time i took one to the PD, they started asking questions on where and when it was found after i told them i dug it up with a metal detector. lol that was the second one that week i had took in which i found in the same neighborhood block.

when i was at my dads house in the country and needed to "dispose" of ammo that jammed in the gun or questionable stuff i would dig a deep hole on the property line and toss it in but i dont wanna do that here in the city because i may dig it up again.

 

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[spartacus53]

Sell them at a discount to a local gang and stay on their good side

Take anything to a police department and get ready for some tough questioning. In your case, I suggest just looking at it and walking away as fast as possible

 

[CurlysGold]

I wouldn't leave it there. Kids could find it. Call in an anonymous tip to the local police. If you are super concerned wipe your prints and call from a public phone.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Really?! Never involve the police unless you HAVE too. Just toss it in the trash.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

If you really want to get rid of them, just toss them in a deep pond or river. I keep all of the ones I find. Not too worried about them. Check them out first though, some are very collectable.

 

[Chips]

Smack it with a hammer .
No seriously don't do that !!

At our local range we have a beast of device looking like it came from the early industrial age. It clamps down on the round and, removes the head in a way that doesn't seem to upset the round.
I don't know if they are common, and have never heard of it "misfiring" but,,,, do you have a local riffle range near you?
Seriously don't smack it with a hammer !! lol

 

[Grizzly13]

I'm a avid hunter and gun enthusiest. The best reply I seen about this subject is to dispose of them in the drink. Toss them into some river or pond. By the time they ever remotely have the chance of being disturbed they will have deteriated and become useless. No one gets hurt that way. Stay away from telling anyone anything !

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Hurd's Custom Machinery, Inc. - Hurd's Ammunition and Fireworks Disposal Trailer

 

[releventchair]

With forked digger i rock bullet out of case and dump powder. Primer undented still should be treated like a firecracker but i usually rebury.
Kid found empty brass cases and one round that did not fire with dented primer. We pulled bullet,put it in spent brass ,drilled hole near base for necklace.
She has sold a few.

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

Just throw them in the trash.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

un-repentant-sinner, Jason, and grizzly13 are right: Just toss 'em. The LAST think you want to do, is be showing up at the police station with things you "found metal detecting". I mean, think of it: if you show up every other month or so, with your "pressing issue", all you'll eventually do is give them reason to think "gee, is it really a good idea for all these yahoos to be metal detecting?"

I live near a WWII base, and we hunt all the time there (the old PT fields, around abandoned barracks, etc...), so I must found THOUSANDS of un-fired un-spent rounds during my years. It's unlikely that any of them could still be dangerous or unstable (as they've been in wet ground for decades), unless I did something stupid like put them in a vice and pounded on them with a hammer, I suppose. I never even gave the matter thought before. It just went out, with the trash, like all the other junk items I find there.

 

[BosnMate]

Spray it with a little WD-40, and in a very short time it will become inert. Then throw it in the trash. That said, there are some collectable ammo that's worth a lot of money. An inside primed 45-70 cartridge with a raised C head stamp comes to mind, the are worth a couple of hundred plus to a collector, so don't just automatically toss what you find.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Every once and a while I come across unfired ammo here in the city, nothing particular really.. most recent i found a deer rifle and handgun ammo/bullets whatever its called ive always called it a bullet.. maybe its a bullet in its casing anyhow.. been a long while since ive shot some guns.

Question is, is it generally safe to toss them in the trash or am i better off driving to the police dept and dropping it off there?
the last time i took one to the PD, they started asking questions on where and when it was found after i told them i dug it up with a metal detector. lol that was the second one that week i had took in which i found in the same neighborhood block.

when i was at my dads house in the country and needed to "dispose" of ammo that jammed in the gun or questionable stuff i would dig a deep hole on the property line and toss it in but i dont wanna do that here in the city because i may dig it up again.

I usually package up all the live ammo I find each year and send it to ex-wife #2, and her new husband. I think it makes a great Christmas gift, and I'm sure it reminds them of me each time they look at it.

 

[generic username]

long drive to the rifle range. seems like consensus says toss em in the water, no questions asked & looks like im "skipping rocks"

thanks guys.

 

[spartacus53]

long drive to the rifle range. seems like consensus says toss em in the water, no questions asked & looks like im "skipping rocks"

Not so fast there slick..

With your luck, you'll probably get a ticket for littering

Heed my advice and run like the Dickens

 

[GaRebel1861]

Interesting post here. I really think that old ammo is no big deal. When is the last time you heard a reliable story of someone being hurt by pistol / rifle ammunition found by a metal detector? I've found a lot, maybe not hundreds but a lot of old rounds and they are not really a big issue. As far as disposal, drop them in the trashcan. Again, when has one of these trashcan rounds hurt someone even when compressed in a trash truck? I worked as a firefighter years ago, and in a good rocking house fire, you could hear the rounds go off inside but they had no effect on anyone of us that were inside the structure. BTW, You know us good southern people keep and love a lot of guns and ammo around! JMO and I ain't worried about some old bullets. Good luck and be safe.

 

[generic username]

this is kinda a offshoot of this, but i seem to remember a mythbusters episode where they were using .22 ammo as a fuse in a pickup fuseblock and of the few that fired off they were generally harmless... but those wernt underground for a few good years probably soaked with water. anyhow, what im getting at here is since the casing isnt being held secure the forces i would assume would blow both ways if anything at all and most likely just sound like a firecracker.

im not too concerned of tossing it in the trash can really.. it just dont seem right to toss it in there lol.

 

[BosnMate]

In a fire, the bullet is heavy and the brass flies further than the bullet, but neither go very far. People that aren't shooters seem to freak out over a loaded bullet. I have hundreds of them, shucks a brick of .22 long rifles is 500 rounds and I have more than one brick of them, not counting ammo for every other gun I own, along with several cans of powder and hundreds of primers, and I'm not a bit worried about them. I'm 75 years old and a bullet sitting around has never gone off without help. There is nothing to worry about. To be a real problem they have to be in a gun, and the gun has to be pointed at you. Pointed away from you is called having fun shooting. If you are really worried about having a round or two of live ammo, then spray it with WD-40. It will ruin the primer and it won't go off. I know this from personal experience, and it doesn't take much to do the job. Spray WD-40 on the cylinder of a revolver, then clean it all off by wiping down, then load the gun and set it aside for a few days. The ammunition will not go off, that tiny amount of WD-40 will ruin the primer. I talked to a Calif. cop who did WD on his service revolver when it first came out, and then a week or so later got into a gun fight, and his gun wouldn't go off. That stuff is deadly around ammo.

 

[generic username]

wd must act like penetrating oil and seep into the shell then.

i grew up around guns and farm life when i was young so its not that scary to me really... just somewhat concerned of the city people around me. the neighbor behind me allows me to detect her yard and is almost like family, but once she saw the dug up ammo she kinda got concerned and wanted to know how i was gonna dispose of it.

ive never had or heard story of anything going off without the help of a guns hammer/pin but its always kinda slightly concerned me.

 

[Mzjavert]

In a fire, the bullet is heavy and the brass flies further than the bullet, but neither go very far. People that aren't shooters seem to freak out over a loaded bullet. I have hundreds of them, shucks a brick of .22 long rifles is 500 rounds and I have more than one brick of them, not counting ammo for every other gun I own, along with several cans of powder and hundreds of primers, and I'm not a bit worried about them. I'm 75 years old and a bullet sitting around has never gone off without help. There is nothing to worry about. To be a real problem they have to be in a gun, and the gun has to be pointed at you. Pointed away from you is called having fun shooting. If you are really worried about having a round or two of live ammo, then spray it with WD-40. It will ruin the primer and it won't go off. I know this from personal experience, and it doesn't take much to do the job. Spray WD-40 on the cylinder of a revolver, then clean it all off by wiping down, then load the gun and set it aside for a few days. The ammunition will not go off, that tiny amount of WD-40 will ruin the primer. I talked to a Calif. cop who did WD on his service revolver when it first came out, and then a week or so later got into a gun fight, and his gun wouldn't go off. That stuff is deadly around ammo.

I've never heard that WD-40 would ruin primer...that's good information for any gun owner to know. I've only found a couple of live ammo. I figured when I had enough to make it worth my while, I'd ask my friendly local gun shop if they had any customers who reload and send it their way.