Shell Casings and Shotgun brass.......and a live round.

rluckadoo

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Nov 26, 2009
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Ingram, Texas
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Here are a couple photos of some shell casings and old shotgun brass that I've found over the last few weeks. Let me know if you guys see a particularly interesting one and I will try to get an individual photo to post. I don't know a whole lot about old brass, but this area is an "old" area for sure.

Also, found the "live" round this morning at a depth of about 10". Not sure what the caliber?? It is huge. I have scaled it with a sharpee pen, and a .270 shell. Anythoughts......... I was a little nervous even cleaning it off.
 

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Westfront

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Jun 15, 2010
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Looks like a cal. .50 tracer round to me. Nothing to fear. Remove the bullet carefully. Loose it by bending sideways. Remove the powder and glue the bullet back. Looks good as a paperweight.
 

elee

Jr. Member
Sep 25, 2010
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Westfront is correct..it is a .50 BMG tracer, for the Browning machine gun M2 (BMG) or "Ma Deuce". Cool Find. Bending the bullet sideways will distort the case mouth. I would just clean it and leave it alone...just don't leave it sitting on your wood stove!! Even if you remove the powder, the primer is still live. Check the base...most military ammo has a manufacturer's code and date (last two digits of the four digit year) on the base. Cool find!
ELee
 

NatorMVP

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Jan 3, 2011
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Just confirming that it looks exactly like a .50 cal machine gun tracer round. From bullet tip to base it should be 138mm, the red paint on the tip is how tracer rounds are marked. Regular ball rounds are painted green on the tip or have no paint and are just plain metal.

They are stable rounds and yours looks like it's in pretty good condition so you shouldn't have much to worry about. If you want to make it safer wrap a cloth around the bullet and using some pliers you can remove the bullet without scratching the bullet. The powder should just shake out and some canned air will help clean it out. The other option is to drill a couple holes through the case and get the power out that way.

As the last poster said you need to be careful with the primer though as it could still go off, not really sure how to remove that myself.
 

fishkiller41

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Feb 19, 2010
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Carefully pull the bullet,as posted above,empty the powder out and soak case & Primer in water or oil overnight.
Then reseat the bullet.The primer and round will be totally inert by then.
BTW: Also soak the bullet, the "tracer" compound will be made safe as well.
GREAT FINDS MAN!!!
HH
Jeff
 

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rluckadoo

rluckadoo

Jr. Member
Nov 26, 2009
30
3
Ingram, Texas
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-trac, Tesoro Lobo Supertraq, Gold Bug II, Keene 4" dredge, Keene 3" Hibanker/Dredge Combo
Thanks guys!! I really appreciate the info. I might just leave it as is. As far as a stamped mark on it. The end of the shell is a little crusty and I don't want to do a lot of rubbing around that primer.

Thanks again,
Robert
 

Westfront

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When You have removed the powder You can also drill the primer out. With that little explosives in it You didnt have to fear anything. Just wear gloves and safety goggles. We dig this things on a daylie basis here. :dontknow:
 

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NatorMVP

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Jan 3, 2011
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Overall they are very stable, during my time in Iraq we had .50 cal bullets bouncing around all over the place. But it's always good to err on the side of caution and if it's something that you really feel uncomfortable holding on to you can always bring to a police or fire department and they will dispose of it, just be prepared for them to ask where you got it.
 

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