Question about digging live WWII rounds

onemanwolfpack · Sep 11, 2012

I recently found three live WWII .50 cal rounds while detecting a new site and was wondering if anyone has ever heard of one going off while being dug up? I'm using a small Lesch hand shovel and by the time I found the third one could hear the differences between the brass and copper so I was as careful as I could be but would hate to have one go off in my face. What do you think the chances are of hitting the primer hard enough while digging with a normal amount of force? Any way figured if anyone would know this would be the place to ask.

Thanks

Lady Pirate · Sep 11, 2012

IDK...... but if you bring Ric Savage with you, he can yell "BOOM-BABY" while you dig :laughing7:

dholland02 · Sep 11, 2012

Lady Pirate said:
IDK...... but if you bring Ric Savage with you, he can yell "BOOM-BABY" while you dig

Hopefully it takes him out and Have to see that butter ball on TV anymore lol

Plug · Sep 11, 2012

not sure why you would risk handling dangerous things you don't understand. it's not the primers or even the powder charge in the casing you should be worried about. if the bullets are anti-aircraft HE rounds, it's possible even a small shock could set them off. it's also possible they've become completely inert. there is just no way to tell. the propellant charge in the round would not explode in a way that would harm you. you are worried about the wrong thing.

rossman85 · Sep 11, 2012

Lady Pirate said:
IDK...... but if you bring Ric Savage with you, he can yell "BOOM-BABY" while you dig

This is definitely some good advice! Lol

Tom_in_CA · Sep 11, 2012

There's about a zero chance you could set off a live round with nothing but your hand-digger tools. As plug says, odds are, there's stale and corroded anyhow (no longer able to go off). And even if a round were still "live", you'd have to hammer it with all you've got *right* into the pin, etc... Perhaps a lawn-mower hit might be able to do it, but ....... to "accidentally" do it while hand-retrieving, is extremely astronomically remote. I've dug hundreds upon hundreds of live rounds at a military base near me (they litter the barracks and PT fields areas, to the point where we practically edit out those #'s on our TIDs). And .... no ... none have ever gone off.

onemanwolfpack · Sep 11, 2012

Plug said:
not sure why you would risk handling dangerous things you don't understand. it's not the primers or even the powder charge in the casing you should be worried about. if the bullets are anti-aircraft HE rounds, it's possible even a small shock could set them off. it's also possible they've become completely inert. there is just no way to tell. the propellant charge in the round would not explode in a way that would harm you. you are worried about the wrong thing.

Thanks for the info plug. It's not that I am out looking for these, although they are cool, they just happen to be where the things I am looking for are. So the HE rounds do they look the same as a standard bullet or do they have something visual that distinguishes them from the ordinary rounds, other than the explosion that is?

onemanwolfpack · Sep 11, 2012

Tom_in_CA said:
There's about a zero chance you could set off a live round with nothing but your hand-digger tools. As plug says, odds are, there's stale and corroded anyhow (no longer able to go off). And even if a round were still "live", you'd have to hammer it with all you've got *right* into the pin, etc... Perhaps a lawn-mower hit might be able to do it, but ....... to "accidentally" do it while hand-retrieving, is extremely astronomically remote. I've dug hundreds upon hundreds of live rounds at a military base near me (they litter the barracks and PT fields areas, to the point where we practically edit out those #'s on our TIDs). And .... no ... none have ever gone off.

THANKS TOM!!! THAT'S WHAT I WAS HOPING TO HEAR!

HVACRALL · Sep 11, 2012

Actually any old un-exploded ordinance can go off at any time at that age due to deteroration.I live and have grown up around eglin A.F.B. in fl.And many people have been killed due to un-exploded ordinances even from WW 2 This was a big traning area for that time and still is. i would suggest directing your questions to navy E.O.D. Big WARNING. Do not mess with them.

onemanwolfpack · Sep 12, 2012

HVACRALL said:
Actually any old un-exploded ordinance can go off at any time at that age due to deteroration.I live and have grown up around eglin A.F.B. in fl.And many people have been killed due to un-exploded ordinances even from WW 2 This was a big traning area for that time and still is. i would suggest directing your questions to navy E.O.D. Big WARNING. Do not mess with them.

I agree and will try my best to avoid them. I too live in a WWII training area and seem to find these things everywhere so, since I'm not going to give up my addiction to metal detecting anytime soon, I asked the question to see what other members had experienced with these things. Thanks again for all the info

Plug · Sep 12, 2012

different round types have painted tips to denote what they are. i'm not sure what colors the the anti aircraft incendiary and HE rounds are symbolized by. i think it's fairly unlikely you would run into any trouble digging up 50 cal rounds but you should maybe do some research so you know how to distinguish round types. i would definitely be extremely cautious if you came across anything larger than a .50 if i were you. most of those are explosive rounds

NOLA_Ken · Sep 13, 2012

If you're digging a training area the rounds you are likely to find are going to be ball (solid) or tracers. I doubt that there will be a lot of incendiary or HE laying around. Those old rounds are safe so long as you don't throw them in a fire or anything like that. (NEVER tie one to a tree and shoot at the primer with a bb gun.... I won't go into detail but we learned that the hard way at around 12 years old.... :tongue3:

) Truthfully if they have been in the ground that long moisture will probably have seeped in around the primer and killed it anyway, I'm pretty sure that WW2 era primers were sealed with a natural shellac, if at all, and that would have deteriorated in the ground. If you are worried about them, toss them in a lake, or have the police pick them up for the bomb squad to destroy.

HVACRALL.... Most people who are injured by uxo's were messing with them and set them off. They are generally also not injured by live bullets, it's more artillery shells, mortar rounds and that type of thing that have internal fuzes that can be set off by jostling them around. Still it's a good idea for anyone who doesn't know what they are doing to be careful around any kind of ordinance, better safe than mangled.....

U.S. Military Ammunition Markings

FM 23-5: Chapter 6. - AMMUNITION

FLauthor · Sep 13, 2012

I hunted an old Army Air Corp base in Florida that is today a cow pasture. The old owner told me how one of his farm hands struck a 20mm shell with a harrow and it blew a hole in the cover over the harrow. I believe that guy probably had to clean his drawers out. The club I once belonged to got to hunt the property back in the late 1980's and I told everybody not to probe, just dig with a shovel. Any live ammo was tossed in an old sinkhole on the property. Several .30-06 and .50 caliber, all live were discarded in that hole. Lots of silver, insignia, buttons, buckles and WW2 relics were recovered. We only scratched the surface as the site covers 300 acres. The old man died and the land went to the sons who said our activity was a insurance liability and no more access was granted. That was 23 years ago but the land is up for sale now and I'm waiting for new owners who might be more lenient. No, I won't sneak on that land as they've put Brahma Bulls in there and those are some of the most aggressive cattle on the planet. I hope I live long enough to hunt that land again. 8-)