Ammunition Disposal

[JakeB]

Does anyone have a good way of disposing of 'unknown' ammunition?

A friend of the family passed away and his son gave me a box of his reloads.

They are .38 Special Wadcutters. I am not comfortable shooting them.

I don't think I can pull the bullets either.

- Jake

 

[Eagles6]

Just curious, why can't you pull the bullets?

 

[JayDubya]

Since wadcutters are contained completely within the casing, the OR has a real problem. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to his question. I hope someone else does.

Cordially, Jack

 

[john traveler]

Since wadcutters are normally seated at, or below flush with the case mouth, there is nothing for a bullet pullet collet to hold on to.

You need an inertia bullet puller such as made by Kinetics or marketed under the RCBS brand.

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

Try them in a 357. That's my way of pulling bullets.
Weight them all, to be sure they are consistent.

Unless you are sure this guy was insane, then find a inertia bullet puller.

 

[Alk8944]

Try them in a 357. That's my way of pulling bullets.
Weight them all, to be sure they are consistent.

Unless you are sure this guy was insane, then find a inertia bullet puller.

+many!

Unknown .38 Spl, simply shoot them in a .357, preferably an N Frame.

If they are boxed or otherwise segregated, and you can reasonably assume that all of a batch are probably identical, shoot some of them (in the heavy .357) over a chronograph. If the result is what is usually expected for .38 Special you have some free ammunition. Then you can decide to pull bullets or not.

The safest way to dispose of any ammunition is to shoot it in an appropriate firearm.

 

[m1gunner]

Pull the ammo down and salvage the components. If you do not have the tools to do this, give the ammo to a reloader that can take it apart.

It just isn't safe to shoot unknown ammo. From squibs to overpressure rounds, that free ammo could damage your gun or worse.

 

[clint_lnl]

the local PD got rid of some unknown reloads I was given

 

[Gunhacker]

the local PD got rid of some unknown reloads I was given

+1... Don't fall prey to false economy by attempting to use ammo that you don't have a good feeling about.

Most PD's or SO's will accept ammo for disposal as a public safety measure.

 

[Wayne M]

Rinse out a gallon milk jug, put ammo inside and fill with water, cap it off. In a few months you can burry the ammo in you garden with no worries. I've got a jug in my basement right now with assorted "junk" in it.

 

[flop-shank]

Well, I would...

...put on some tunes. and pull the bullets. You'll have primed cases to reload as well as bullets. Make sure that they're all the same weight and or segregate them as needed. Throw the unknown gunpowder on a sapling or garden as fertilizer. If you don't reload, give them to a local shooter that wants them for salvage.

I'm guessing that a double charge of a fast powder such as Bullseye, or IMR PB could very likely destroy even a .357 gun. Fast powders oftentimes have a violently fast pressure spike when they exceed a max charge, and fast powders are exactly the type one would expect to find loaded in .38 wadcutters.

 

[n4zov]

+1... Don't fall prey to false economy by attempting to use ammo that you don't have a good feeling about.

Most PD's or SO's will accept ammo for disposal as a public safety measure.

+1 Excellent advice!

 

[Hunt200]

Bring them to the local PD if you don't want to mess with them.

 

[Eagles6]

I'd give an inertia puller a try 1st. I've pulled my own wadcutters but that doesn't mean it will work in your case.

Otherwise soaking them for a couple months then bury them sounds like a plan.

 

[Eagles6]

OR, as others have said, give them to a reloader that you can trust to pull them down and not shoot them.

Giving them to the local LE for disposal is fine too.

 

[growr]

I agree with several others in that you can use a .357 and recycle it one round at a time. If you have access to a N frame even better.
Randy

 

[TennTony]

Cut them in two

Your inquiry got me to thinking. I had a few .357 magnum SWC reloads I had messed up. They were roll crimped and my inertial bullet puller would not get the bullets out. I held the rim of the cartridge in my bench vise and used a small copper pipe/tubing cutter to cut the rounds into two parts. No heat generated. No powder spilled. I carefully removed the primers in the reloading press. The bullets go into casting pot the next time I mold bullets. This seemed like a safe disposal method. Of course safety glasses and other precautions were employed.

Tony

 

[jj2am44]

I would not shoot them either. How about a river bottom?

 

[PDL]

A lot of the same advice, if you can pull the bullets, fine. Otherwise let your local PD take care of them. Why play games?