What does everybody do with old bullets?

[lodgepoleJoe]

I've got a small assortment of old bullets and shotgun shells I've ended up with over the years that I consider unsafe to shoot. Like the ones you left in the door panel of your truck after hunting season and didn't find them till next spring and the casings turn green or the shotgun shell that rolled out from under the seat and you have no Idea how old it is. Anyway I thought about putting them in the trash, throwing them in my burn pit or burying them somewhere on the property. None of these sound like a smart/safe thing to do. What do you guys do with them?

 

[FAIR CHASE]

Ammo is generally good for several decades.

 

[MThuntr]

majorly oxidized rifle ammo I'd probably toss...old shotshells get ran through the shotgun. While probably not an issue I don't think it would be wise to bury or burn old ammo.

 

[memtb]

Unless physically damaged.....clean it and shoot it! memtb

 

[LuketheDog]

A couple months ago my dad found a 1,000 rd. box of .22 Short in the back of his storage room, as far as I can tell it's from the 1950s, it goes *bang* every time I pull the trigger...

 

[Millsworks]

Most people I know ,just give it to me.
I sort it, clean what can be and use it.
It's good for initial firing to sight in a rifle or help decide what size shot a particular shotgun barrel likes.

 

[std7mag]

And cleaning does NOT mean put in a tumbler!
Best to have it grounded in some way, and clean with either Scotchbrite or a brass bristle brush.

 

[Laelkhunter]

If you decide to polish or clean the tarnished ones, DO NOT use Brasso or any other cleaner that contains ammonia. Ammonia will weaken the brass, and could cause problems when you shoot it.

 

[sbhooper]

Unless it is badly corroded, so that you think it may not chamber, just shoot it.

 

[sbhooper]

And cleaning does NOT mean put in a tumbler!
Best to have it grounded in some way, and clean with either Scotchbrite or a brass bristle brush.

Where is your sense of adventure? Actually, I doubt that ammo in a vibrator would hit hard enough to set it off. Don't ask me how I know!

 

[buffybr]

A couple months ago my dad found a 1,000 rd. box of .22 Short in the back of his storage room, as far as I can tell it's from the 1950s, it goes *bang* every time I pull the trigger...

Often gun/ammo collectors will pay well for old ammo, especially in full undamaged boxes.

 

[Millsworks]

I use the Lee case trimmer base, chucked in a drill with 4000# steel wool. It works great on rifle cartridges.
A die grinder with a buffing bit and some rouge on everything else.

 

[Losing_Sanity]

Over time cartridges can build up oxidation between the bullet and the case causing inconsistent pressures. Especially with reloads. I don't think it will matter shooting it at the range to use it up. IMO, I'd clean it up some and safely shoot it down range as long as there is no case failures. Shot gun shells as well.

 

[lodgepoleJoe]

Thanks for all the advice. I guess I should try to clean it up and see what the brass looks like. I tried shooting an old 30-30 shell a couple years ago. It went "poof" and the bullet landed about 6 feet in front of me so don't have much confidence in old ammo if its been exposed to moisture and such. I'm sure an old box of shells in the dresser drawer would be fine. BUT, if you do decide to toss them, where?
Thanks

 

[ImBillT]

if youre worried about it, pull the bullet, dump the powder in the garden and the bullet and brass in the trash can.

Last summer I found some love ammo in a trash can at the range. I removed what I could find, but because I couldn't be sure I'd found it all, emailed the club president and told him about it saying "I'm not exactly sure wt happens wen you burn a trash can with live ammo it. He replied "thanks. It's not that uncommon. It usually goes bang a little while after the fire gets going". He didn't seem concerned.

 

[Jmnhunter]

keep them in case the apocalypse comes

 

[LuketheDog]

Often gun/ammo collectors will pay well for old ammo, especially in full undamaged boxes.

I checked a couple of auction sites before I started shooting it, not a lot of bidding goes on for most of that stuff...

 

[Don Fischer]

Old bullet's, old ammo and old case's are three different thing's. Old bullet's I dig out of dirt back stops and melt down and make new bullet's. Old jacketed bullet's unfired and usually as good as the day they were made, they don't get better with age. Old case's might be good and might not be. I don't usually fire old case's. Probably not much wrong with most of them unless corrosion get's them but case's don't cost enough to worry about, I throw them away!

 

[std7mag]

Instead of thrlowing the old casings away, they are brass. Take them to the recycler!

After you set off that primer, that is. Primers make them nervous.

 

[buffybr]

if youre worried about it, pull the bullet, dump the powder in the garden and the bullet and brass in the trash can.

Last summer I found some love ammo in a trash can at the range. I removed what I could find, but because I couldn't be sure I'd found it all, emailed the club president and told him about it saying "I'm not exactly sure wt happens wen you burn a trash can with live ammo it. He replied "thanks. It's not that uncommon. It usually goes bang a little while after the fire gets going". He didn't seem concerned.

I'm on the Board of Directors of our local range of 3,000+ members. Yes, it's not uncommon for people to throw unfired ammunition in our trash barrels. We have a 55 gallon trash barrel on each of our Trap and Skeet fields, and at least one barrel on each of our 10 rifle and pistol ranges. When the rifle range barrels got full and at the end of most days of shotgun shooting, we would burn the cardboard target boxes in these barrels. Often we would hear a BANG in one of the barrels from an unfired shell that someone had thrown in that barrel. Other than the sound of the BANG and maybe a shower of sparks coming out of the top of the barrel, nothing else happened. No part of any exploded shell ever penetrated the side of any of the barrels.

Several years ago we quit burning any of the barrels and we now re-cycle the cardboard target boxes, and the trash in all of the other barrels is bagged and goes into the county landfill.