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Fail to fire dud ammo... what to do?

30K views 20 replies 17 participants last post by  Pawiscoming 
#1 ·
I have had a spate of .22lr ammo that has been failing to fire lately, i.e. denting the rim nicely, but still not going off...
I am on my own land- what is the correct thing to do with this dud ammo?
Is it still dangerous? (I treat is as it is anyway)

Thanks, and happy new year.


GENT
 
#7 ·
I have this old steel canister I toss mine in. It looks like one of those old fashioned milk carriers.

One thing you have to realize about setting off rounds outside of a gun is that the casing will be more harmful than the heaver bullet. In a gun the bullet is more dangerous because the all the energy is directed foreward. When lying on the ground or not in a gun, the casing will blow back and the bullet will move forward (not not as much as the casing). The energy is dissipated in all directions most of it going towards the areas of least resistance. So a steel canister should be more than enough to keep the bullets in.
 
#9 ·
Some great advice here, thanks.
 
#15 ·
Wait a bit... then put it in the rifle and fire it again, if it FTF twice it's a dud, dispose of it properly. I have .22LR do that 1 out of every 50 rds, no matter the brand or weapon. Some primers are harder than others and need another tap! The best way to dispose of live ammo is indeed to fire it!
 
#16 ·
I've had numerous .22LR cartridges fail to fire on the first strike.
Usually the second strike succeeded to fire.
I clean up brass from the range I use and often find FTF .22LR in my gatherings that have a strike mark on teh rim. Depending on the condition of the cartridge, I cycle it through my .22LR firearms and they fire. If the cartridge condition is unacceptable; bent, squished, cracked, bullet damaged, I'll pull the bullet into my lead for later pile, pour the powder charge onto the lawn, crush the case and toss it into the brass recycling bucket.
Some times the priming compound poured into the LR case does not get completely into the rim and leaves air gaps. If the air gap is struck, there is an FTF, striking the rim again usually causes a firing.
 
#17 ·
Here is an old Mythbusters episode that talks about what happens to rounds when they go off outside of a gun. They put it in an oven and made it hot enough to ignite the bulles. They did a .22 , .44, and a .50bmg round

So the most dangerous time for a "dud" round is while it is still in the gun. After that, it isn't that bad, but can still hurt. Unless of course it is a .50bmg LOL

Enjoy

 
#18 ·
We had the problem several times today and I'm glad I read your responses. We had about 12 (twelve) reloads (45 ACP) fail to go off and we ejected them each time, and threw them down range (we were at inside range and the 45's were reloads they sold us). I told them about it and they surprisingly didn't have much to tell us except "sorry".

Next time I'll wait 30 seconds before ejecting.
 
#21 ·
First off never shoot ammo that has been dropped on the ground in a forearm, there will always be some grit on the round and that is not good for the firearm. I clean up the PD’s outdoor range and after they do training, there is ammo laying around everywhere, I save it for the components but I will never shoot it as is. Rimfire ammo that FTF a lot of times will fire if turned 180 degrees, but then a lot of times it will not. Ruff handling is one of the causes of rimfire ammo not firing. What happens is the priming compound will get knocked out of the rim, so do not bang the stuff around.

Another reason why you should never shoot found ammo is there are a lot sick people out there. I know of one case at another range where a guy found a box of 12Ga left at the range so he shoot it only to find out that some AH replaced the shot with flint chips. Free ammo is not free if it cost you your life, limb or gun.
 
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