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Posted

Helping out the son of a deceased pard by taking a substantial pile of what I call his dad's "mystery reloaded ammo" off his hands.  It is a bunch of re-labeled cartridge boxes and ziploc bags contained maybe close to 1500 rounds of various calibers.  Maybe the handwritten labels are correct, or maybe not -- it is impossible to tell, other than caliber.  Said son had no idea who loaded this stuff or when; he didn't know if his father was a reloader, or just bought the stuff at gun shows (which I respectfully suggest should be avoided).  Last night I pulled apart the first approximately 250 .32S&W Long cartridges to recover the lead, primers and cases, tossing the powders.  In that batch, I found about TEN squib loads with no powder in them at all, a couple of cases that contained maybe a half a grain of powder at most, and maybe five or so cases that were CLEARLY DOUBLE CHARGED.  Whoever loaded this had a terrible process and no QC at all -- about 7% of the rounds were no good, and potentially dangerous.  I then pulled apart a small batch, maybe 15 rounds, of .32ACP.  I think the powders that came out were four or five different shades of gray, tan, and brown -- it was almost interesting trying to guess the color of the powder that would come out of the next one.  I kept the jacketed bullets (to melt out the lead) but tossed everything else from those rounds in the trash.  (All recovered powder was dumped in a bucket of water at my bench, and then flushed down the toilet at the end of the session.)

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Posted

Yep, if I loan a gun to another shooter, I also give him/her the ammo that goes with it, that I reloaded.

It's one of my cardinal rules.

--Dawg

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Posted

I applaud the effort you put into disassembling the ammo and glad it was not passed on to someone who would fire it. But, just wondering if there is another way of discarding old powder because when wet powder dries out it will still ignite. Case in point, a few years ago cannons and cannon balls that fell through the ice on Lake George in NY in 1776 were recovered. The staff at Fort Willian Henry wanted to see if the powder was still good so they tested it. It was!

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Ashley D Austin said:

I applaud the effort you put into disassembling the ammo and glad it was not passed on to someone who would fire it. But, just wondering if there is another way of discarding old powder because when wet powder dries out it will still ignite. Case in point, a few years ago cannons and cannon balls that fell through the ice on Lake George in NY in 1776 were recovered. The staff at Fort Willian Henry wanted to see if the powder was still good so they tested it. It was!

It is a lot of slow and tedious work on the Rock Chucker Supreme.  But my right arm, back and shoulder are getting great exercise, and I'm recovering a lot of lead and primers and brass. The guy was going to call local PD to dispose of it all -- I saved it from that fate!

I'm just giving away the brass in the calibers I don't shoot to other club members who do (except for that nasty 32ACP with the weird and different colors of powder in each round -- not recovering those primers either as I assume that if the powder was ruined in any way, so were the primers).

Edited by Nostrum Damus SASS #110702
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Posted
22 minutes ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

I don't think any powder flushed down the toilet is ever going to dry out again.  I don't have a garden, either.

Come to think of it, it might be fun to ignite the whole pile of mystery powders in the fire pit at our club!!

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Posted
15 minutes ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

Come to think of it, it might be fun to ignite the whole pile of mystery powders in the fire pit at our club!!

If there's any BP mixed in, that could get exciting!   Light it from afar!

 

I know a guy who had BP dust explode and burn him as he was pouring old BP full of fines out into his yard.

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Posted

I know of probably 3 Pards whose reloads I would shoot with no problem if for some reason I was out of ammo. But as for gunshow reloads, estate purchases, gifted, ir found, nope. 
 

I once bought a 45-70 Marlin. Seller gave me a bunch of his reloads. Said they were various powders, wasn’t sure. I broke some of them down, it was a mess! I pulled them all down. Saved the cases, gave the lead to a pard to recast. 

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Posted
22 minutes ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

If there's any BP mixed in, that could get exciting!   Light it from afar!

 

I know a guy who had BP dust explode and burn him as he was pouring old BP full of fines out into his yard.

It is all labeled as containing Unique or Trail Boss or TiteGroup -- no BP or BPS.  But is that what's really inside?  Who knows!!  I would light it from VERY afar, don't worry.  I've once before set alight a small pile of known smokeless powder, just to see what happens.  When unconfined and just sitting in a pile, the whole flare-up lasts a second or two and then it is over -- rather uneventfully.  But the flare can be big.

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Posted

Agree with the above. 
Some 12 years ago before I became a bit more cynical, I was teaching NRA concealed carry and one of the other instructors wanted to try cowboy. Sure no problem let’s go. Loaned him a rifle with ammo and on his first stage he had a squib! WTH! I had never in over 30 years had a squib in any of my ammo. Thought maybe a first and try again. Another squib!?!! Noticed that the ammo box had turned red, mine were all blue. The SOaG was using his own reloads in my gun! And they had been done by his wife (so he said) unsupervised, in her first attempt at light loads. Things got a little heated, he left and never came back and I learned a valuable lesson….

My guns, My ammo no exceptions!!!!

Regards

:FlagAm:  :FlagAm:  :FlagAm:

Gateway Kid

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Posted

Guy told me a use for old/ unwanted gun powder.    Pour it next to an ant hill.   Next day it will be gone.   If your curious where it went, just put a match were the pile used to be.       GW

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Posted

At last Saturday's CAS match, we had two shooters in a row with squibs.  I don't think it was due to lack of powder.  The morning was windless but quite cold.   I could hear erratic ignition of the non-squib rounds.  One fellow's rifle ammo was too weak to tip over some knockdown targets.  I think shooters were using ammo that worked in the summer but lacked enough powder for reliability in freezing weather.

Posted (edited)

Someone left a 38sp reload at one stage last year and no one claimed it. I had it in my range bag since then. I was at the range trying my reloads and remembered that round. As I was just about done, I figured what the heck. Turns out it was a spicy BP load. The range stopped for a moment from the flame and smoke that came from my booth. I saw myself out at that point. 

Edited by Windy City Kid
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Posted

Bet nobody was more surprised than you! ;)

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Posted
Just now, Eyesa Horg said:

Bet nobody was more surprised than you! ;)

My shorts can neither confirm or deny that

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Posted

A number of years ago, I was gifted an SDB press along with 3 large coffee cans full of loaded .38 Special rounds.

I was warned that the ammo had been loaded by my friend's father who had been on strong pain meds at the time prior to his passing.

I randomly pulled 7 rounds from each can and disassembled them to verify what we both suspected.

I discovered extremely wide variations in the powder charges (apparently Red Dot powder) and three different bullet weights.

Wore out/broke two impact bullet pullers salvaging the primed brass.

 

 

 

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Posted

If in doubt, I throw it out.  Many ranges have receptacles for disposal of found or discarded live rounds.

 

Posted
6 hours ago, G W Wade said:

Guy told me a use for old/ unwanted gun powder.    Pour it next to an ant hill.   Next day it will be gone.   If your curious where it went, just put a match were the pile used to be.       GW

 

If it's a fire ant mound, stir 'em up, make 'em real mad...then pour the (smokeless) powder on and light it. Instant incineration and makes one feel like the powder didn't go to waste.

 

I have a coffee can in the garage from pickup of live ammo from the range. No way would I ever shoot ammo of unknown quality/manufacture in any of my firearms. If I loan a gun, I loan my ammo also with very few exceptions.

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Posted
9 hours ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

Come to think of it, it might be fun to ignite the whole pile of mystery powders in the fire pit at our club!!

haha. You funny. Not really.

Having had some experience in this regard, I would strongly advise NO!

An ounce of gunpowder doesn't look like much but it is. Powders burn at different rates. Black powder burns really fast. I mean REAL fast. Has a thump to it. That's called brissance. Funny I would mention that. Some smokeless powders, such as double-based, or nitro powders can be shock sensitive in the right conditions. The least bit of containment and they go thump too. (as in boom!) If you think you can pour half a can of powder in a pile and set a match to it without losing some hair & skin....lol. Good luck to ya, you're gonna need it.

 

I used to be responsible for the disposal of ordnance that came through our property room. Military grade stuff was usually handled on the spot by our EOD. Ammunition, flares, fireworks, old powder, primers, for much of this the safe and proper way to dispose of it is incineration. We didn't just pile it in the desert or someplace and set fire to it. There's a procedure to follow and what's left STILL has to be culled for unfired rounds, etc. Gunpowder, even black powder is likewise rendered safe by burning. Not in a pile, not in the toilet. Small amounts at a time. SMALL. Gunpowder is not water soluble. Once it dries it's still very flammable. If you had an idea how modern sewage treatment plant operates, you'd see the problem with this. It's also illegal. Please. Don't flush your powder. Every police department/sheriff, state police has people detailed for this. Call'em and they'll usually pick it up.

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Posted
3 hours ago, PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L said:

A number of years ago, I was gifted an SDB press along with 3 large coffee cans full of loaded .38 Special rounds.

I was warned that the ammo had been loaded by my friend's father who had been on strong pain meds at the time prior to his passing.

I randomly pulled 7 rounds from each can and disassembled them to verify what we both suspected.

I discovered extremely wide variations in the powder charges (apparently Red Dot powder) and three different bullet weights.

Wore out/broke two impact bullet pullers salvaging the primed brass.

 

 

 

I stopped using my impact bullet puller a while ago.  A single stage press like the Rock Chucker Supreme, a short section of PVC pipe and lineman's cutters are all that's needed if you are going to melt the pulled bullets.  The brass is fine when you grab the bullet just above the case mouth, above the top of your section of PVC pipe, and the bullet pops right out on the down stroke of the ram as the round is lowered into the pipe section.  Much easier and faster, especially for this high-volume bullet pulling exercise.

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Posted

break them dsown - components are reusable , use GWs method for the powder or let the kids throw it in the fire 

Posted

You forgot to mention it was all free.....!!!!!  What you don't want I will take.  I can meet you at TRR.

Thanks Steven 

Posted
26 minutes ago, Show Me said:

You forgot to mention it was all free.....!!!!!  What you don't want I will take.  I can meet you at TRR.

Thanks Steven 

That's right, this stuff requiring disassembly was free -- he just wanted it gone from his dining room table.  He did also have a fair amount of commercially loaded ammo still in their original boxes and I know he was selling that stuff at steep steep discount to retail, but I had no need for any of it.  I would expect he sold whatever he had for sale in very short order.

Posted

Late to this thread but here is a photo of the gun in question.   the cylinder went through his side of the wall that separates the firing line from the loading table but didn't make it all the way through to us (I was loading my guns at the time)

 

 

fff.jpg

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Posted

my thoughts as well , im not certain what went wrong but thats a real calamity , i dont shoot others reloads and dont ask then to shoot mine , but ....if we only shot factory what would we have ? 

Posted
6 hours ago, watab kid said:

my thoughts as well , im not certain what went wrong but thats a real calamity , i dont shoot others reloads and dont ask then to shoot mine , but ....if we only shot factory what would we have ? 

I think there's a couple of important exceptions to what we're all saying, and folks new to this way of life and reading this thread should know about them.  When many of us started out cowbly shooting, we were not already deep into reloading.  Commercially loaded stuff is ok for a match or two, but unaffordable in the long run for many of us.  So, in our club, we had a very generous member who I view as being an almost "semi-professional" reloader, and without his tireless efforts many new shooters might not have gotten into cowboy shooting, or might not have stuck with it long enough to learn reloading.  I never had any qualms about shooting his reloads.  In addition, I reload for me and the missus, Bullion Rose.  So, technically, she shoots reloads made by someone else, that is, me.  Nothing wrong with that, either.

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Posted

More Scary Tales From The Reloading Crypt!  I've finished breaking down the whole pile except for a good pile of 45ACP (waiting for a pard's loaner shell holder).  There was a good bunch of .38SPL that looked uniformly assembled, and I didn't see any obvious double charges or squib loads in that stuff.  I hoped -- in vain, it turned out -- that all of the bad rounds were in that first batch of .38S&W Long.  Then I turned to a batch of .45 Schofield.  In only 30 rounds, there were 3, maybe 4, squib loads.  And -- incredibly -- one was loaded with a different mystery powder from all the others!  And then I tackled the largest batch which was 45 Colt.  There were half a dozen squibs and a couple of obvious double charges, and among the rest it didn't seem like the same amount of powder was in any two consecutive rounds.  Two rounds had upside-down primers!  I am truly glad I never shot a match on a posse with our dearly departed pard -- I'm sure he was a great guy, but holy cow, looking inside his ammo has been absolutely frightening!

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Posted

Wow, just wow :blink:

Posted
On 2/1/2025 at 7:37 AM, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

I think there's a couple of important exceptions to what we're all saying, and folks new to this way of life and reading this thread should know about them.  When many of us started out cowbly shooting, we were not already deep into reloading.  Commercially loaded stuff is ok for a match or two, but unaffordable in the long run for many of us.  So, in our club, we had a very generous member who I view as being an almost "semi-professional" reloader, and without his tireless efforts many new shooters might not have gotten into cowboy shooting, or might not have stuck with it long enough to learn reloading.  I never had any qualms about shooting his reloads.  In addition, I reload for me and the missus, Bullion Rose.  So, technically, she shoots reloads made by someone else, that is, me.  Nothing wrong with that, either.

i must agree with you here , i have to correct my statement of not shooting others reloads , before i got into this i had a friend [RIP} that taught me to reload , we did it together but in some cases i did start out shooting his reloads to figure out what i wanted to set mine up as , there are some i would trust , i also had another friend teach me to load shotgun shells - he was a state champion shooting in skeet and sporting clays , loaded a lot of small bore so understood the loads i wanted , 

 

you are correct - having th trusted club member , friend , mentor that teaches you near always results in shooting some ones [theirs] reloads , i think where most of us were going with this was that we wouldnt shoot a pile of ammo that got dropped off at the club without knowing where it came from , we would break it down and recycle the components , 

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