What would be the simplist and easiest way to remove fingerprints from loaded ammunition?

[Alpo]

I just woke up from my pre-bedtime nap. I had a dream.

 

There were these three kids and I was friends with their mother. Not so much with their father. And someone was after the parents, and was using the kids to get to the parents.

 

I had just gotten through watching the Bones episode where they find her mother, which is a sort of similar story and may be the reason I had to dream. Maybe.

 

Anyway. A neighbor told me they heard a gunshot. So I go over to the house and I'm talking to the three kids. One of them tells me that a guy up at the house took a shot at them, and shows me where the bullet hit. While we are talking a bullet strikes next to us.

 

I leave the three kids there and walk up to the house where there is a strange person. I asked him if he knows what's going on, and one of the kids had followed me and he starts talking to her - maybe threateningly.

 

While he's talking to her I pull a pistol out of my pocket and shoot him. A PPK in 32, and it took me three shots, but I put one right in the middle of his forehead and he leaned down and died.

 

I started attempting to police my brass, but only found two pieces. I actually found three, but one of them was 45 Colt so that didn't help. When I could not find the third piece I gave up and went back to my house.

 

That's when I woke up thinking about the third piece of brass at the crime scene and wondering what would have been the best way to clean my fingerprints off of it prior to shooting the bad guy.

 

I suppose that I can certainly take a rag and put on a pair of gloves and go through and wipe down every cartridge that I have, to make sure that I'm leaving no fingerprints. But that's a lot of cartridges.

 

So I wondered, as one does, if there was a simpler easier way?

 

Dipping them in mineral spirits, possibly?

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

4 hours ago, Alpo said:

 

While he's talking to her I pull a pistol out of my pocket and shoot him. A PPK in 32, and it took me three shots, but I put one right in the middle of his forehead and he leaned down and died.

 

You watch too much tv. The medulla oblongata is what shuts down everything.

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

use a revolver 

 

    

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

12 minutes ago, Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 said:

use a revolver 

 

    

Cap and ball.

[Chantry]

What did you do this time?

[Subdeacon Joe]

10 hours ago, Lawdog Dago Dom said:

Cap and ball.

 

Brass for those is expensive.  You'd definitely want to recover the ejected brass  

[Alpo]

This is something I find amazing.

 

I will ask a question. It might be a simple question - how much is 2 + 2

 

It might be a slightly more difficult question - what is the negative cube root of the square of 287,842

 

And people will answer. But they don't answer the question. They will have an answer but it has nothing to do with the question.

 

I posted a question - what is the simplest and easiest way to remove fingerprints from a loaded cartridge

 

Notice - I did not ask how to avoid leaving brass with incriminating fingerprints at the crime scene

 

But that's the answers I'm getting. You don't want to leave brass - use a revolver. You don't want to leave brass - use a cap and ball.

 

Neither of those answers has anything to do with the question I asked, which was WHAT IS THE SIMPLEST AND EASIEST WAY TO REMOVE FINGERPRINTS FROM A LOADED CARTRIDGE

 

I don't get it. But people do this all the time. They don't answer the question that was asked, but apparently answer the question they thought should have been asked.

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

Tumble it.

[John Kloehr]

Fine. Be that way.

 

Nitrile gloves and Brillo pads. Can skip the Brillo pads by using the gloves and loading mags from a fresh  ammo box while wearing the gloves, but if using reloads they were probably handled a lot.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Hey Alpo,

 

Actually the is nope.  You got it in one.  No simpler nor easy way.  Gloves and a Rag and you gotta wipe every cartridge your gonna put inna gun.  Burma Shave

[Subdeacon Joe]

Well, after your lengthy word problem description that included Farmer Jones on a train going NNW at 33 1/3 mph, Suzi with apples, and Johnny harvesting 99 44/100 acres of wheat before 3:10 in Yuma, I've decided that dipping your magazines in mineral oil wouldn't be a good idea. 

 

There is a not quite zero chance of police being able to recover usable prints from expended brass. A couple of articles I found put it around 0.12% to 0.15%.

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

dipping your magazines in mineral oil wouldn't be a good idea. 

First, I was not going to dip my magazines, but was going to dip my cartridges.

 

Second, it was not mineral oil - which would just make them greasy. It was mineral spirits - paint thinner. A volatile liquid that removes grease and oils.

 

 

I thought about tumbling.

1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

There is a not quite zero chance of police being able to recover usable prints from expended brass. A couple of articles I found put it around 0.12% to 0.15%.

That can't be true. I saw on the television cop show where they found a clear fingerprint on the piece of rifle brass and this led back to the guy that reloaded it - not the shooter. So it has to be true that they can find fingerprints on brass. I saw it on TV.

[Subdeacon Joe]

2 minutes ago, Alpo said:

First, I was not going to dip my magazines, but was going to dip my cartridges.

 

So...UNLOAD them, clean them,  then reload them?

 

4 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Second, it was not mineral oil - which would just make them greasy. It was mineral spirits.

 

Still dipping the magazines in something. 

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

2 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Well, after your lengthy word problem description that included Farmer Jones on a train going NNW at 33 1/3 mph, Suzi with apples, and Johnny harvesting 99 44/100 acres of wheat before 3:10 in Yuma, I've decided that dipping your magazines in mineral oil wouldn't be a good idea. 

 

There is a not quite zero chance of police being able to recover usable prints from expended brass. A couple of articles I found put it around 0.12% to 0.15%.

 

Coincidentally I just read an article talking about this. Because of the gasses and pressure in a chamber when ammo is fired it is very difficult to get usable fingerprints from a fired case. I didn't realize it was that difficult. They were saying that recently they have developed techniques that make it much easier to get good fingerprints. They didn't really state how much of an improvement they made or what percentage of the time it would work compared to the past.

[watab kid]

wipe them down and use gloves 

[Dantankerous]

Nothing pertinent to the conversation but I did want to comment on your pre-bedtime nap statement. 

 

Recently i'm finding those very helpful myself. 😀

[Texas Joker]

Wd 40.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

Fingerprints are pretty fragile.   A good wiping will destroy any usable oil impression left by your fingers.  You don't have to completely remove the oily impression.  Just smear it.  I'd still recommend using a revolver.  Much easier to leave a clean crime scene.

[Cypress Sun]

 

Use a .44 Auto Mag, it removes the fingerprints if used properly!

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

14 hours ago, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

Tumble it.

That would be my first choice, or wipe them down with almost any good cleaner (Windex comes to mind.  Spray it on a paper towel so it doesn't get inside  the cartridge) and use nitrile gloves to keep from getting them printed again.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

No Cypress!!  Not quite!!  The 44 AutoMag removes the fingerprints from the Victim!! 🤪

[Rye Miles #13621]

WAIT, Pre bedtime nap?????🤣
 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by Rye Miles #13621

[Dantankerous]

7 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

WAIT, Pre bedtime nap?????🤣
 

 

Absolutely! I highly encourage you to try this. 😀

[Alpo]

My father referred to it as "watching television through his eyelids". Supper was at 6:00, and by 8:00 at the latest he was leaned way back in his recliner asleep. 10:00 Mama would wake him up, they would watch the news and then they would go to bed.

[WD Farren]

Here in CA we don’t have that problem.

 

We are not allowed to defend ourselves by shooting a bad actor, so no prints to worry about.

 

By the time the 30 day waiting period has expired, self defense is no longer an issue.

 

😁

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

On 11/7/2025 at 10:40 PM, Alpo said:

I just woke up from my pre-bedtime nap. I had a dream.

 

There were these three kids and I was friends with their mother. Not so much with their father. And someone was after the parents, and was using the kids to get to the parents.

 

I had just gotten through watching the Bones episode where they find her mother, which is a sort of similar story and may be the reason I had to dream. Maybe.

 

Anyway. A neighbor told me they heard a gunshot. So I go over to the house and I'm talking to the three kids. One of them tells me that a guy up at the house took a shot at them, and shows me where the bullet hit. While we are talking a bullet strikes next to us.

 

I leave the three kids there and walk up to the house where there is a strange person. I asked him if he knows what's going on, and one of the kids had followed me and he starts talking to her - maybe threateningly.

 

While he's talking to her I pull a pistol out of my pocket and shoot him. A PPK in 32, and it took me three shots, but I put one right in the middle of his forehead and he leaned down and died.

 

I started attempting to police my brass, but only found two pieces. I actually found three, but one of them was 45 Colt so that didn't help. When I could not find the third piece I gave up and went back to my house.

 

That's when I woke up thinking about the third piece of brass at the crime scene and wondering what would have been the best way to clean my fingerprints off of it prior to shooting the bad guy.

 

I suppose that I can certainly take a rag and put on a pair of gloves and go through and wipe down every cartridge that I have, to make sure that I'm leaving no fingerprints. But that's a lot of cartridges.

 

So I wondered, as one does, if there was a simpler easier way?

 

Dipping them in mineral spirits, possibly?

Whom are you planning to shoot? Anyone we know?

[Badlands Bob #61228]

3 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Whom are you planning to shoot? Anyone we know?

There are so many more things to think about when you plan on shooting someone these days.

DNA (hair, skin blood)

Policing up the shell casings

Fiber evidence from your clothing (or trunk carpet)

Cell phone tower records (These record cell number, date, time, gps location and update several times a minute)

Local tag readers (Cities love these)

Witnesses (always been an issue)

Doorbell cameras and security cameras at homes and businesses

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Just now, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

There are so many more things to think about when you plan on shooting someone these days.

DNA (hair, skin blood)

Policing up the shell casings

Fiber evidence from your clothing (or trunk carpet)

Cell phone tower records (These record cell number, date, time, gps location and update several times a minute)

Local tag readers (Cities love these)

Witnesses (always been an issue)

Doorbell cameras and security cameras at homes and businesses

 

So he should have a checklist….

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

But be sure not to leave the checklist at the crime scene....

[ShadowCatcher]

Realistically we already know that sometimes wiping fingerprints from a beautifully blued rifle (for example) too long

after contact may result in finding the etched bits from the finger oils/acids that have marred the bluing.  Don't ask how I know.

 

Similarly if you've touched the casings they may have latent acid etching that even the hot combustion gasses don't remove

completely.

 

How do you prevent any fingerprint  formation - don't make any.  Use nitrile gloves whenever touching the ammunition from box

to magazine.  It's not like you're using up a box a week and even if you are, if you care enough to take the extra effort you'll feel

good about a job well done.  Dress nicely too.

 

SC

 

P.S. -  I'd be worried about leaving any casings behind, as long as we're  worried about TV level CSI stuff

primer indents and breech face contact etching might be a clue too.  YMMV

 

  

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

On 11/8/2025 at 8:27 PM, Subdeacon Joe said:

Well, after your lengthy word problem description that included Farmer Jones on a train going NNW at 33 1/3 mph, Suzi with apples, and Johnny harvesting 99 44/100 acres of wheat before 3:10 in Yuma, I've decided that dipping your magazines in mineral oil wouldn't be a good idea. 

 

There is a not quite zero chance of police being able to recover usable prints from expended brass. A couple of articles I found put it around 0.12% to 0.15%.

So you’re saying that even Abby would have trouble?

[Alpo]

12 minutes ago, ShadowCatcher said:

P.S. -  I'd be worried about leaving any casings behind, as long as we're  worried about TV level CSI stuff

primer indents and breech face contact etching might be a clue too.  YMMV

I can always get rid of the gun. It is a little more difficult to get rid of my fingertips.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

If you use a revolver and don't leave your brass lying about, you can then just take a chain saw file and scuff up the last inch inside of the barrel.  That should take care of any ballistics they might run.  

 

And don't leave those nitrile gloves laying around either.  They have your DNA on the inside and gunshot residue on the outside.  

[Alpo]

31 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

And don't leave those nitrile gloves laying around either.  They have your DNA on the inside

Would DNA be easier?

 

I remember seeing on a couple of different cop shows where they cut the rubber glove open so they can get the fingerprint off the inside of the finger.

[Cypress Sun]

Everyone keeps suggesting nitrile gloves. Wouldn't you need gloves to put on the gloves? There is absolutely no way to put the nitrile gloves on without touching the outside of the gloves with bare fingers. Wouldn't that leave prints on the outside of the glove(s) that could be transferred to unintended objects? I would think that cotton or other type of cloth gloves would be more desirable.