Disposing of damaged cartridges

[Guest]

I have recently opened a cartridge box and have noticed that one cartridge was a little damaged and that the shot had already slightly fallen out of the end of the cartridge. I cleared aay the rest of the shot of the cartridge and thrown it away but I am unsure how to get rid of the remainder of the cartridge since it still contains the wad and gunpower and I don't want to throw it away in a bin, since gunpowder is like highly flammable but at the same time I don't want to get into trouble throwing it away in a public skip. So what should I do with it(the cartridge)?

[Beardo]

fire it!

[mikee]

cut the case in half, pull the wad out, tip the powder onto a non combustible surface and ignite it outside (it will only fizz a bit and give of some coloured gas ( quite fun to see if youve never seen it before), then pop the primed end on the case in your gun and fire, it will just go pop, make sure you clean it well after as primer residue is more aggresive than normal nitro powder, or do what most other people do and bung it in a pond or river

mikee

[Billy.]

Throw it on the bonfire. They just go pop. I used to get loads of unused cartridges that were in with the used and it's a pathetic little pop when they've gone on the bonfire.

[Guest]

Thanks guys. I wasn't sure about putting it on the fire, I thought these things were highly explosive. I will just fire it at the range and throw it away.

[Windknot]

Just check your barrel after, make sure the wad has cleared the barrel. Therer should also be a fair bit of unburnt powder left- a quick puff will clear that. Unless you smoke sixty a day.

 

Incidentally, smokeless powder makes a great lawn fertiliser- lots of nitrogen but it's released slowly so it won't hurt the grass, nor will it grow six inches overnight. But you'll likely need more than one cartridge's worth to make a difference.

[Guest]

Thank you, now I know if I am ever short of fertiliser, just bust a few cartridges and pour the gunpowder on the lawn.

[activeviii]

Thank you, now I know if I am ever short of fertiliser, just bust a few cartridges and pour the gunpowder on the lawn.

 

 

and when it needs a cut you just throw a match on it......sorted

[Floating Chamber]

Thank you, now I know if I am ever short of fertiliser, just bust a few cartridges and pour the gunpowder on the lawn.

 

Funny enough, that's what I thought some thirty years ago! BUT, the only way to dispose of nitrocellulose is to burn it.

 

Read on and smile!

 

In the early 70's when I'd make a mistake loading shells and drop the shot into a case before inserting a wad, I'd tip the shot/powder into a tupperware container and later 'winnow' it in the wind to separate the mixture, leaving the powder as a 'fertiliser'.

 

NO!!!

 

In the very hot and dry summer of 1976, our lawn turned to hay and we were plagued by ants, so, muggins here decided to get a blow-lamp and roast them in their nests.

 

In seconds, the dry grass was ablaze and as fast as I stamped out the flames, pockets of powder burst into life all around my feet. My missus went ballistic!

 

Years later, I read in Greener's book 'The Gun' (page 453) that a large quantity of 'unsuitable' gun-cotton was buried in the marshes at Faversham. Years and years later, (when it was found that WET nitro-cellulose detonates with more destructive force than dry), it was ordered to be excavated! It had not lost any of its potency.

 

And a parting shot:

 

Yesterday, at our clayshoot, a lad brought me a Winchester AA Trap 100 compression-formed shell that he'd just found at the mouth of a fresh rabbit burrow. It had a perfectly formed crimp but had no shot. It had been discarded by the shooter and, in my opinion, was over twenty years old. The head had long since rotted away. I cut it open and poured the ball-powder onto a mole-hill. When lit, (Edit: the powder, that is, not the mole-hill! ) it burned as normal.

 

Be careful!

 

FC

Edited April 27, 2009 by Floating Chamber