Received Some Reloaded 2.75 and 3 Inch Shotgun Shells - Suggestions On Options

[thegazelle]

I recently became the recipient of a friend's remaining hunting ammo, as he is moving to the East Coast. I took everything home in a box and while much of the ammo (mostly 12ga) was old but in factory boxes, there was some loose shells, which I was able to sort and bag. There was also a large ziploc bag full of 12 gauge 2 3/4" and 3" magnum shells but on the headstamp area, there were stickers with writing on it. I asked my friend what these were and he said they were custom load that his Grandfather had put together...he apparently was quite the accomplished hunter in Italy and when he came to Canada he kept reloading custom hunting shotgun loads. I didn't discover these till I got home and went through the box. And obviously I am not going to give them back to him since he's moving already and is not taking any ammo with him.

Now, everything I have heard has consistently indicated don't shoot someone else's reloads. So I don't plan to shoot these. I also saw the results of one of our club's older members (a guy with 50+ years of firearms experience) a couple of years back using his brother's reloaded shotgun ammo and it blew up the barrel of his gun (I showed up at the club maybe 30 minutes after this happened - thankfully no one was hurt). Given this widespread advice not to shoot someone else's reloads, I am wondering what my options are with these?

If they were regular brass reloads, I can just pull the projectile, empty the powder and have a reloader check everything out (I am not a reloader yet). But with shotgun shells, is this viable? I am not sure where is a neat way to open up that crimp. At worse, I suppose can always just toss them in the "duds" bin at my range so they are safely disposed of, if our club leadership allows me to do this (they may not). I obviously can't just throw them in the garbage at home. I suppose I can just cut open the shell and then manually empty out the components but then the shell cannot be re-used. If there was a way someone else could use the components, I'd rather salvage for this option and just give these to someone who can take it apart and re-use the components (but not shoot them). Not sure how viable this is. We're not talking a lot of shells here.

Maybe there are some options I am not considering; hence this post. Thanks.

 

[jamesharrison]

If you cast your own bullets, then slit the shells open and salvage the shot.

 

[Ashcroft]

The hulls are not rare, valuable or expensive. Ditto the remainder of the components. Unknown powder, unknown wads, unknown primers - chuck ‘em. If you can’t conveniently dispose of whole cartridges just cut them in half crossways with a utility knife, dump the contents and you’re done. If you know a shotshell reloader they might appreciate a handful of shot, the rest is junk.

 

[scout_289]

If you're not a reloader and there aren't a lot of shells work from the easiest and safest way first:
- dispose at your club with permission
- give them to a reloader that you trust with an agreement that they will not be fired and are for component reuse only. Maybe write it up as a memo of understanding?
- cut the crimped tip off, dump out the shot and give them to a reloader "parted out" with same understanding as above.
- disassemble the loads starting with cutting off the crimped end, dispose of the shot (steel, lead, bismuth?) properly, throw the powder on your garden, wet it down and put the primed hull in your shotgun and snap the primer or wet it with a drop of oil.

 

[cosmic]

Its certainly worth salvaging the lead shot.

 

[B]

I would and have salvaged everything myself in the past. I cut nearly 700 shotshells the last time. They were charged with Red Dot which I used to load several thousand cast 9mm rounds. The hulls are going to be used to make mini-shells sooner or later.

 

[wharforb]

Give them to someone who reloads shots helps. They can use the shot and the primer. The rest can be tossed in the garbage.

 

[TimberPig]

A drywall screw or a small screwdriver with some patience and effort can be used to open the crimp if you really want to save everything. Otherwise use a pvc pipe cutter to cut the hulls, dump the shot in one container, the wads in another and powder into another. The primers can be pressed out of the cut hulls for reuse.

Depends on your time and willingness to spend it how far you take it. The volume and value of the components involved also factors in as some components are more worthy of your time than others.

Unless you can verify the loads as safe, not shooting them is by far the best option.