This^
since you do not know the origin of this ammo i would instead try to salvage the components by pulling the bullets from the case,toss the powder and reuse the brass w/primer and the bullet.There is no way i'd fire unknown ammo,it's not worth the possible injury to yourself or if you are lucky just a damaged firearm.
1. Could be a bad reload by someone else.
2. Even if factory; lying outside in the elements might make then prone to a squib that you may not notice.
3. Did i say it might be someone's bad reload?
4. It could be a bad reload ( either squib or overcharge. )
5. It could be a reload that someone left behind on purpose to mess with you and your gun. I have a story that goes along with that one.
6. Gun show reloads have killed their share of guns.
I don't shoot anything that I can't trace back to either me or some factory somewhere; even then i have had squibs in factory ammo. QC is not 100%
I used to live in WV and belonged to a club in Marietta Ohio. There was a gun writer / trainer who also belonged to the same club. He has since moved to Idaho. I would help out in some of his training classes and was one of the charter members in the SSG ( Sunday Study Group). i'm the good looking one in this picture.
One day I went out to shoot and saw he was there, so i went down to say hello. While we were talking i noticed a few pieces of .40 brass lying in the dirt with the case mouth blown out to .45. I said absent - mindedly " I wonder what happened here". He said those are mine ( he shoots a .45 )
Me: WTH happened?
He: Some of my buddies salted my ammo can with some .40's as a joke. I had a squib, but I saw the hole in the target and went on. Happened again later on so I looked and saw they were .40's.
Me: Nice friends.
He : " Cannot repeat what he said because of TOS "
ETA: I just wanted to say that I honestly did not look at your screen name when I randomly picked that picture form google. I was just trying to be funny about not shooting reloads and didn't in any way mean to come across racist by posting an Asian man without a hand when your screen name is China boy. I hope it didn't come across as offensive to anyone.
Besides everything that was said, why would you want to put dirty and possibly corroded ammo in your guns? You won't put 3 year old gas in your car or spoiled food in your mouth..?
I'm not saying I would shoot this ammo but I shoot old surplus ammo all the time. Yes, some of it is slightly corroded but I do clean it up if needed. I have several hundred rounds of Port 308 that about 20% is corroded. If it's just slightly corroded I clean it up and shoot it, if it is heavily corroded and the corrosion is pink in color I toss it.
I'm a cheap Basturd and I would NEVER use ammo found at the range!
As has been mentioned, you don't know the history (anything from bad reloads to squibs, hot +P+ ammo, to??).
Just NOT worth the potential damage to your gun or worse injury to you!
SAFETY first!!
Oh and do NOT discard it in the trash as has been mentioned!
Most ranges have a bad ammo disposal can or container.
We must all practice common sense....
Every match I go to I find live ammo lying on the ground at every stage. I pick it up and throw it in my bag. I've been reloading just over forty years and I can recognize the small differences between a reload and a factory round. Even the reloads from an experienced reloader can be detected with close examination.
The few factory rounds I find I have no trouble shooting. The others I pull, dump the powder and reuse everything else. If there are any doubts, I never use it.
That's exactly what I'd do because I reload 9mm, but I wouldn't throw away perfectly good brass cases.
The other thing about "free" ammo, is that any unidentifiable ammo should have the bullets pulled, the powder discarded, (spread on the ground, (it makes great nitrogen fertilizer) and save the components (Bullets & Brass) for reloading.
The reason is that any unidentifiable ammo should never be used is that the ammo could be somebody's reloads that could have been double-charged. And if you aren't a reloader and can't use the components, give or sell the questionable ammo to a reloader who will pull the ammo down and use the brass and bullets.
During the 'Nam' conflict, Spec Warriors double charge 7.62x39 and strew them on recent battlefield for Charlie and other scroungers to pick them up. Surprise---surprise.
I have a rule that is never broken: only fire US-made factory ammo or ammo I reloaded myself. I used to also shoot ammo reloaded by the friend who taught me reloading in 1979, but he passed away years ago. I would never shoot found ammo. My eyes, hands, pistols are more important to me than saving a few pennies.
I would never shoot it either. But if there was enough of it to make it worth my while, I'd use my kinetic bullet puller to pull the bullets, dump the powder, and keep the cases and the bullets (which I would weigh and sort) for reloading.
No harm, no foul.
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