Disposing of old ammo in San Antonio (for sale, price)

[RGJ]

Anybody know where and how to safely get rid of some old ammo?
New and reloads that are 20-25 years old and I no longer have gun for this particular caliber. Thanks

[TexasRedneck]

You should be able to drop them off at any SAPD substation - call 'em first to confirm and find the proper procedure, but they should take and then dispose of 'em properly.

[majormadmax]

Heck, I've shot ammo that's older than that! Are you sure it's unsafe, or you just basing that on its age?

What caliber is it? I might be able to find someone to take it off your hands, or at least dispose of it.

Cheers! M2

[RGJ]

I'm basing it on age and the fact that some are in a plastic bag bought at a gun show and are reloads that someone else did. .38 and .380 auto. couple hundred total.

[TexasRedneck]

<perk> In THAT case....DM me or M2 - we'll split 'em. I can break 'em down an' reload the cases - M2 can test fire his in one of his guns!

[majormadmax]

I've got an old Taurus .38 revolver, and am trying to get a .380 semi-auto from a guy in DFW if he'd be willing to ship it; so I'll be more than happy to properly "dispose" of some of it for ya!

About the worse that will happen is it won't fire, I doubt anything catastrophic will occur. If some Mosin ammo that was "dug out of a farmer's field in Ukraine"* hasn't blown up on me after being shot in rifles that are over a hundred years old, I doubt this will!

Cheers! M2

[RGJ]

OK, M2 has convinced me to keep it. If I come back from the range typing a little slow, you'll know why.

[TexasRedneck]

He's right, actually - I've got ammo dating back to WWII that we still shoot. It's amazingly easy to store long-term.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by RGJ

OK, M2 has convinced me to keep it. If I come back from the range typing a little slow, you'll know why.

OK, just a quick point; I may be willing to risk injury to myself to shoot old ammo, but I am less apt to casually recommend anyone else doing so!

I do think the ammo is most likely safe to shoot, but please inspect if before loading it into a gun. The most susceptible components of ammo are the primer and powder, which are sensitive to extended exposure to high humidity, extreme temperatures, water, oils, cleaning fluids, or other similar chemicals. If it has been reasonably stored, you should have no worries there.

But if the ammo shows any signs of damage, corrosion, moisture, or other defects, I would skip trying to shoot it. It's normal for the brass casings to have a slight patina from the age; but no corrosion, streaks, cracks, chips, rust...noticeable stuff like that!

Old ammo is better shot through revolvers or bolt action rifles (not semi-autos), as any problems you might will more easily fixed with those types of firearms; but if you do use something else just be cautious of hangfires, misfires, or squibs and properly clear them if they happen.

Lastly, that kind of ammo is relatively cheap, so if a round gives you any problems then just discard it in the clearing barrel or give it to the range officials or any gun shop to properly dispose of it. Most likely it will function as advertised, so tossing a few bad rounds will be no great loss; just err on the side of caution and have fun shooting it!

Cheers! M2

[GEM-Texas]

Go to a match at Cedar Ridge and say you have such for sale. The reloading hounds will leap at a cheap price. Those guys look like pigs sniffing for truffles after a shoot. In fact the range owner might be interested.