Abandoned Ammo

[tightgroup tiger]

I found this 50AE cartridge in the garbage can at the indoor shooting range I go to. It was neatly laying on a target with a bunch of empty boxes and crumpled targets on top of it. I always keep an eye out for empty .357Mag boxes and take them when I find them.

There may have been more than one these 50AE rounds in the garbage can, I tried to pick the bunch of crumpled up targets and empty boxes and debris off of them, but things kept tipping around and this one was the only one still on top when I got to it. I think I heard some go down through the can.

If I had a 50AE I would have emptied the can on the floor to get them all.

It's a brand new factory Underwood 300gr round.

20 Rounds of Bulk .50 AE Ammo by Underwood - 300gr FMJ

Bulk .50 AE Ammo by Underwood For Sale at BulkAmmo.com - 20 Rounds of 300gr FMJ available online.

www.bulkammo.com

Why would someone intentionally throw away brand new ammo that cost between $2-3.00 each. That boggles my mind.
The shooting range doesn't have a 50AE to rent so it had to be someone who brought one in from outside.

This is a pic of it next to one of my 9mm fed punch rounds. They are huge for a semi-auto round.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Yikes!

I found some perfectly good .22WSL rounds laying abandoned on the bench once. Kept them in my range bag for years until I ran into a fella shooting an old Winchester self-loader. Shoulda seen the look on his face when I handed them to him, lol.

 

[PistoleroWadcutterGANG]

Shoooooting Gremlins! ..... They strike when you least expect it. They put the Bad JU-JU on his shooting. Made the person SO MAD they chucked the targets and ammo and all. Any small broken metal bits that could be parts lying about?

 

[edwardware]

An observation on range trash cans. . .

My range provides brass buckets for your picked or swept brass that you don't wish to keep, and trash barrels for your trash. Over the past 10 years I observe a strong correlation between the cost of a cartridge, and the likelihood that it'll be in the trash instead of the brass bucket.

The pedestrian .223/5.56/.30-06/9mm/.45ACP is about equally likely to be in brass bucket or placed in the trash by an unthinking imbecile. The 375Wby/300Rum/270WSSM/375H&H/50AE/.357Sig/400CorBon, expensive cartridges, while much rarer, are far and away more likely to be found in the trash.

Is this because imbeciles are more likely to pay for a premium cartridge, and not want their brass, and put it in the trash instead of the bucket? Is it because the premium cartridge shooters who aren't imbeciles almost always take their brass? Is it because richer shooters don't appreciate the value of the premium brass?

These and other burning questions are what I think about while picking $0.85 a piece brass out of the trash, less that two feet from the empty brass bucket?

 

[Pat Riot]

I would never fire found ammo. You never know why it was left behind.
Now, I will take ammo and take it apart for reuse.

Years ago I had an ex-friend that would purposely leave over powered ammo behind at ranges. He thought it was funny.
His favorite thing to do was load .45 Colt, .357 and .44 Magnum Ruger only loads and leave one or 2 behind at his indoor range. He got a charge out of imagining some poor guy firing that ammo and scaring the heck out of them.
This is why he is an ex-friend. (Blanking) moron!

 

[243winxb]

I would never fire found ammo. You never know why it was left behind.

Same here. 13 rounds of 9mm Luger just sitting there, month ago, . No thanks.

More normal to find 1 or 2 rounds that show a firing pin strike & didnt fire.

Seen guns, 1 Desert Eagle in 50AE over many years. About as rare as the .44 Auto Mag pistol.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Shoooooting Gremlins! ..... They strike when you least expect it. They put the Bad JU-JU on his shooting. Made the person SO MAD they chucked the targets and ammo and all. Any small broken metal bits that could be parts lying about?

Maybe I should have dumped the trash can out, maybe the pistol was in there too.

No, I didn't see any evidence of an exploded gun. Target wan't very good, if it was his target. They probably kicked like an angry mule coming from Underwood.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I would never fire found ammo. You never know why it was left behind.
Now, I will take ammo and take it apart for reuse.

Years ago I had an ex-friend that would purposely leave over powered ammo behind at ranges. He thought it was funny.
His favorite thing to do was load .45 Colt, .357 and .44 Magnum Ruger only loads and leave one or 2 behind at his indoor range. He got a charge out of imagining some poor guy firing that ammo and scaring the heck out of them.
This is why he is an ex-friend. (Blanking) moron!

Yikes!
I completely agree.!

 

[.38 Special]

I've seen inexperienced shooters experience failures to feed, dumping the rounds onto the ground, and then throwing them away on the assumption that they were duds. I've even seen new shooters squeeze the daylights out of the trigger, get no result, eject the round, then remember the safety - and still throw away the ejected round, because it "didn't work".

I expect a certain number of Desert Eagles get sold to complete novices, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's how the round made it into the trash.

 

[epags]

I would never fire found ammo. You never know why it was left behind.

I made on exception to that rule. When I was the range officer for a civilian and LPD (range was split by a block wall) I had no problem checking the police side after they did their monthly qualifications. They would shoot factory HP 9mm (their carry ammo) for qualification and if they spilled a box while reloading or dropped a round they would not pick them up. I would harvest 50 or more rounds each month.

 

[CDW4ME]

Its a sign that somebody "needs" to get a 50.

 

[dfariswheel]

In past years I've heard of cases of some mentally ill person leaving super over loaded ammo at a range so the finder would blow his gun up and possibly get hurt.

In one case a suspect sabotaged rifle round was full of Bullseye pistol powder.
People have heard about American special ops people leaving sabotaged ammo in enemy supplies.
Those were made up at bases in Okinawa using pistol powder, then actual explosives.

Some nuts obviously thought it would be funny to do it to shooters, possibly anti-gun types.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Its a sign that somebody "needs" to get a 50.

I think I'll pass on that one. LOL!

 

[Enfielder]

Its a sign that somebody "needs" to get a 50.

I went rummaging through an abandoned building that had been flooded years ago. I found a single 270 Winchester round and thought “Gee, that’s a pretty cool bullet”. I kept it around until the subliminal message it kept sending got me to buy a rifle in 270. I carried it this weekend.
I took the round apart to see the bullet and never shot it. It’s in a drawer somewhere.

 

[Wildbillz]

At the height of the Ammo Crisis I went to the range and someone left (in a bag) 2 boxes of 20ga bird shot and a box of Win 243. I called the club board contact and asked if he could send out a message to the membership about it. I even told him what kind of car they drove off in. Let him know they could contact me and I would get their ammo back to them. Never heard a thing. Ammo was still on my reloading bench when I packed up to move. Every now and then we get a message from the club that someone left a pistol or a rifle at the range.

WB

 

[shafter]

What seems expensive to one person is less than 22LR for others.

Could be oversight, could be bad ammo. We'll never know.

 

[jar]

From a box of bulk 9mm.

 

[Charlie98]

Friend of mine used to be an RO at a upscale indoor range over in Frisco, TX. He said some people would come in, shoot half a box of ammo, and leave the rest of it on the bench... very often they would rent a gun, something silly they had probably seen on a video game or in a movie, fire a few rounds, and leave it. Those of us who handload would never think of doing that, but there are those that are into the novelty of shooting, not necessarily interested in it... if you see what I mean. I'm not trying to play the 'income card,' it's your money, do what you want... but there are some that don't care what anything costs.

 

[Bazoo]

People practice failure drills and all sorts of stuff that might leave a loaded round on the ground. I can imagine someone with a Desert Eagle doing a tap rack bang drill... Most likely someone else found it and left it on the top of the heap thinking that someone that could use it would pick it up.

If I found it, it'd go right into the cartridge collection. WOW.

Man, that's some scary stuff about people purposefully leaving overloaded cartridges for others to blow their guns up.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Our late Range Officer was always accused of diving in the brass barrel for empties to scavenge. We claimed we'd come into the range, and find just his feet sticking out of the barrel.
We've taken to putting out labeled buckets for particular calibers; since the primer shortage, there's always a bunch of abandoned 9mm brass. It's cheaper to buy it loaded, than load it, at the moment.
Moon

 

[CoalTrain49]

Sumdood gave me 20 308 handloads because his custom built AR-10 wouldn't ignite those. He was having a bad day at the range. I tore them down for the bullets. I pretty sure they were Bergers. I don't own a .308 anything but somebody liked the bullets I gave them.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Our late Range Officer was always accused of diving in the brass barrel for empties to scavenge. We claimed we'd come into the range, and find just his feet sticking out of the barrel.
We've taken to putting out labeled buckets for particular calibers; since the primer shortage, there's always a bunch of abandoned 9mm brass. It's cheaper to buy it loaded, than load it, at the moment.
Moon

Back when ammo was cheap (5 years ago) people dumped a lot of brass into the range buckets. Lots of 9mm and 5.56. I used to dive for brass until I realized I had 10x more then I could ever use. I'm ashamed at the amount of 9mm brass that I have. I sold most of my 5.56 brass but still have too much 9mm.

The good news is I have all of the 30 Carbine, 357/38 brass I need. Sometimes it helps to be a brass rat.

These days any revolver or rifle brass doesn't go into the range bucket.

Sign of the times.

 

[halfmoonclip]

I'm ashamed at the amount of 9mm brass that I have. I sold most of my 5.56 brass but still have too much 9mm.

Same here. I'm able to load 5.56, but don't as a general thing. I've held the brass against some coming bad time, but once fired 9s (Blazer Brass) are being kept separate from my bazillion-times-through-the-press casings.
Yeah, brass rat is about right.
Moon

 

[LV Gun]

I like a lot of you have scrounged brass for years at the range I had so much 9mm it was sick , along with 45 auto. I started selling it at our swap meets at our gun club in one gallon plastic food bags I have sold 70% of the 9mm and 45 auto used the money to buy a new Springfield XDm Elite Precision 5.25 in 9mm . Every swap meet I have 3 of the same guys come to me and buy all the brass I bring they told me they hate cleaning brass that is why they buy all I bring. They asked me how much more I have I told them one more swap meet and I will be where I want to be . The conversation then turns into would you be interested in cleaning our brass for a fee I told them yes one of the guys tells me he has a 5 gallon bucket of 9mm so I am in the process of putting together a proposal to clean brass for these 3 guys

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I went rummaging through an abandoned building that had been flooded years ago. I found a single 270 Winchester round and thought “Gee, that’s a pretty cool bullet”. I kept it around until the subliminal message it kept sending got me to buy a rifle in 270. I carried it this weekend.
I took the round apart to see the bullet and never shot it. It’s in a drawer somewhere.

Ahh, that reminds me I found a single live 7mm Mauser round in my Grandfathers attic after he passed and they were getting ready to sell the place.
He was a WW2 combat vet and wanted nothing to do with guns after the war. As far as I know, no one on that whole side of the family ever owned any gun.
Grandpa built the house, so it didn't come from a previous owner either.
I still have that cartridge here somewhere. If only it could tell tales.