What is the rarest single empty brass case, loaded round (just one) or shotgun shell you've ever found at a shooting range?

[WVGunman]

I was going through my little shell collection, and found a single, lonely .30-40 Krag case I found about 8 years ago now that I had forgotten about. I also,once upon a time, found a single.32 Smith & Wesson (the original shorty from the 1870s, not Smith & Wesson Long). I have literally never seen a single other example of either one of these before or since.

 

[Lefty38-55]

10.4x47R Italian Vetterli-Vitali, this one smokeless, but it started out as a blackpowder cartridge.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Found a pair of live .22 WSL rounds on the bench at the range. It was a short, fat rimfire cartridge that was only ever used in the M1903 Winchester Self-Loading rifles. Carried 'em around for years until I found a fella at the range shooting one of those guns who could use 'em.

Not a strange cartridge, exactly, but found a single live 7mm Mauser round in Grandpa's attic. No one knows how it got there. Still have it.

Can't remember finding anything stranger than that, but I've LEFT plenty of weird cases at the range over the years.

 

[mcb]

Last fall I found a 32 Rimfire (not sure if it's a short or long due to corrosion) when metal detecting on the family hunting property.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I found a .25 Remington case up on one of our old mountain RR right-of-ways.

 

[tmd16556]

7.5 French was the oddest I’ve found.

 

[herrwalther]

Brought home a 30mm shell from a General Electric shooting range once. I wanted a loaded one but they wouldn't let me leave with it. So I settled for the casing. Not "rare" but not something everyone has sitting on their book shelf.

Picture added. The 30mm case next to a live 50BMG round. Another range pickup.

 

[crestoncowboy]

405 Winchester is the most odd one I've found. Not super duper rare but pretty rare The most odd one I've left is 22 rem jet.

 

[WestKentucky]

I’m just gonna say that after a full main line shoot at knob creek machine gun show there’s generally some interesting stuff laying around. A lot of the stuff I had no clue what it was.

 

[Bazoo]

I was going through my little shell collection, and found a single, lonely .30-40 Krag case I found about 8 years ago now that I had forgotten about. I also,once upon a time, found a single.32 Smith & Wesson (the original shorty from the 1870s, not Smith & Wesson Long). I have literally never seen a single other example of either one of these before or since.

Heck, I know a lady that has an H&R revolver chambered for 32 S&W long, she has a box with some cartridges from about the 60s or 70s, including some 32 S&Ws. I asked her if I could take one for my collection and she obliged me. Very cool old cartridge.

 

[Bazoo]

10.4x47R Italian Vetterli-Vitali, this one smokeless, but it started out as a blackpowder cartridge.

View attachment 1181793

Wow, and dang that's cool as heck man. I bet the guy that lost it was unhappy, thats a might uncommon.

 

[Bazoo]

I found a .25 Remington case up on one of our old mountain RR right-of-ways.

That's neat as heck. It'd be cool to know the story of how that got there. Probably someone from way back was hunting for food for their family.

 

[lightman]

A single 505 Gibbs case. Can't help but to wonder what the story is.............

 

[Lefty38-55]

A 505 Gibbs? Jyzus, how does one drop one of those and NOT know it??????

 

[usaral63]

Oddball oldie a couple of weeks ago found a fired .25/35 on a sandy trail in the Ocala Ntl. Forest. I recall being in Mexico back in the early '60's & finding a spent ragged .30/40 round just off the roadway south of the town of Sonita.

 

[trackskippy]

This is one of the more oddball rounds Ive found. As best as I can tell, its a 308x1.5 Barnes.

 

[Anchorite]

I would appreciate any thoughts on what this might be.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Oddball oldie a couple of weeks ago found a fired .25/35 on a sandy trail in the Ocala Ntl. Forest. I recall being in Mexico back in the early '60's & finding a spent ragged .30/40 round just off the roadway south of the town of Sonita.

25-35 is even more common than the 405 i listed above. I use the newer Hornady leverevolution 25-35. Lol

I don't leave brass though. It's around 45 per 20 rounds

The 405 i found wasn't really old either.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Five unfired .56 Spencer rounds along the Josephine County Sportsman Association firing range walking trail, located north of Merlin, Oregon.
They looked pretty fresh.

 

[Bruce D Pease]

I found a 30/40 Krag in the old Rutland Prison camp one reserve weekend. It’s an old (ww1) pow camp … may have been a state jail baFi in the day… another weekend there I found an M1 carbine magazine. Both are in my odds n ends drawer

 

[jmorris]

I’ve only come across one of these.



Telescoping simunition, so it can cycle a firearm just firing a plastic BB.

 

[Lefty38-55]

#JMorris - I at first thought that that might be a Gyrojet 'Microjet' cartridge!

 

[AK Hunter]

I’ve only come across one of these.

View attachment 1181856View attachment 1181857View attachment 1181854View attachment 1181855

Telescoping simunition, so it can cycle a firearm just firing a plastic BB.

Yes it simunition & we get those all over the range when the local police do force on force training. It really distracting when I searching for brass.

 

[JmacD]

Not exactly uncommon, but extremely rare for the ranges I frequent; I found a 25 ACP. Most of the guys around that area shoot 10 mm 44 mags and 454. A 380 is too small for most of them I believe it’s actually the only 25 ACP case I’ve ever seen.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Not at a firing range, but I found several .25 acp rounds scattered in the parking lot of a pawn shop in Edinburg, Texas.
Most had been run over... .