Would you fire dropped ammo?

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killertom

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Hey Guys,

It has been my practice to refrain from firing ammo from any of my guns if it has been dropped on the ground during loading or something. I don't want sand and grit to get into the barrel possibly scratching it up when the dirty round is fired.

However watching shooting videos on youtube it seems to me that most people drop their magazines, even with ammo in them freely on the ground, not worrying about this.

Was I wrong in assuming ammo dropped in the dirt can scratch up the barrel? What is your practice with this?

Tom
 
I don't play games with guns so I shoot every round whether I drop it or not. Do not drop magazines on ground. That sounds insane to me. :scrutiny:
 
I don't worry about the sand on CF and jacketed bullets, those are easy to blow/wipe off.

Lead,.22LR and lubed bullets are more likely to pick up with something and harder to see or clean the dirt off.

Keep in mind at some ranges it is not at all uncommon to have live rounds on the ground already and you may pickup a round of unknown origin. Clean your area before shooting and you are ahead of that but not 100%

I don't drop too many rounds any way. That is the core of the problem and should be the starting point of what to avoid.
 
During handgun and rifle training exercises you will drop ammo and magazines on the ground. Unavoidable. Most people just blow any dirt off and press on. However, when in doubt I put it in my pocket and wait until I have time to do a proper inspection/cleaning.
 
Send all your dropped ammo to me. I will see to it that it is properly taken care of. :D
 
I usually toss .22 LR ammo but center fire, I'll look for bullet setback by comparing against a round that hasn't been dropped, if it looks good, I wipe it off and shoot it.
 
Unless the round fell in water I just wipe it off and shoot it,
 
Wipe it off and choot 'em!


As far as dropping magazines? When a mag is empty it's useless to me, let them hit the ground. If I get a jams and have to clear the gun, the mag is also equally useless to me and it'll hit the ground with the remaining rounds still in it. (Later, I'll pick it up and mark it with a sharpy for more testing, to find out if it was a gun or magazine malfunction).

The only time I cringe about dropping magazines on the ground is if I'm on concrete when I'm training. (e.g. indoor range)

Even then, they'll hit the ground. 20 years of shooting, teaching, training, and competing, and I've damaged exactly *1* magazine out of thousands of times of dropping them. (Glock 19 mag split; it was an old non-drop free, round notch, and on it's second or third spring anyway...)

Unless the round fell in water I just wipe it off and shoot it,
Click to expand...

Even if the round fell in water/snow/whatever, I'll wipe it off and shoot it.

I tried to deactivate primed brass once by soaking 300 win mag cases fully submerged in water for three days.

EVERY SINGLE ONE of them fired. And the water was IN the cases, making contact with the primer compound, for three entire days. Once it dried? It was very, very active again. I set down in the livingroom, figured I'd kill them off while dry firing. Was loud, so I balled up a sock and put it on the end of the barrel. Well, a few minutes later I'd set the sock on fire. So I ended up depriming the rest in the press (live), with safety glasses on, to reload. (The brass was primed in a box from our last move, we had an old rental house with a cracked floor in the garage, termites built a home in my box of brass... was a pain to clean!).
 
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The Lone Haranguer said:
If it is undamaged and cleaned up, no problem at all.
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Yeah if the case / projectile is damaged, I won't shoot it.

One thing to look for on centerfire is to compare the length of the cartridge vs. another one out of the box. A lot of times, when you experience a jam on a semi-auto, the bullet gets shoved back in to the casing. THOSE will not get re-fired, because with the bullet pushed back in to the casing (even VERY slightly) you will get a higher pressure, and potentially damage the gun AND yourself.

Same holds true for defensive ammo. Don't constantly strip the top round off of a magazine of your carry gun, over and over again, chambering and clearing a firearm.... the round will get set back. Once loaded, as a rule, my carry gun doesn't get UNLOADED, except by shooting. This means I waste one round of premium ammo each range trip when I practice. If for whatever reason I clear the gun, I set that round aside, and don't re-use it for carry.

Why? You don't know if that round you just chambered for the Nth time finally lost neck tension and shoved that projectile back in to the case. Last thing you want on a first-shot of a defensive shoot is your gun to malfunction due to an overpressure round....
 
Dropped round.... shake it off, wipe it off or just "clean it" like you would your pocket knife after cutting something (ie wipe on pants). But yes, dirt and gritty material on ammo could increase the amount of dirt inside the gun and potentially increase barrel or parts wear.

About the only dropped ammo I won't shoot is 22LR that I dropped in a puddle of water or mud.

The correct answer should be "it depends".
 
Tommygunn said:
Unless inspection revealed a good reason not to shoot it, I would.
Click to expand...

Me, too.

If I dropped it, even in some water, i will retrieve, inspect it and shoot it. The 10 second rule applies in some instances.:)

If the round has been sitting out in the elements for a while, I will not shoot it
 
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