How to dispose of shotgun shells damaged by flood?

[Range Mom]

What's the proper way to safely dispose of shotgun shells that were under 2 feet of water?

[LJUnaTIC]

How many? You can cut them open to reclaim the shot,  dump the powder in your garden, remove the primers and attempt to render them inert by soaking in oil and discard the hulls.

Sometimes primers will eventually  dry out and become active again so they can be difficult to deal with in a permanent way  unles you try and fire them

I use this tool to cut open shells for reclaiming components.


https://www.midwayusa.com/product/712998/precision-reloading-d-loader-shotshell-dismantler

[JAK]

The first question is did the water get into the container the shells were in and how long were they in contact with water?

If they did not come in contact with water/were only in contact for a short period they can probably be dried out and used for practice.  The best way is to lay them out in the sun.

If they were exposed to water for a extended time then disassembly is probably the best option.  Keep in mind that the gun powder may still be good or it may have turned into a solid mass.  Regardless of it's condition it may still function and may be more sensitive then normal so caution is advised.

If there is a large amount there are other options is you have access to a large safe area to dispose of them, however they are best employed by someone trained to dispose of unserviceable munitions.  PM me if you would like to discuss.

John K

[ILoveCats]

If it’s some flats of target loads, yeah someone may want to use all that shot and the wads. If it’s just a few boxes of game loads there may be much less demand. 

Many decades ago, cleaning out grandpa’s garage, we came across a hodge podge of old (even then) paper hull loads.  Didn’t trust them and didn’t know how to dispose of them, so we just buried them in the pasture.   Years later I kicked myself for getting rid of something that was probably valuable and collectible.  Years after that I spent more time at gun shows seeing old farts haggle over a few cents on old shotgun shells and was glad I just buried the goddam things.   

[SemperFiGuy]

Shoot them.

[AAllen]

If you do not want to deal with disassembling and handling parts you can contact local law enforcement, they will get it safely disposed of by controlled burn. I believe OPD does its own disposal, most everyone else gets it to NSP who does several burns a year.