Old ammo

[GOPHER SLAYER]

My nephew works in an indoor shooting range and he said that people often come in and ask if they can dispose of ammo. These old 45-70s are the latest. My pictures don't allow you to read the bottom of the case but if you could it reads F-4-92. The primers appear to me original but the bullets don't. He also told of their experience with rental guns. That is which one will stand up to daily use and the ones that don't. He said the various 1911 clones stand up very well but some revolvers shoot loose often. He said the barrels of two revolvers simply fell out of the frame. I won't tell you the maker. He also said the various AR types shake loose while the AK47s just keep plugging awaY. If you live close to a shooting range that rents guns, why not drop in and ask which of their rental guns stand up better that others. His wife is a police dispatcher and she told me something that made me sick. She said two or three times a week people bring in guns and ask if they can leave them. She tells them "these guns will be destroyed " the people shrug and say "I don't care". She also told me that she has seen some guns brought in that date back to the civil war. According to her they are not allowed to advise these people about the value of the guns or how they can sell them at a gun shop.

[bob208]

those shells are tin plated. they are orignal. collector shells. frankford arsenal april 1892

[Guesser]

Yes, they are the 500 grain round nose lead used in the Springfield infantry rifle. The Carbines used a flat nose 405 grain.

[Bad Water Bill]

I can only guess how many collector and museum guns are turned in each year at the GUN BUT BACK in Chicago.

Every year they show SOME of the guns,

Every thing from original flinters and golden boys go directly to the steel mill for melt down.

What a loss of historical guns only because they have been brain washed for 45 years that guns are bad.[smilie=b:[smilie=b:

[Hardcast416taylor]

Police "buy back" public affairs promotions to remove firearms from the populace often turn up very old or collectable guns along with the junker guns. Older people that have no idea what they have or just want it gone and take the cash seem to do this the most. Back in the `50`s I remember when "evidence" guns or turn ins by the public were taken out into the middle of the Detroit river and tossed over the side in the middle of the night. Years later they would be taken to an auto company foundry/forge to be melted down under heavy guard rather than dumping them in the river.Robert

[Frosty Boolit]

[QUOTEI remember when "evidence" guns or turn ins by the public were taken out into the middle of the Detroit river and tossed over the side in the middle of the night. [/QUOTE]

That's enough to make a diver outta me! :-P

[3006guns]

I've seen pictures of U.S. troops dumping BARGE LOADS of Japanese small arms, including type 99's, 38's, pistols, swords, light machine guns and hundreds of crates of ammo into Tokyo bay at the close of the war.

Forget it. I already checked.....besides being huge, the average depth of that bay is something like 400 feet.:(

[fatelk]

I was at the local range a couple years ago and happened to see that the "bad ammo" can was nearly full of rifle ammo. It's a can they have where folks can put rounds that don't go off, old ammo, whatever. When they get a bunch someone spends time pulling the bullets, dumping powder, scrapping brass.

I asked and they said take them. It was all OLD 6.5 Italian Carcano, about 50 rounds. Every round had a lightly dented primer. Most were WWII but some as old as 1914. One had a bullet that looked like a tube with balls in it, was told it's a short range multiple ball guard round, kind of rare. It is interesting what people throw away.

As to the GIs dumping Japanese arms in the harbor; I've seen the photos too, and heard the stories. I read a story by a vet who was there, don't remember if he did the dumping or just watched. He said people had told him over the years that it seemed like a waste, but his response was that they had just finished a bloody, brutal war and had been staring down the barrels of those guns long enough that they were just glad it was over and they were in the bottom of the ocean instead of in the hands of the enemy.

A friend of mine who was in Iraq tells about capturing large stocks of pristine FN-FALs over there. They wrapped them in det-cord and destroyed them.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I've seen pictures of U.S. troops dumping BARGE LOADS of Japanese small arms, including type 99's, 38's, pistols, swords, light machine guns and hundreds of crates of ammo into Tokyo bay at the close of the war.

Forget it. I already checked.....besides being huge, the average depth of that bay is something like 400 feet.:(



Same type thing was carried out, but with our own equipment off shore of Europe and Britian after the war in `45. A neighbor that was a Army vet of that engagement was part of a company detailed for disposal. Everything from pistols to tanks that never saw action were deep sixed to be a cheaper method than shipping it back home. Yes, the captured weapons of the Reich were included also in the swimming class. Entire fields of new tires for trucks, jeeps etc. were doused with aviation gas and lighted off. He said the disposal was halted as quickly as it was instituted after a short duration.Robert

[gbrown]

National Geographic had an article a few years ago about U.S. disposal of equipment around the atolls/islands in the Pacific. Underwater photos showed equipment laying in piles. Trucks, jeeps, tanks, planes, and individual equipment scattered and in mounds on the seafloor. After the war, stateside, equipment was given to servicemen who wanted to start businesses. My dad got a woodworking lathe. My uncle got a number of pieces of equipment to start a road construction business that was worth millions by the time he sold it--about 50 years later. My dad was a superintendent for a structural steel erection business that used half-tracks with small cranes on the back.

[gandydancer]

those shells are tin plated. they are orignal. collector shells. frankford arsenal april 1892
bob208 has it right the shells are from 1892 I have some of them myself. GD

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I thought it would be interesting to run a gun buy back offer 25 dollars a gun in gift cards just that i wouldn't destroy them , well some would go to parts i am sure , all serial number would be verified as not stolen thru local police

in the interest of getting them out of the closets , and drawers that no longer want them , so that they can find homes where they can be kept safe.

[paul h]

I've seen pictures of U.S. troops dumping BARGE LOADS of Japanese small arms, including type 99's, 38's, pistols, swords, light machine guns and hundreds of crates of ammo into Tokyo bay at the close of the war.

Forget it. I already checked.....besides being huge, the average depth of that bay is something like 400 feet.:(

No need to don a scuba tank, think powerful manet and deepsee fishing rod/reel :D The real key would be having a sonar unit that could find them.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

No need to don a scuba tank, think powerful manet and deepsee fishing rod/reel :D The real key would be having a sonar unit that could find them.

if you could pull them out the day they were tossed in , after a few weeks they would be so eaten up by the sea that retrieving any functioning guns would be unlikely , 60 years later you probably couldn't even identify them if you could see them

[Blacksmith]

How many older members remember the surplus stores back in the 50's and 60's. All kinds of surplus at the army navy store to make a kid dream.

[Trapdoor]

I see photos of "turned in" firearms all the time. Yeah, people are turning in 19th century arms for $25.00. Makes me ill! My dad and his brothers returning stateside after WWII were told to dump any bring backs from the Phillipines and Europe into N.Y. harbor as they would be checked going through customs. After doing so, no one checked anything as they disembarked the ship. I also had friends that worked at Bannerman's and they too used to throw stuff like Springfield ramrods into the bay just to see who could throw them the furthest. Oh well! I still have a whole bunch of antique ammo. I wonder about it's stability from time to time, but most of it is stored and I rarely lay eyes on it so I tend to just forget about it being there for the most part.

[gnoahhh]

I was told by an old man who witnessed it, that they used thousands of Krag and Trapdoor barrels as re-bar when they poured the concrete dam for the lake at Fort Ritchie, Maryland. Every time I see it, I dream of those barrels encased in it.

[contender1]

Dumped, destroyed firearms & equipment just shows how wasteful our fine government is. From the top down,,,! ANd then they preach "save the enviroment" & don't recycle such fine stuff!