Clearing a house of a friend we found a live bullet from, we assume WW1. It is of immense sentimental value. I have suggested to my friend that it be made safe- how can this be done without ‘spoiling’ it?

TBH- not my idea of a momento but there you go, there’s nowt as queer as folks.

For a moment I thought this was another “going for the snip” thread!

I would suggest speaking to a firearms dealer as the first point of contact. They will be able to advise. The police will probably deal with it but it’s likely to be by way of disposal rather than making safe.

Rich.

Bullet puller.

It’s safe unless you put it in a rifle and pull the trigger. Or do something really dumb like throw it in a fire.

Pull the bullet out with pliers. Empty. Tip some oil in to disable the primer. Rinse and pop the bullet back in.

Just pull it apart. A hole drilled in a block of wood to hold the round, pull the head with some padded pliers or gaffer tape the head.
Empty the powder, fill with water, invert, nail onto the firing cap and hit it. Bit of a pop, reassemble sans powder.

Legally you can’t have it and equally legally you have admitted to that. Holding ammo can result in several years in jail. Unless of course its an obselete caliber. Check that online with the markings on the end. Pulling it apart is possible. Careful!

torsoialake- I get your drift, the thing has been around for quite some time in its current state. Even so, my original question still stands.

As a kid I once knocked a hole in the side of a live .5″ round with a nail. I then poured the cordite out and burnt it. In my defence I was young and stupid. For protection I wore two (yes, you read that right, two!) parkas back to front and an old full-face motorcycle helmet with the world’s most scratched visor. To deal with the percussion cap we tried shooting it with an air-rifle. We were rubbish shots and got nowhere. Back into the vice went the cartridge and my friends Mr Hammer and Mr Nail were called back to help out. I’m NEVER going to do that again. Not even wearing three parkas.

Just pull the bullet. You could probably do it with your fingers.

So how do I deal with the cap?

Also- is there a legal way to take the inert cartridge out of the country?

You’d need a Free From Explosives certificate (I think). To be honest, the best way to do this whole thing would be to talk to an RFD. Where in the country are you?

I’m not even sure of the legality of dissembling ammunition these days.

So how do I deal with the cap?

Oil will render it inert.

Also- is there a legal way to take the inert cartridge out of the country?

stick it in your pocket, act casual?

RFD?

Registered Firearms Dismantler?

Hmmm, what exactly is “a live bullet”? How big is it?
I’m assuming rifle-sized; tracer rounds were developed during WW1 and will be an extra hazard
If it’s bigger HE and shrapnel rounds were common as well

“It” might already be de-activated, get advice from a registered firearms dealer and get it done properly and legally

TBH I would hand it in at the local station. If you are clearing a house I assume person is going into a home? Say you will look after it for safe keeping to him/her.

This is going to have a Berden primer?

Making the assumption that it will be something like a .303 rather than a 17pounder it will be better to just replace it with a blank for a quid. Has the blunt end got a small dent in the cap? If so its already been fired. Chunk a live round in the river.

mattsccm – Member

Legally you can’t have it and equally legally you have admitted to that. Holding ammo can result in several years in jail. Unless of course its an obselete caliber.

Antique /obsolete ammunition is still prohibited

When I had a carrier bag full of the things the police were very meh about it and said “as long as you haven’t got anything to fire them with”

At a previous place of employment one of the employees in my department had some live shells (120mm diameter). They’d been in his office for years and everyone assumed they were just ornamental but someone found out they were still live and called the Police, which resulted in the owner being arrested. Luckily another colleague nipped into his office, unscrewed them and poured out the cordite, before the Army bomb disposal arrived to collect them. Huge shit storm.

I was shooting some 1954 dated .303 a few weeks ago, it still went bang very nicely and we had no trouble hitting a man size target at 500 yards.

I’d just keep quiet about yours (too late now though!!).

“Antique /obsolete ammunition is still prohibited “
Of course. My mistake for not finishing the post above.

“Antique /obsolete ammunition is still prohibited “

and potentially very dangerous. I remember the Sandhurst civilian military expert who was killed by his WW1 relic a few years ago. Never seen the need for anyone to own such stuff personally.

Never seen the need for anyone to own such stuff personally.

Never been through a war like WW1, have you. And you clearly have no idea at all what significance that single round has to its owner.

But no one who fought in WW1 is alive now so he cant have been there

Another option would be to throw it away and purchase an identical round that has been properly deactivated. You can get a deactivated .303 round for £1.50.

http://www.dandbmilitaria.com/.303-WW2-dated.html

Worth remembering that as soon as you pull the bullet off the end it is legal to own, in fact one of the anachronisms of firearms law is that it is perfectly legal to hold all the constituent parts of ammunition (bullet, case, primer, propellant) it is only once assembled that it becomes regulated.

There’s no regulation about possessing propellant?

There’s no regulation about possessing propellant?

there is depending on what type but for the small quantities a handloader requires a mode A/B store is not required.

Good, that’s my weekend sorted then 😉

OP

You could always make it in to a whistle 🙂

As mr smith says, there is regulation, but there’s an exemption for small quantities for private use, I think it’s about 5KG.

Good, that’s my weekend sorted then

at £50-70 kg and not really that explosive (fast) there are plenty of other flammable accelerants out there if you feel the need to act out rambo fantasies in the woods.
as for loading your own ammo? while cheaper than factory rounds dont underestimate the time it takes to develop a load and the cost of the scales/press/dies/brass etc

I’m looking at reloading .303 simply because surplus has almost dried up and ready made is fairly expensive. The problem is that you can usually only do it four or five times before you risk head separation as the chambers in SMLE’s and No4’s are rather generous.
That’s slightly off topic though!

Mad wot some people will shout about on t’internet.. 😯

I imagine this thread has triggered a few electronic ‘red flags’ somewhere in snoopersville…

@Rockhopper – privi partisan is for winners

@no eyed deer – why not talk openly about doing stuff that’s perfectly legal? It’s the whole shameful & embarrassed ‘hiding away in secret and not telling anyone you do it’ that’s done half the damage to shooting sports IMO

This wasn’t the OP trying to solve his problem then:

Artillery Shell on Eurostar

at £50-70 kg and not really that explosive (fast) there are plenty of other flammable accelerants out there if you feel the need to act out rambo fantasies in the woods.

I was teasing – I know about MSER so I was surprised there’s no restrictions on small quantities.

are you actually allowed to carry live ammo? theres a guy at work who brings in a couple of packets every other friday (along with his machine gun, but apparently its a rifle)

all makes me worried hes about to go postal one day.