Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ammunition

How does rifle cartridge brass end up on the sidewalk in Brooklyn?

jeb — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:49:52 -0800

How does rifle cartridge brass end up on the sidewalk in Brooklyn? I was walking up Bedford Ave yesterday and I saw all these spent shell casings on the ground, like this. They all had these little metal clips on them, as you can kind of see in that crappy phonecam pic. What are those clips? I guess the first thing you'd think if you see shell casings on the ground is "someone was shooting at someone" but...these casings were stamped "LC-77" on the bottom, which google reports means they are probably .308 Winchester/NATO 7.62x51 built for the military. I don't think street criminals are in the habit of attacking each other with weapons chambered for .308. I mean, walking around with an M25 sniper rifle has a way of drawing attention to oneself on a crowded thoroughfare. Also, that wouldn't explain the little metal clips.

So...is there some sort of seismographic survey equipment that uses these cartridges to generate an impulse? Is there some sort of super-concrete-penetrating-nailgun that uses these? Was their a street vendor on Bedford selling spent cartridges to make into pens? Did some migratory springtime crustpunk's bullet-belt fall apart while he was waiting for the bus?

Green BBs?

fiercecupcake — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:17:41 -0800

I'm asking for a BB gun this Winter Holiday, as a way to ease into learning to shoot. Since I'll be shooting on my land, I'm curious about the ecological implications of BBs hanging around. I assume I don't want the plastic BBs, but are steel ones also a bad thing to leave lying around on the ground? This is not arable land, it's scrubby cedar-and-post-oak, rocky-ground "forest." I am concerned about both immediate dangers to wildlife/waterways and what will happen to the ammo years from now.

Will they rust away? Could I conceivably pick them up with a giant magnet? Forgive my naïveté, I just don't want to do something I regret later and can't undo.

DaVinci or Darwin? How crazy is aesthetic gun modifcation for non-gunsmiths?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:08:52 -0800

Gun modification safety: I'm a geek that likes to customize and modify gadgets. Can I extend this to guns and ammo, without killing myself, by taking great care and following reasonable precautions, or should I STOP RIGHT THERE! ARE YOU CRAZY!? More specific examples inside. I would look deeply into the safety and safe methods of doing something before performing it, but getting an overview here, of the safety/sanity beforehand of many different things, will help me decide whether to not bother, or to start that more serious learning.

I do not have a gunsmith background, and while I've grown up with guns, I've never been "into" them, eg never done my own reloading, never had a range membership, etc.

Like a computer case-modder, I guess I'm interested in style over substance (yeah, I know that's kind of dumb), so I'm not going to be trying to supercharge a gun, or convert a semi pistol to auto, or stuff like that. If anything I'd be reloading shells erring on the side of too little bang, rather than normal or too much.

So, some more specific indications of stuff I'd be likely to do, so you can tell me which are ill-advised or illegal:

(assume, say, a semi-auto pistol, state of WA, USA)

-Anodising, electroplating, engraving, etc various non-mechanical parts (eg the outside of the grip).

-The same, with mechanical parts, but not those critical to safe operation (eg modifying the ammo-clip, but not the firing mechanism). "Safe operation" does not mean reliable operation, it means will-NOT-blow-up-in-my-face operation, with the necessity for successful operability coming in a distance second. I'd prefer to accidentally render a gun useless than render it unsafe.

-Hacking electronic systems (eg those safety systems that render a gun inorperable unless the person is wearing a certain ring), to be triggered by a different authorization system.

Ammo modification (the danger-flag side):

-engraving or etching the brass? Before it's live of course. (From time to time I've seen people fire a shot that cracks open the brass, and I suspect engraving would make this occurance more likely. It didn't seem to be an injury risk, but I don't really know).

-Reloading... with various powders, or with additives in the powder? (eg, perhaps to make something smokier, NOT more powerful), and so loading a lighter-than-usual charge, to leave a higher safety margin to cover my ass for deviating slightly from the script.

-engraving/messsing with the bullet? Or even casting your own bullets? (reminder: for a modern pistol, not a black powder gun)

What kind of pistol/calibre/features would be a good choice for this sort of thing, primarily from a safety standpoint?

[posted anonymously because some workplaces these days get nervous when an office worker takes a sudden shine to guns.]