.22 bullets found in shed

DeiseDoll

We haven't a clue about any matters shooting related so looking for advice. We bought an old cottage to renovate and when clearing out the sheds found 2 boxes of .22 bullets in an old margarine box. The place hasn't been lived in for 7/8 years and conditions are very damp. How do we dispose of the bullets? We just left them there as we were afraid of them being unstable etc. Apologies for what must be a stupid question to those of you in the know!

SmartinMartin

Just hand them in to your local Garda station and explain the circumstances. They won't explode or anything.

Grizzly 45

Give your local Gardai a shout.I'm sure they will send a full carload of the ERU and the army bomb squad to dispose of this load of deadly munitions.:rolleyes:
But seriously, call the aGS and explain what you found and they will take care of it.

DeiseDoll

Thank you SmartinMartin, I'll do that in the morning.

DeiseDoll

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Give your local Gardai a shout.I'm sure they will send a full carload of the ERU and the army bomb squad to dispose of this load of deadly munitions.:rolleyes:
But seriously, call the aGS and explain what you found and they will take care of it.

I have 2 cousins who are ex-army bomb disposal but I was afraid to ask them for fear of the roasting that may follow. I'll get on to my local Gardaí and take my chances
thanks for the reply!

Mississippi.

You could contact a local firearms dealer if one is local to you also. Might be less hassle

DeiseDoll

Mississippi. wrote: »

You could contact a local firearms dealer if one is local to you also. Might be less hassle

There's one in my town, I never thought to contact them. Thank you.

cavan shooter

Mississippi. wrote: »

You could contact a local firearms dealer if one is local to you also. Might be less hassle

Might be the wiser thing to do.

Cass

Contact your local station and ask them to send someone out to collect them. It's silly to think that you might be done for having the bullets as you only want to hand them in, but legally and technically you have no license to have them and so would b committing an offense if you have them in your possession. there was a case or two of this in the UK which doesn't mean it'll have to you, but why take any chances. Especially if your nervous.

Call the Gardaí, explain the situation and ask them to send someone out to collect and dispose of them. Don't bother with family (same situation as you about licenses, etc) and don't bother with gun dealers. Do it right and have peace of mind.

meathstevie

Agree with Cass on that one. If the Gardai don't call around to collect but advise you to drop them into the dealers or bring them into the station or whatever at least you'll be acting on their instruction.

Don't worry too much about unstable explosives and all with modern firearms ammunition. It's not like an IED that's been sitting in the ground primed for ages or an unexploded HE artillery shell. Unless you ignite the propellant chances of anything going of are very very small.

civdef

I was working in a gunshop years ago when I got a call from a lady who's husband had recently died and she wanted to dispose of his "old gun". She rang the local guards, and they said drop it into the gunshop.

I was obviously expecting the usual rusty Stevens single barrel at this stage, but when she came into the shop she was carrying a noticeably small shopping bag, which turned out to contain a 1903 DWM swiss Luger in 7.65. It had been in a drawer in the house since the "troubled times".

I rang the Guards, they came and collected it, no big hassle.

DeiseDoll

Thanks again everyone. With the current weather conditions I didn't get a chance to get out to the cottage. I'll call to the Garda Station today and explain the situation. Not knowing anything about guns and munitions my first fear was safety and I want to do things properly and legally. The house was owned by 2 now deceased elderly brothers who had several break-ins and was sold by the nephew who inherited it. Everything was left behind, down to their clothes in the wardrobes - we're tackling the sheds first. I suppose it's a possibility that there's a gun somewhere among their belongings, they were borderline hoarders, so at least the Gardaí will be aware of the situation should that happen. I really appreciate the advice and I will keep you informed of what happens.

Cass

Almost 40 years ago my family were clearing some old remains of a stone shed/house at the back end of the farm. As they were pulling it down they found a cavity in the wall and in the cavity was a cloth. When they opened it up there was a Webley revolver and some loose ammo.

The land was bought by my Grandfather in the 60s, but built in the 1910's. The buildings hadn't been touched since it was bought so more than likely something to do with the old IRB and the uprising. My Unlce was in the Arrmy at the time and called in someone to deal with it.

Grizzly 45

civdef wrote: »

which turned out to contain a 1903 DWM swiss Luger in 7.65. It had been in a drawer in the house since the "troubled times".

I rang the Guards, they came and collected it, no big hassle.

I shudder to think as to what happened to that very valuable gun once it disappeared into the AGS clutches.:(:(:( Depending on condition, if it was a genuine Swiss army issue, that old dear today could have been looking at about 5to 12 grand if it was sold on the EU market..

Lads, if any of you do come across anything marked LUGER and shooting related..DO NOT hand it into the AGS, get it into a dealer for safekeeping and tell the owner that they have struck a mini jackpot if they sell it outside of Ireland.. Which isn't a hard thing to do anymore these days.A rotten rusty genuine Luger P08 mag is worth anything up to 300 euros or more to a collector.A snail drum in ratty condition can fetch up to 600 euros plus, and you can add on for it being in 7.65, being the original calibre for Luger.Any tatty looking P08 can start bidding at 400 euros on Egun, and in Condition 2 or 1 [Bluebook] depending on type and history if known, is a "what figure do I write on this cheque?"
Would it not be better that these type of guns , that are part of our heritage of our fight for independence,at least find new homes outside Ireland,where somebody will be appreciative of them and still be able to use them,and the original owners have some money in the pocket at current market value or auction price for their property?Than it being chucked into a big pile of scrap by the unappreciated and utterly indifferent and then thrown into a scrap shredder?

meathstevie

Came across one 1916 vintage Erfurt made Luger in 9x19 once. Original holster, spare magazine and maintenance tool with it. The gun had more than likely seen action in both World Wars and was in great condition. The most plausible story how it came to be in the lady's deceased father's possession was as a war trophy smuggled back in WWII. I don't know what it fetched but I believe she was fairly impressed by what she got in the end from a firearms dealer.

cnoc

Some years ago, a person I know had a few rounds of .303 ammunition, and he didn't really know how to dispose of them. Eventually, he was putting down a concrete path and put them in the foundation. Will they disintegrate over time?

gavindublin

I wouldn't expect much change from 5k on that one. A good find!

banie01

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Give your local Gardai a shout.I'm sure they will send a full carload of the ERU and the army bomb squad to dispose of this load of deadly munitions.:rolleyes:
But seriously, call the aGS and explain what you found and they will take care of it.

Funnily enough I had a similar find a few years ago while renovating my kitchen.
Rang the local station and asked if it was ok to drop them up...
Thinking it was a quick and easy case of "precious owner"
15 minutes later had 2 detectives at my door and was grilled on where they were found and if anyone in the house may have placed them there.
What I knew about the previous owners and so on.

meathstevie

gavindublin wrote: »

I wouldn't expect much change from 5k on that one. A good find!

Don't know how much exactly but she was quite happy and I know the dealer personally and he's straight as a die so I suppose she got a fair price for it.

Grizzly 45

cnoc wrote: »

Some years ago, a person I know had a few rounds of .303 ammunition, and he didn't really know how to dispose of them. Eventually, he was putting down a concrete path and put them in the foundation. Will they disintegrate over time?

Yeah, they will eventually rot thru, and even quicker if they are in contact with concrete.Once any sort of moisture gets into the powder, and assuming they were cordite loaded rounds, they will be useless within a year or so.Be an interesting archaeological find in the year 2525!:)

cnoc

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Yeah, they will eventually rot thru, and even quicker if they are in contact with concrete.Once any sort of moisture gets into the powder, and assuming they were cordite loaded rounds, they will be useless within a year or so.Be an interesting archaeological find in the year 2525!:)

Thanks for that. Hope they don't find his fingerprints on them

Grizzly 45

As Sarah Connor's friend said in the original Terminator "Hey in 100 years, whose gonna give a fuk?":)

DeiseDoll

Update: I called in to the garda station and they weren't that bothered about it. Told me to drop them in when I was passing which is what I did. I also told them I wouldn't be surprised if we found the gun to go with the bullets too and they said if that was the case to drop it in also. They told me it was a regular enough occurrence when renovating old properties. Thanks again for all the advice.

Mech1

If you do happen to find a gun, always assume it is loaded and in working condition!

DeiseDoll

Mech1 wrote: »

If you do happen to find a gun, always assume it is loaded and in working condition!

Excellent advice, thank you. Should we find a gun I'll be politely requesting the gardaí to come and get it - 2 boxes of bullets was at the top end of my comfort zone!

Bogwoppit

Make sure you get a proper receipt, plenty of these guns can go missing.

Bogwoppit

Make sure you get a proper receipt, plenty of these guns can go missing.

Uinseann_16

I agree get a receipt of some sort from the gardaí if you do get them to pick it up they can be careless with firearms i would be much more comfortable bringing it into a firearms dealers

K.Flyer

If you do happen to come across a gun, then my suggestion would be to not physically touch it at all. You won't know its history and if by chance it was used for something non too legal, you don't want your finger prints all over it.