Is this dangerous?

[Water wizard]

Hi guys went detecting today in the river estuary near my boat. It was low tide so I went down to the waters edge. I found 3 old coins, some bits of brass and this bullet. Is it dangerous? Sorry if it seams a dumb question, but here in the uk we aren't allowed guns. WW

 

[lazyaussie]

always treat live rounds with a bit of respect, I wanted to do a test on this so I pulled the bullet out of a live 303 round that was full of water & had been in the salt water for 50+ years & the cord like stuff on the inside fired up real quick over a lighter.
needless to say I no longer keep found live rounds in my junk bag while hunting.
lazy

 

[WaderMike]

Hi mate, you dont want to keep that one
from a UK md forum
"Under UK law, it is illegal to be in possession of ANY form of live ammunition, and is punishable by a minimum of five years in prison.
If you find anything that you suspect is live, then you must report it to the police immediately. If you've took your finds home, and then later discover that you've found a live bullet, then contact the police, and they will come to collect it."

I know guys searching up here on the UK East coast drop them off at the police station at the end of the days detecting

 

[Cupajo]

Can you reach a boat channel with a long toss??

Maybe it was "deep sixed" to dispose of it and would likely never be seen again if dropped or tossed into a deep enough hole in the water!!

As for danger, in my experience it must be gently handled with respect, ----- no banging or dropping on a hard surface or fire of course!!

Interesting find,

CJ

 

[midalake]

Ammo like that is not dangerous, unless you strike the primer. That round is Full Metal Jacket and looks old, think military round, kind of looks like 303 British or maybe 8mm. Sorry about your messed up gun rules in England.

Dave

 

[BigDan]

 

[Water wizard]

Thanks guys, I've handed it in to the police inspector, they were very helpful. You only hear bad stuff about the police here in the UK, but I think they are good, and do a difficult job with little thanks. I'm off to detect the same area again in a minute, I hope torun one old gold, one of the coins I found yesterday was from 1908.....

 

[KinTN]

I am an experienced ammunition reloader in the states; 100,000+ rounds to my credit (I am anal about record keeping). It is possible that submerged rounds can still be live and therefore potentially dangerous. As mentioned, it appears to be a 303 so it is probably military from WW2. Military rounds are weather sealed at both ends (bullet and primer) and tend to retain their viability even with submersion for many years at a time. But its not 100% either way, so of course treat it as live.

Due to corrosion/thinning of the brass, it probably isn't totally safe to fire but realistically the odds are low of a catastrophe as the Lee-Enfields have a Very strong action. I have long been a fan of this rifle/cartridge fwiw.

If you were to throw it in a fire, it would eventually cook off even if it started out as totally waterlogged. But a noncontained round cooking off isn't dangerous. If might bruise you if either end hit you, and of course you wouldn't want to catch one with an eye or the family jewels.

So that's a long way of saying, No it isn't a serious danger. Physically anyway. But with the laws you are under over there, it is Extremely Dangerous and getting rid of one legally (or testing your throwing ability) is definitely a top priority! Congrats on the Gold!

 

[Water wizard]

Thank you very much for your information I appreciate it. It's interesting about bullets going slower when not fired out of a barrel. I handed it in to the police, they were really cool. Cheers WW