What causes this? (Split brass in shotgun shells)

[WhiteHot]

Grandpa gave me a ton of this stuff. What happened?

[CSACANNONEER]

I'm going to guess that moisture had something to do with it. In any event, DON'T shoot it. I would not even trust rounds which appear to be alright. I would pull it down, reclaim the shot, maybe reclaim the wads (because I'm cheap) and dispose of the powder and primers in a safe and legal meathod.

[WhiteHot]

and dispose of the powder and primers in a safe and legal meathod.

How does one do this legally? My guess is that it has nothing to do with a camp fire

[CSACANNONEER]

How does one do this legally? My guess is that it has nothing to do with a camp fire

and, the 4th of July has passed..............

If you want help breaking these down and/or disposing of the stuff you don't want, I'll be willing to help you. The catch is that I'm pretty booked up until next month. But, if you can't wait, powder can be sprinkled on a lawn and then immediately watered for a little while. It's good fetillizer! Primers are a bit harder to deal with. Soaking them in oil is NOT a good way to deactivate them. I've known several people who have done this and then tested them months later. They all end up going off! Who knows, maybe they are still good and you can reuse them?????

[FLIGHT762]

The shells are old Winchester AA with a real brass head. I've seen this before. The cracking if from aging, the brass became brittle and cracked. The AA plastic case is actually made as a one piece unit, not two piece like many other shells. The cases are strong enough to shoot without the brass heads.They can be fired in a single shot, over under or double, I wouldn't shoot them in a repeater. If you don't want to shoot them,don't. I've shot them in this condition. Years ago, there were a few of companies that made one piece plastic shells with no metal heads. One was "Wanda" and the other, more recent, was "Active".
The below quote is from a discussion on a shotgun forum I frequent:

"In addition to Activ and Wanda; Herter's, Jet, Pinto, G&H, and Whitney produced hulls without brass. In the early days, even Winchester produced some AA hulls without brass as demos of how "strong" the hull was. Many of these hulls worked very well but failed due to public perception.
Trivia: the developer of the Activ hull actually produced lipstick containers and thought he could break off into a new arena. The hulls initially came out as a component piece rather than loaded ammo. He reluctantly got into loaded ammo which may partially explain why Activ faded out despite having a good product."

Reclaim the shells that are cracked if you want to. Shoot the others that aren't cracked. Toss the hulls when you're done.

[AgentAK]

Wow, I haven't heard about Activ shells in years. They were pretty good! In fact, I still have maybe two cases of them!

[SLO_Ryan]

If it were me, I would just find a break action shotgun and shoot them anyway, then throw the empty hulls away.

[bohoki]

yea peal the brass and shoot em you'll be fine

contrary to what they say its not a trap

[sargenv]

I still have a supply of activ 2.75" hulls. They were one of the first high capacity hulls on the market. I liked them, too bad they went by the wayside.

[AgentAK]

I still have a supply of activ 2.75" hulls. They were one of the first high capacity hulls on the market. I liked them, too bad they went by the wayside.

I'll be sure to save my hulls for you when I get around to shooting them!

[diginit]

How does one do this legally? My guess is that it has nothing to do with a camp fire

You can take any ammo, explosive, etc to any fire station and they will dispose of it properly for free.

[ERdept]

WOW! Old School. Now the new Win AA are the two piece hulls.

Still prefer Rem STS's unibody construction.

[CSACANNONEER]

I'll be sure to save my hulls for you when I get around to shooting them!

If he doesn't want them, I'm always looking for Active hulls for my dad. He has a load for them that he like to shoot handicapped with.

[WhiteHot]

Update!

I emailed Winchester with the pics and and explanation and they ordered a UPS pickup for all of the ammo. They didnt tell me what they were going to give me in return but from what I have heard, they have always "made it right" with their customers. Maybe I should have asked. Hopefully I dont just get a thank you card

[forgiven]

yea peal the brass and shoot em you'll be fine

contrary to what they say its not a trap