Old shotgun shells may still contain primer, powder, and shot. Leave live, damaged, found, or uncertain shells alone while you arrange a local handoff.
Do not fire, cut, soak, burn, or discard them to make them “safe.” Call local law enforcement before moving or delivering them.
Call Before Moving the Shells
Ask your police non-emergency line whether it accepts unwanted ammunition. Some departments arrange pickup, while others give specific station instructions.
Do not walk into a police station carrying ammunition without calling. The department may prefer to collect it where it is.
For fire, smoke, heat, an active threat, or another immediate danger, move away and call 911.
Leave Damaged or Found Ammunition Alone
Do not clean, sort, or inspect corroded, swollen, wet, burned, leaking, or modified shells. Describe what you can see from a safe place.
Age alone cannot tell you whether a shell is safe. Let the receiving law-enforcement agency or another competent recipient assess it.
Leave ammunition found on public land or abandoned property where it is. Give law enforcement the location and follow its instructions.
Unwanted Ammunition Call Record
Live, spent, mixed, or unknown: ______
Condition seen without handling: ______
Owned, estate cleanup, found, or unknown: ______
Approximate quantity from a safe distance: ______
Firearm also present: yes, no, or unknown
Ask: Should an officer collect it? If transport is allowed, what exact legal handling, arrival, and handoff instructions apply?
Skip DIY Disabling Methods
Firing questionable shells is not disposal. A damaged or incorrect shell can fail unpredictably and needs a competent recipient.
Do not use a puller, knife, pliers, water, oil, heat, fire, or impact to dismantle or deactivate shells.
Keep powder and primer components out of soil and trash. Do not cut, crush, soak, burn, pull apart, or otherwise try to disable a shell.
Confirm Any Range or Store Handoff
A range or retailer may know a local route, but acceptance is not automatic. Call and describe the shells before traveling.
Follow local possession and transport law. One police department’s instructions do not create a national procedure.
Recycle Only Confirmed Spent Hulls
Treat a hull as spent only after competent confirmation. Live primers and mixed shells do not belong in ordinary recycling.
Ask whether your local recycler accepts empty plastic or paper hulls with metal bases. Many programs reject small mixed-material items.