(Not sure where to put this) Shotgun hulls.

[Skelly607]

Any one know how long it will take for a plastic shotgun hull to decompose?

 

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[cooper1841]

I dug an old Sears plastic,yesterday. Fully intact, plastic still tough, probaly from the 60's

 

[TreasurePirate69]

Do plastic shotgun hulls ever decompose? I know the old paper hulls sure do. I'm curious what the experts have to say about the plastic ones.

 

[bigfoot1]

yes they do...about as long as it takes for a cell phone or stainless sink.

 

[TreasurePirate69]

yes they do...about as long as it takes for a cell phone or stainless sink.

I didn't know that shotgun hulls and stainless sinks would decompose. Thanks!

 

[bigfoot1]

I guess I came off a bit flippant.sry...I live in the mountains and come across piles of em constantly....a sore spot for me.Even the 50 yr old ones show no signs of degradation....pisses me off.I love shooting and do regularly...but dang.....am I the only one around me who picks up his own casings?Not to mention soooo many from,"them"

us shooters gotta represent...pack it in...pack it out....just sayin

 

[Skelly607]

I've been metal detecting a patch of woods and I'am finding a number of just the brass head of the shells. I'am not to sure if they were paper shotgun shells at one time or not. My main goal is trying to time date the area. Have found 7 wheat pennies and one 1945 merc.

 

[longcut]

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission - NEBRASKAland Magazine

 

[bigfoot1]

the brass only portions are older.if you post what they say on the bottom I would be happy to help research them with you......nitro club?

 

[bigfoot1]

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission - NEBRASKAland Magazine

ty longcut....I learned alot.....

 

[kuger]

I've been metal detecting a patch of woods and I'am finding a number of just the brass head of the shells. I'am not to sure if they were paper shotgun shells at one time or not. My main goal is trying to time date the area. Have found 7 wheat pennies and one 1945 merc.

dont date a site by the headstamps from shotgun shells........when hunting a guy will walk sometimes miles shooting as he goes,also,its not very common to be shooting in your camp,or for that matter, back in the day wasting ammo shooting around the house(My grand dad was an expert marksman and when I asked him how he got so good he used to tell me,his Pa would give him 5 shells and he better come home with five birds...make every shot count..he would often come home with two or three more than he had shells for!)Anyway,Turtlefoot on here has compiled an awesome data base of various headstamps and the histories behind them(reminds me,I need to send him all of this years(I save all of mine for him)they are annoying but a sign no one has detected there
http://www.headstamps.x10.mx/

 

[TreasurePirate69]

I guess I came off a bit flippant.sry...I live in the mountains and come across piles of em constantly....a sore spot for me.Even the 50 yr old ones show no signs of degradation....pisses me off.I love shooting and do regularly...but dang.....am I the only one around me who picks up his own casings?Not to mention soooo many from,"them"

us shooters gotta represent...pack it in...pack it out....just sayin

I didn't take it as being flippant. No worries. I just really didn't know the answer. Plastic seems like one of those materials that is impervious to everything. But I know that really isn't true.

 

[kuger]

how long does the plastic last....thats a great question....I know I have seen them where the plastic is just shreds,in advanced stages of degradation....how old they were I dunno

 

[bigfoot1]

I notice that it is exposure to sun that eventually degrades them.in the forest shade they look new,even from the 60s.I think it was discovery channel had the show about the earth after people and said a cell phone in the ground would last hundreds of years.something like that

 

[calisdad]

The sun breaks the plastic down. I see shredded ones all the time.

If you find a spot where the weekend yea-hoos blasted away and left fresh ones on the ground pick em up. You can get 5 to 10 cents apiece depending. Some bright 'marksmen' decided to see if they could drop a small cedar near me. I picked up 140 of em in less than 10 minutes.

 

[turtlefoot13]

Thanks Kuger! I just want to throw out a couple of things real quick. The site is not complete and does have errors! When looking back through some pages, I realized I copied some information from an archived copy of my database and not the current one, so please, if something doesn't sound "right", it probably isn't.

With long hours at work and some health issues, I have not had the time to get things finished up. I am working on it slowly but surely though.

Doug

 

[Davers]

turtlefoot13 ..I would love to see the results of all your time & hard work , I have saved a few pounds of paperless shotgun brass in just over the past 3 years [ I just threw them away or sent them to the scrap yard before then] then one day I cleaned some off & thought some brand/marks looked cool ,so I began keeping them ,mostly the ones without magnetic [iron ] primers. hope trashing those was no mistake. Well off to find more [likely] but their not my main target . Davers

 

[Bum Luck]

Any one know how long it will take for a plastic shotgun hull to decompose?

About 20 reloads.