I have a question for all those WWII scholars out there:

IS there a tried and true method to de-arming live ordinance? For example, I find some wonderful items here in the South Pacific that I don't dare mess with as they are 60 years old and very much alive. For example, yesterday I found a clip for the M-1 Rifle with 8 unfired .30 rounds. Should I risk blowing my hand off and try to de-arm them? Or should I be glad I'm still alive and put it back?

There is a way to de-arm differnt ordanance, there is no way to universally disarm all ordannace, I would have no clue as how to dearm Garand rounds, but there is obviously a way-maybe you should just keep them as a relic...on display safely away...

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

Really, really - live ordnance of ANY kind should only be 'tampered' with by qualified persons eg gunsmiths.

Live rifle rounds are generally fairly stable and can be deactivated by drilling a small hole in the side - out comes the filling.
BUT the heat needs to be controlled when drilling and tracer rounds can be unstable !

Just one, true, sad cautionary tale. John Pimlott was a respected British military historian. While walking a battlefield three or four years ago, he picked up a live 20mm shell. Back home in the UK, he started fiddling with the fuze using a small screwdriver.

And it killed him.

[ 16 September 2002, 06:14 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

There is really no safe way of disarming live ordinance that has been sitting in the mud and filth for 60 years.

A friend of mine tried to disarm a Boyes Anti-Tank rifle round by holding the case in a vise and drilling a hole to let the propellant powder out. Didn't work. The powder went off from the heat of the drill and neatly fired the round through the side of his garage and into the back of his car that was parked outside.

It's not worth the risk of losing a vital part of your anantomy (or your life) by handling rusting ordinance. If you find something that looks dangerous tell the local authorities. They should know what to do.

Better to be safe than dead.