BRITISH ARMY AMMUNITION DISPOSAL

[Watcher]

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Defen ... nistan.htm

British Army disposes of ammunition after six months! Makes sense when you read the article but I'm still rather surprised. I've shot some .303 that was made in 1941 and it seemed OK?

[dromia]

That is post modernism and the throw away society we have nowadays.

[ovenpaa]

Does anyone know if the MoD supplies different ammunition for different climates, Afghanistan is a good example where temperatures can vary by 50C and that is not in direct sunlight. We all understand what happens when ammunition has warmed up in the sun so do they make allowances for such things?

[John25]

In 1982 there was no ammunition to train the PASARA (Plymouth and Scotland Areas Rifle Association) teams.

I bought some RG surplus locally but when 'they' found out, we were banned from using it in service weapons because it was considered unsafe.

sign01

[Steve E]

I've known about this for quite a while. A friend who is a helicopter pilot who has done several tours in Afghanistan, tells me that that at the begining of his tour, he is issued with several hundred rounds of 5.56 and 9mm. At the end of his six month tour , any ammunition that he has left over is handed in and destroyed. The reasons given that batch numbers are not controlled, no-one can gaurantee that the ammunition has been stored correctly and not abused so is therefore unfit to be re-issued. There is probably in excess of 1 million rounds of SAA being destroyed by the MOD/Contractors in Afghanistan each year.

[Chuck]

WASTE.........Taxpayers dosh down the pan....

[Steve]

Is that article for real? It says about ammunition having a shelf life,but someone must be on a right good erner because Russia was storing it for decades with no problems.Then later on it says about the gases produced are filtered so fall within EU guide limits-this surely is a joke considering the amount of explosives which are going off out there!

April 1st must have come early.

[rox]

Is that article for real? It says about ammunition having a shelf life,but someone must be on a right good erner because Russia was storing it for decades with no problems.

Stored in controlled, or at least known conditions, rather than bouncing around in vehicles, going through extremes of temperature and humidity etc. And being stored for what eventuality? SHTF scenario? conscript/cannon-fodder/satellite-state army? UK Gov is constantly under pressure to better equip our forces, and now by ensuring that their ammo doesn't go 'phut' they are accused of wastage. What gets me though, is that since they are prepared to actually ship the metal back for scrap, why don't they just ship the ammo, either for training or commercial sale? Has to be better value than scrap.

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[John25]

Is that article for real? It says about ammunition having a shelf life,but someone must be on a right good erner because Russia was storing it for decades with no problems.

Stored in controlled, or at least known conditions, rather than bouncing around in vehicles, going through extremes of temperature and humidity etc. And being stored for what eventuality? SHTF scenario? conscript/cannon-fodder/satellite-state army? UK Gov is constantly under pressure to better equip our forces, and now by ensuring that their ammo doesn't go 'phut' they are accused of wastage. What gets me though, is that since they are prepared to actually ship the metal back for scrap, why don't they just ship the ammo, either for training or commercial sale? Has to be better value than scrap.

..

Whooaa!

We can't have the government doing something to assist the shooting fraternity, I mean, it would be a sin as big as the (non) olympic shooting legacy.

Rox, wash your mouth out with soapy water. :lol:

[IainWR]

In Gulf War 1 I carried four mags of 10 for each of my two personal weapons from December to April. I went though temperatures from -5 to +50, sandstorms, floods, torrential rain at 100% humidity, airconditioning at zero humidity, ground level to 30000 feet and back and lots of other awkward environments that upsets chemical stuff. I never fired a shot (from those guns; I didn't have to account for the bombs in the same way). At the end of the war I performed a controlled unload of all 80 rounds, got a certificate for it (which I still have), and got on the plane home. Several tens of thousands of British servicemen did something very similar. God knows what the total for the Yanks was. I estimate that Team GB at that war dumped approaching a million rounds of ammo from personal weapons, from various sources and with various histories. The stuff is unaccountable, uncertifiable and untraceable. For safety reasons it must be dumped (deepwater) or destroyed.

If you think that's a waste, have a look at the NHS drugs management process.

Iain