Aibu, or rather is my dp being unreasonable to think it's not ok for empty shotgun cartridges to be used for messy play?

[Lirogiro]

Our 4 yr old ds brought home a model today that includes a used shotgun cartridge.
My dp thinks it is not ok for him to be crafting with what is a basically a weapon and is also concerned that it might have unsafe chemical residue on it.
I am not so sure. I can understand his points but also think if our son doesn't know what it is, then basically it's just a good small cylinder that creates interesting craft model possibilities. What are your thoughts?

Speaking of clay pigeons, I was well in to my teens before I realised a clay pigeon was discus shaped and not an actual pigeon shaped lump of clay😄. I kept that quiet otherwise I would have been laughed out of the town! Pmsl😅

I wouldn't be comfortable with my child using spent shotgun shells to craft with either op. Picking up on the point about unsafe chemical residue, I think spent shells do contain a lead residue, as such they are classed as 'directive' waste in the UK. Small amounts used 'domestically' are considered non-hazardous, However in the US the Environmental Protection Agency is moving to ban lead shells in public hunting grounds due to the potential impact on the environment and poisoning of fish/water courses etc. Perhaps it might be worth asking the nursery how they remove the lead residue as small children are at much greater risk to lead poisoning?

The residue in a spent case is minimal but it would be sensible to wash them out before using as a craft material, especially if they are going to be used by little ones.

The move in the US to ban lead on public hunting grounds will never go through because the gun lobby is so strong but more to the point it is not really comparable to the UK and here is why:
The US has such a massive hunting / shooting culture that the public hunting grounds are grossly overshot. Millions of Americans descend on these grounds every year to shoot, the result is tonnes and tonnes of lead shot being left in water courses, areas of sensitive ecology etc.

The UK by contrast has no public hunting grounds at all. In order to shoot you must attend a club, find a friendly landowner who will let you shoot their land or be very lucky and own a significant amount of land yourself.
Either way, the numbers of people shooting a given piece of land are absolutely tiny compared compared to the US and on the whole shooters here in the UK are much more environmentally aware. I have land and allow a few friends to shoot it so long as they follow the rules. If I found one of them shooting lead shot over my fishing lakes for example, I'd go nuts and they'd loose the right to shoot there. If it were state land then the attitude of 'sod it I pay my taxes , I'll do whatever I like' often prevails.

The hunting culture in Norway for example, is much more similar to ours and they actually reversed a lead ban last year after proper studies were done and they realised that he legislation that was previously passed was more a result of hysterical anti-gun pressure groups than science.

If you go into your countryside nursery and start kicking off about a spent shell casing they're going to think you're nuts. before reading this it genuinely never occurred to me that an empty case could cause someone such bother... the rest of your life must be pretty bloody sweet if you can afford to give this headspace!

the rest of your life must be pretty bloody sweet if you can afford to give this headspace!

www.shootinguk.co.uk/answers/what-is-meant-by-a-shotguns-headspace-clearance-21113

In the UK you already need to be using Tungsten / Lead shot to shot wildfowl (i.e. anything over water) - if you are found using lead shot for wildfowl - allowing the lead shot to get into the ecosystem then you are likely to be fined and have your licence taken away - and yes, checks are made... Lead shot can damage some gun barrels, and tungsten is expensive - very expensive comparatively - but folks do it, still cheap as far as shooting goes when a pair of guns could cost over £100,000 :)

As far as the contents go - it is very instructive to either view a transparent case, or take one to pieces - 5 main components:

• the case is usually two part, a brass end and a plastic (or paper) main body (some of the Indian Maharajahs in the 1920-30s used to have fully brass cartridges and send them back to Aspreys in London to be re-filled!)
• inside there are three sections - working from the brass end forwards:
• - gunpowder
• - wad (plastic or felt - felt is preferred so that you don't leave plastic bits over the fields)
• - the shot - usually lead, but could be steel or tungsten

When the hammer hits the brass in the centre - it ignites the gunpowder, and the explosion pushes the wad forward propelling the shot out of the end - the end being crimped to hold the full cartridge closed, and the force opens it up, and the shot and wad both fly out of the gun...

If you take one to pieces:

• the gunpowder pieces (looks like torn up paper) can be put in a kitchen towel, scrunged up and put outside - then set fire to it - you get a very satisfying woosh - and it is really safe!
• the shot works well to get rid of red wine stains in your decanters :)

In fact there is probably a term's teaching a school could get out of a cartridge!

Lead shot can damage some gun barrels

Err... not quite right...
A common non lead alternative is steel shot and it is the STEEL that can damage the barrels of some guns, usually older ones (which can be some of the most valuable guns).
Lead is probably the safest shot to use from point of view of not damaging your barrels. Many of the other non lead alternatives such as tungsten / bismuth are very very expensive and have been developed specifically to mimic the properties of lead to enable owners of old guns to shoot them in areas such as over water where lead is banned as steel could wreck an old classic gun.

Surely shotgun cartridges have fulminate primers? The hammer can't fire the propellant (smokeless powder, presumably) directly can it?

Lead shot can damage some gun barrels

Mea Culpa - sorry, I meant the steel shot :)
thank you for your correction!

Surely shotgun cartridges have fulminate primers?
They do - it is a part of the metal base - the middle section contains the primer...

www.shootinguk.co.uk/shooting/start-shooting/the-anatomy-of-a-shotgun-cartridge-14643

We often find spent shotgun cartridges on the beach. Well, not so often that it isn't exciting when one if found. Saw an excellent documentary about beach finds that linked Cornish shotgun casings to seabird hunting season in Maine I think, with the spent casings being carried along by the Gulf Stream along with lobster fishing id tags and Lego leaking out of lost shipping containers. Really interesting.

But I digress - we've got a few knocking around the house and I don't have a problem with it. City folk.

Surely shotgun cartridges have fulminate primers?
Is that fulminate primers like Lead Styphnate? I'm not convinced that giving a shotgun shell a wash is actually sufficient to remove the lead as suggested by pp (lead is not soluble in water which is why it's used on roofs) . It's well documented that children are particularly susceptible to the effects of lead poisoning up until the age of 6 and that it's also common for children to put things in their mouths, so I'm not sure why a nursery would think shotgun shells are suitable play things. I think the pp who said the nursery would laugh at you for discussing it with them might be correct but I don't think Ofsted would laugh. Surely, it doesn't have to be a country versus townie issue-its just about keeping children safe and not exposing them to a known and well documented poison.