I will say this, i have shot many hundreds of rounds that have been WW2 surplus and slightly newer, from late 1930s war surplus(German, American, etc) to brand new ammo and so long as none of the bullet casings have cracks in them and are not sooooo corroded that when you chamber it you won't get it back out, the proper way to dispose of ammo is to SHOOT IT or give it to someone that will! if the ammo is in decent shape, many gun stores will buy it from you! (well depending on what state you are in, I don't claim to know all the states' firearm and ammunition laws). But it is worth finding out, why just throw it away or destroy it when you can have some fun or make a couple bucks off of it?
Combusting or setting off live rounds in any fashion outside of a gun's chamber or i should say in any manner that would put you physically near the combustion area is an EXTREMELY BAD IDEA. Granted, the projectile, bullet, itself will not be propelled at the velocity that it would if it were leaving a firearm muzzle, but you still run a pretty damn good risk of turning the case into a fragmentation device capable of causing serious injury. Keep in mind that the Vietcong did that to our troops during Vietnam, and the round no longer caused a small hole but would rather blow you foot off! Again, miniature grenade' without the timed priming fuse! BAD NEWS!!!
