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Propane tanks

R

rlp in Co.

Well-known Member
I have several old propane tanks,that I would like to get rid of. I thought I might shoot them full of holes so I could take them in for scrap. Some of them are 20 lbs and some are 100 lbs. Will a 30 30 penetrate them?
 
sounds like ricochet rabbit bing bing ping. I don't know. Can't you cut them in half with a sawzall. You won't get any target practice that way tho......gobble
 
Have an full metal jacket rounds?? If you do yes it will. Soft point or hollow point maybe. I know the T post I use to hold the form up for my shooting range sure is missing a lot of metal from being hit from time to time
 
only way i would do that is with a hacksaw with coolant running on the blade in the middle of the yard. i would disappear for a while.
 
I have to assume these tanks are not usable RLP in Co., which I assume is Colorado? I was just reading an article this morning which said there is a shortage of propane tanks in Colorado due nnalert forcing outdoor dining.
 
Put them on craigslist cheap or free, someone will take them. Have you seen the tire inflation tool made from a propane tank? Called a bead-seater, easy to make from a 20 pound tank. If your tanks are bigger than that they make very good portable air tanks, somewhat heavier than the ones you buy. Shooting them would be a waste!
 
they have to be cut in half to go to our scrap yard i fill with water drain out cut in half done 5 or so still here [first i pulled valve off ] then filled ]
 
A local propane co. here fills them with water and leaves them outside to freeze, splits the sides out.
 
Yes it will. BUT you will need a FMJ. A hollow point or soft point is very unlikely to penetrate the tank. I don't believe Ive ever seen a factory 30-30 FMJ round. The reason for no FMJ is because most 30-30s are a tube fed Winchester or similar. You must not load the tube with pointed ammunition. It is likely you could start a chain fire with all the round going off in the magazine tube. NOT SAFE. But you could load 1 at a time in the chamber you would be ok.
 
If you wish to ventilate them. I half done a half dozen 20 lb. tanks with solid lead not hollow points
.22 caliber long rifle. Stood them out in the field opened the valves shot them several times each.
Bullet went in one side and out the other.
Scrap yard guy looked at them and said they were ventilated.
 
You can put a pick ax right through 90% of them(the older ones are made a lot heavier.) THe hundred pounders are worth 40.00 each on CL.
 
I think an ax might cause a spark and cause the tank to blow up. The valves are bad so I doubt if anyone would buy them.
 
I see what you mean. A chain reaction would not be good! Maybe I can make a steel point to put on the end of the bullet.
 
I use starting fluid to seat beads, much easier! I live so far out in the tulies, it's hard to give stuff away. Making a air tank is a good idea that I would never have time to do. I might put an ad and see what happens or shoot some just for the fun of it.
 
If the valve is bad and has been open to air for a long time good chance they don't have any gas in them and will not explode no matter what you do to them. I've taken old truck gas tanks and put them in the middle of a brush pile and light the pile up. Once in a while the tank will fly a ways but that is it
 
Yes my shooting range has old water logged dock foam held up by T posts and the posts look like some one has cut bits and piece out of them. These are behind 24 inches of water logged foam and the foam has been hit with many type and sizes of Cal.
 
Make a few of these.

cvphoto71875.jpg
 
found 2 30# grill tanks in a field that had NH3 fitting JB welded in them. Called sheriff and they said since to lab was found just throw them away. Hauled them around in back truck for a few day and finally unloaded them. My cousin came over to fish and I showed him, he is an undercover detective and told me I could be arrested for having them. I figured I better dispose of them and so why not shoot them first. I shot the first one with my sks with FMJ ammo and it put a hole thru it, second one still had some NH3 in it and it sent up a cloud of "smoke" and killed a lot of grass around it.
 

I know for certain that a .223 will penetrate 1/2" thick steel at 80 yards, so a .30-30 should have at least some effect on a propane tank. I also know for certain that a .30-30 will put a hole in the rear quarter of a '65 Malibu.

Please, if you are going to shoot at that propane tank, suspend it somehow, so it can swing. Otherwise it might ricochet and come right back at you.
 
A FMJ 7.62 by 39 will go through way more them most people would believe. It would shot through both tanks and go howling across the countryside. I always laugh what people in the TV and movies hide behind. A car door, give me a break, even the puny 9 MM will shot through both car doors.
 
Shooting with all the possible ricochet chances sounds like a dumb thing to do. I'd not waste them and use them for air tanks. Or bead seaters. They work very well for that, and a lot better than ether. Several could also be inked together with a line to expand holding capacity of air like a big air tank. Screw the valve out and use a pipe fitting to connect to the line. I've seen ether flare up so it singed whiskers and hair on people while lighting. Also Had the beads come up to seat and then just fall back down to need to go again. The bead seater will keep it there while the air is already going in. The best easiest is the murphy soap it will seal the gap till the bead seats with no fooling around. It is fairly cheap and lasts a long time in that you can reuse all but what is lost inside the tire. I start with clean tires so it is not full of dirt.
 
I would trade them in, most places do not check very well and they can change the valves. When they were switching to the newer safety valve people would leave them at the transfer station, the guy there didn't know what to do with them. I took several and traded them in at Home Depot. They were supposed to charge but apparently the help wasn't all that well trained.
 

I can think of plenty of uses for them even as fuel cans with a different valve. Be wary of anything that can go boom anymore. Anyone within earshot will be calling 911. Then you have some splaining to do with the police and ATF bomb squad and get your name on some reports and lists that you don't want to be on at the present time. Then they will be watching you like a hawk. In some states, if they think you did something dangerous then they load up your firearms, etc.

We know you aren't going to do anything nefarious, but others may think so and then they put the Mark of Joe Cain on you.
 

Hello Cat guy. Can you explain to this dummy how you use one for bead seating? Not sure if you mean to it can dump a large load of air quickly to seat a bead or if you are squirting a little propane in there and lighting it up? I've seen a couple people spray some starting fluid into car and mower tires and then light it off. Well didn't actually see it as I was ducking for cover when they lit it off.
 
How many bead cheetahs, air tanks, potato launchers, and yard pigs does a person need?

Shooting them full of holes isn't good enough for scrap yards around here. It's fun, but ultimately a waste of ammunition because you will still need to cut the tanks up.
 
(quoted from post at 20:39:07 01/19/21) I have several old propane tanks,that I would like to get rid of .....
Click to expand...

I've reused several old 20 pounders. Air tank, hydraulic oil tank, etc.

First remove the Schrader valve outside and let tank ventilate for a few days. It will stink. Then I strapped them hard to a tractor tire to hold them while removing the valve. The valves are super tight.

Did I mention they stink .....


Then let it air out for a summer or two.
 
(quoted from post at 09:05:36 01/20/21) A FMJ 7.62 by 39 will go through way more them most people would believe. It would shot through both tanks and go howling across the countryside. I always laugh what people in the TV and movies hide behind. A car door, give me a break, even the puny 9 MM will shot through both car doors.
Click to expand...
es, and the same movies/TV shows has some people believing every car fire results in a half-magaton explosion! Way back before EPA, etc. , I was around many old cars burned out by wrecking yard, to get rid of the non-metals, and never any explosion, just an occasional "whoomp".....not as much as the smallest fire cracker. Only McGiver can make a huge explosion out of so little.
 
(quoted from post at 10:39:36 01/20/21)
(quoted from post at 09:05:36 01/20/21) A FMJ 7.62 by 39 will go through way more them most people would believe. It would shot through both tanks and go howling across the countryside. I always laugh what people in the TV and movies hide behind. A car door, give me a break, even the puny 9 MM will shot through both car doors.
Click to expand...
es, and the same movies/TV shows has some people believing every car fire results in a half-magaton explosion! Way back before EPA, etc. , I was around many old cars burned out by wrecking yard, to get rid of the non-metals, and never any explosion, just an occasional "whoomp".....not as much as the smallest fire cracker. Only McGiver can make a huge explosion out of so little.
Click to expand...

Modern cars ALL have steel braces inside the doors to help prevent total collapse in the event of a crash. While I still would not want to hide behind one if I was being shot at, chances are that the bracing WOULD stop the bullet.
 
I always laugh at those movies too, with people hiding behind car doors. I also have a SKS 7.62X39. I will try to get some full metal jacket bullets for it,but the last time I went to buy amo, the shelves were almost bare! I have barely used the SKS because it's not nearly as accurate as my 30-30. I'm lucky to get a 10 inch group with it. With the Marlin 30-30 I can get a 4 or 5 inch group. I think someone who is a better shot than me could do even better.
 

If you were closer to me I would take them for welding projects. I take the valves out, water flood them once with a bit of bleach, then weld or cut as much as I want.

Someone will want them. For scrap I would think you just remove the valve and they should be salable at the scrap yard but I have never sold one so don't know.
 
Getting the valves out is a job worth more
than the tanks! I just changed the valve on
a 250 gallon tank. It took a 8 foot cheater
pipe before it gave up. In the small tanks
you have to have a special socket to remove
the valve. And then there is the problem of
holding the tank.
 
(quoted from post at 15:07:12 01/20/21)
(quoted from post at 10:39:36 01/20/21)
(quoted from post at 09:05:36 01/20/21) A FMJ 7.62 by 39 will go through way more them most people would believe. It would shot through both tanks and go howling across the countryside. I always laugh what people in the TV and movies hide behind. A car door, give me a break, even the puny 9 MM will shot through both car doors.
Click to expand...
es, and the same movies/TV shows has some people believing every car fire results in a half-magaton explosion! Way back before EPA, etc. , I was around many old cars burned out by wrecking yard, to get rid of the non-metals, and never any explosion, just an occasional "whoomp".....not as much as the smallest fire cracker. Only McGiver can make a huge explosion out of so little.
Click to expand...
hat "steel brace" is just another piece of bent tin. might stop a 22, but not much more

Modern cars ALL have steel braces inside the doors to help prevent total collapse in the event of a crash. While I still would not want to hide behind one if I was being shot at, chances are that the bracing WOULD stop the bullet.
Click to expand...
 

Took a couple in today for filling along with my 1949 tank (tare wt. is 29 lbs) used with a weed burner. Said they couldn't fill it and to take it to the other place where they have the valves. That guy looked at it and said he would put a new valve in but the skirt was too close and there wasn't room to screw in a new valve.

They take a 3/4" pipe thread so I can convert it to an air tank OR I might be able to connect it with another higher up and turned upside down and maybe transfer some over. Never tried it. Either way I may go buy a hundred pound one to run my shop heater.
 
yes a 30-30 goes through. did it many times. those tanks are not that thick.
30-30 goes through 1/4 inch oil well pipe and puts a good dint in the other side.
Hit one target shooting once and was surprised but glad at the same time as I would have hated if it would have ricocheted. I am a little more carfull that there is no metal at the range that gets in the way now.
 
Screw the valve out fill with water cut the hole out to fit a 2" nipple nipple weld in screw on a Tee then with a nipple screwed in the Tee screw on a ball valve then a piece of pipe. Flatten one end some. Other side of tee screw in a plug with a tire vavle in it. This lets you fill with air the ball valve will let it out quick to seat beads with the pipe in the gap by the bead. With tank filled and air chuck on tire stem blast air in gap by bead.
 
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