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34" Scale 5-String |
I have seen and read quite a bit on what happens to ammunition when introduced to fire. Some say nothing happens; others say the ammo will go off when a fire is introduced. This evening I decided to find out for myself. As always, do NOT try this at home!!! While seated near my campfire tonight, with my trusty Winchester 9422 laying nearby, I decided to remove one of the .22 CB rounds it was loaded with, and then toss it into the hot coals at the bottom of the fire. Within about 10 seconds there was a loud “pop” as the round went off! So please, if anyone claims that fire won’t cause live ammo to discharge, they’re smoking some good stuff!  This message has been edited. Last edited by: bronicabill, _____________________________ Bill R. North Alabama | ||
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Membership has its privileges |
This is the best video I have found regarding fire and ammunition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c Niech Zyje P-220 Steve | |||
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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
28,000 round bonfire  Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | |||
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Ammoholic |
They need to ban that video from YouTube. I need a safe space every time I watch it. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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| Not as lean, not as mean, Still a Marine  |
It's not that fire (or heat) won't cause a round to ignite. It's that without the chamber to contain and direct the energy, the cartridge more of less explodes and the case usually goes further than the bullet. Non- shooters will be afraid that a box of ammo in a house fire equates to a firing line for first responders. Most shooters, or combat vets understand burning rounds make noise and sparks, but are far less dangerous than commonly reported. I shall respect you until you open your mouth, from that point on, you must earn it yourself. | |||
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| Distinguished Pistol Shot |
Yes, the ammunition will detonate. As the round is not contained in a chamber and barrel the pressure will not guide and accelerate the bullet. the brass and bullet will follow the physics rule of equal and opposite directions. Both with high weight and low velocity. It would probably cause damage if one hit you in the eye, but would not penetrate past the skin otherwise. | |||
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| The Quiet Man |
I can speak with authority on this. About a decade ago I watched my F150 go up in a tremendous fireball in my driveway. Remember that recall? Yeah. Anyway, contained in a gear bag in the back seat of that F150 was 300 rounds of 5.56, 50 rounds of buck, and a couple boxes of .40. It cooked off. Every bit of it. It was like watching a fireworks show. The case would heat up, rupture, and sometimes fly a fair distance. For the most part the projectiles(the heavy bit) stayed pretty much where they were while the case blew apart. Fire department wouldn't go near the truck, and I didn't blame them. Thing burned so hot that I had to have people with shovels come out and scrape the melted aluminum from the wheels off the driveway. Melted the siding right off the house. Impressive really. Happily, Ford ended up reimbursing my insurance company and my rates didn't go up. Fun day. | |||
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Member |
Decades ago when I was in my youth I got the bright idea to see what would happen if I set off a 12 gauge shotgun shell laying on the ground with my BB gun. It took me a few shots at about 15 feet and I did it. Much to my surprise the plastic casing flew back at me and struck me in the wrist smarting a lot. The lead shot was laying on the ground in a lump where I had planted the shell. | |||
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| SF Jake |
I’ve encountered rounds cooking off multiple times in my career, it is a little unsettling I have to admit even though I realize it’s probably the least of my worries in any typical structure fire. Being in absolute zero visibility and enduring 300 plus degrees on the floor is bad enough....rounds going off as we approach the fire room has given a few of my rookies that WTF why aren’t we backing out response.... I just tell them...stick with me kid and you’ll be fine! ________________________ Those who trade liberty for security have neither | |||
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| Member |
Minor thread drift: The exterior scenes were filmed at the Topeka Regional Airport https://www.mtaa-topeka.org/ which was once Forbes AFB. http://www.strategic-air-comma...bases/Forbes_AFB.htm The KS Air Guard flies KC-135Rs from a corner of the field and there's also a nice air museum: http://www.combatairmuseum.org/index.html | |||
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| Member |
This has been studied extensively in the fire fighting world. Conclusion: it won't bother someone in FF turnout gear. Like cgode I've encountered it a few times and in the context of a structure fire it really is a nothing. What has bothered me is not loose rounds but a loaded gun cooking off as I see that as having actual danger. And where I live probably most houses have one. Normally when I see guns in the homes in my area I see shotguns mostly and they are muzzle up or muzzle down so that is probably the most likely orientation in the fire and obviously not a real issue. As a casual aside I've pulled a few guns out of the remains of a good house fire and oddly enough it didn't seem to take much to protect them. One in particular stands out as it was a WW2 1911 that the owner wanted us to search for and we found in a not much left of the house type fire. It was in its original leather holster and other than the holster was a goner the gun itself looked fine. But it was loaded and I suspect would have been an issue had it cooked off given its location. I wouldn't test this area without at least some basic eye and debris protection... “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” | |||
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Member |
So no mention of a round in chamber of a gun in a fire. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ | |||
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semi-reformed sailor |
Ammo in a house fire will just burn off, fire fighters in turnout gear are fairly safe from the brass even within ten feet or so, as the lead weighs more than the case and the case is mostly what get sent out and away from the fire. Unless it is in a barrel, it will just burn off... In my first house, I was able to have the fire dept come by and tell me how to store stuff “safer” in the garage, etc... When I showed them the gunsafe and the primers and powders on top of them, they had a cow! The old guys knew it wouldn’t hurt them as it would burn off quickly and it wasn’t constrained. So, leave ammo in its box, don’t store powder or primers or ammo in metal lockers so that if it burns it can burn freely. I intentionally put the powder above the safe so responding fire fighters will put water on my safe to cool it and put out the powder/ammo "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | |||
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| Too old to run, too mean to quit! |
I don't believe I ever met anyone who was so badly informed that they would believe ammunition would not explode in a fire. Elk There has never been an occasion where a people gave up their weapons in the interest of peace that didn't end in their massacre. (Louis L'Amour) "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical. " -Thomas Jefferson "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Alexis de Tocqueville FBHO!!! The Idaho Elk Hunter | |||
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Tinker Sailor Soldier Pie |
Exactly the first thing that I thought of. Seriously, who wouldn't know this? ~Alan Acta Non Verba NRA Life Member (Patron) God, Family, Guns, Country Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan "Once there was only dark. If you ask me, light is winning." ~Rust Cohle | |||
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Spread the Disease |
Technically, no. It will deflagrate. Ammo bonfires are a REQUIRED test by the DOT to ship ammo in a specific packaging configuration (see the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods: Manual of Tests and Criteria). Most ammo will "go off", and send the projectile and brass case flying, but with nowhere near the velocity of a fired round. Nearly all ammo that is shipped over public roads has been in a bonfire in its packaged configuration. ________________________________________ -- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. -- | |||
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"Member" |
Widely know, sadly widely ignored. The FD asked me about ammunition when my house was on fire. Before they got there, I'd already moved my powder supply far away. lol I've extinguished an intentionally set ammo fire of a few hundred rounds with a standard extinguisher, dressed in normal street clothes. I may have been in some danger of being hit with flying copper, but it needed to be done. _____________________________________________________ Sliced bread, the greatest thing since the 1911. | |||
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| I have not yet begun to procrastinate |
I sure as hell would!! Was this on clueless rookie day? What if the truck was in your garage? They would have happily let your house burn down? That dept needs a cluebat used on them...hard and repeatedly. Ammo is NO BIG DEAL, even a lot of it. Sounds impressive, looks neat but dangerous? Oh hell no! Booming car tires on fire cause you to jump but professionals aren’t supposed to run and hide. -------- After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box. | |||
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| Save an Elephant Kill a Poacher  |
Many years ago some of my shooting buddies and I were plinking and camping out in the wilds. Before we left town, I loaded up a handful of .38 with no primer or powder. One night while we were sitting around our campfire (I am probably sure we had a beer or 2) I reached into my pocket and pulled out the .38's and said 'I wonder what would happen to these in a fire' and then tossed them into our campfire. They were screaming and low crawling away yelling at me to get back. I laughed my butt off at their antics. I'll remember that bit of fun for along time. 'I am the danger'...Hiesenberg NRA Certified Pistol Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Life Member | |||
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| Freethinker |
Every gun owner should be familiar with this video, not to mention every LEO and firefighter. ► 6.4/93.6 “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.” — Plato | |||
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