Can you start a fire with your gun?

It's easy. Just use your gun to round up a few Boy Scouts then rub them together. LOL. That's why I always put book of matches and a paper towel into a ziplock along with my hunting license and tag.

Let’s see, if I understand.....You decided to go snowshowing in below freezing weather, and gave no thought to taking precautions....as in fire starting stuff, survival blankets, etc.......alright,, but you did have your cellphone,, so you are fine,,,,right>?>>>>>???

My approach would be to try and pry the bullet out with a knife blade, or find a sharp stone that is hard enough to basically file/cut the case head off. Obviously this could be a real challenge. Deposit powder in a little cup of dry leaves, and have a large handful of dried grass. Place the case head in the powder, primer side up. Place the grass on top and feed the knife blade through the grass ball so the tip is on the primer. Then smack the butt of the knife handle hard and sharp to set the primer off same as a firing pin.

With luck the primer ignites the powder and in turn the grass. Obviously more powder is better so if you can add enough powder from a few rounds you are probably increasing your chances.

Never tried it though, so maybe I’m wrong. And wind and snow may snuff it before the grass catches. If it did light you’d better have more fuel to feed it fast.

Seems a good reason to carry a very powerful gun so you have more powder to work with.

I just keep a Bic lighter in my pack though. They work better.

No problem. This is a situation I am prepared for.

Mn Fats said:

"what if I broke my leg right now?"

...................got me thinking about making a fire with my 45. All the pieces are there, ignition, accelerant... If you could pull a bullet apart it maybe?

Anyone think about this or know something? Just curious.

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There's a 3 letter solution: BIC

I've got it. If you have your phone, start a new thread here on THR bashing 1911s and your phone may just combust from the backlash.

I have a go-bag in my trunk. Due to the idiocy of my employer I don’t have a firearm in the car because they have and will ask to search a vehicle with police present. Anything illegal or outside of the employers rules ends in termination of employment. Everything I carry is multi-purpose, including a cheap axe head and high quality hand sanitizer which is essentially gelled alcohol which is awesome fuel (buy cheap and unscented). I can get sparks with that axe head easily, and the hand sanitizer lights easily. Hand sanitizer on top of a tea light candle makes for a good emergency fire source, even in cold and wet if you stack tight and stack right to make the most out of what heat is available. And that little candle with a 4 hour burn time can be used to transport fire as you move from location to location, it can be used for light, or it can be used to cotterize a knife or that axe head to close a wound.... not always about a gun, but I can think of some good lightweight stuff to stick in a rifle stock...

Well, if anything happens at work on one of our occasional long drives, we're pretty much set.
Most of the guys carry at least a knife, at least half have a lighter, we've (usually) have paper towels and keep stocked up with hand sanitizer. The van's second- and third-row seats are removed so it would make a good shelter, and bright white sheets make for good signals and passable insulation.
If you really get tired and can get over some reservations, you could even sleep on the stretchers.

Either bring a magnesium fire starter or coat some cotton balls with vaseline and keep them in a small film canister with some waterproof matches.....

I saw one of those survivalist on TV do it, he was using a rifle of some sort.

Me I'd freeze to death first.

My partner at work was an Air Force SERE instructor. He can start a fire just about anywhere. I now have a bunch of cotton balls soaked in vaseline in a ziploc bag and a firestarter, and a couple of Bic lighters in my pack. Anytime I'm in the outdoors and more than 500yds from my vehicle, my pack is with me. Darwin hates me...

We played with this a few years back after seeing it on a TV show... We finally found a method that was more successful than the host's.

We got cotton t shirt cloth, put the powder in a cupped portion of it, sealed the muzzle against it and lit it with the primer. Be ready to put it down real fast and wear gloves and glasses.

Whenever we tried to use kindling like the host did, the primer charge blew the powder away.

Don't know, never tried and never will; however, since the OP mentioned a cell phone, people need to understand cell phones DO NOT work every where you might be located. Out here, I camp in areas, some close to major highways and cell phone DO NOT work, and I hike where they will probably NEVER work.

George P said:

a small film canister

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Hey George, the youngsters here have never seen one.

Mn Fats said:

See post #10 fellas . I'm not interested in general survival prep info, as that wouldn't even really fall into THR forum. Maybe under hunting.

I guess Im specifically asking if anyone has tried or knows a way about lighting a fire with their carry gun (No flintlocks..)

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Well if I am out bumming around in the woods my carry gun is likely to be black powder. Not a flintlock but I'll be carrying a real gun and not some little compact or semi-auto that you can't hit anything with. And if not black powder it's a large bore cartridge with a good amount of powder so yes I could start a fire with it but not sure why I would need to since there are easier ways.

Fine Figure of a Man said:

Hey George, the youngsters here have never seen one.

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If they shop on Amazon, they should have:
https://www.amazon.com/BCP-10pcs-Bl...51101305&sr=8-3&keywords=small+film+canisters

great for a lot of things you want to keep from getting messy or lose.

Road flare`s work very well . There there is that rechargeable Atomic lighter. There are striker type fire starters sold at Harbor Freight and Wal Mart.

I would not count rely on my gun to stare a fire.

I'm reading this and shaking my head.

1. I want ya to go out and pull a bullet with no tools. Time how long it takes. Now put on gloves and do it. Now imagine it's 0 degrees out.
2. Now take that empty shell and try and set the primer off, feel free to use a knife if ya want.
3. Be smart and carry a means to actually start a fire.

A battery (from a flashlight) and a piece of foil from a gum wrapper or a thin piece of wire can be used as a fire starter. Some folks carry flashlights a s part of their EDC stuff.... you’d need wire from something....be inventive. Might even be able to deconstruct the flashlight to make enough heat to start a fire. Illuminated rifle scopes also have batteries.

If the sun is out can also use a lense of some sort or glass to start a fire. A bottle or jar with water in it can be used that way as well.

sure , if I'm carrying my flintlock

Mn Fats said:

I dont mean by accident out in California during the dry months, I mean with your carry gun in a survival scenario.

I was out snowshoeing in the woods about 5 miles from my house and as the sun started to set (°8 and dropping w/30-40 mph wind), I thought, "what if I broke my leg right now?"

The obvious answer is to carry a cell phone and proper equipment, but it got me thinking about making a fire with my 45. All the pieces are there, ignition, accelerant... If you could pull a bullet apart it maybe?

Anyone think about this or know something? Just curious.

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Hey Fats, do you regret asking the question yet?

Mn Fats said:

It didn't have to be a broken bone, I was setting up a stranded scenario.

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"I was out snowshoeing in the woods about 5 miles from my house and as the sun started to set (°8 and dropping w/30-40 mph wind), I thought, "what if I broke my leg right now?"

Well this is what I read in your first post I was responding to. But even just exposure can lead to hypothermia and make it difficult to do the simplest of tasks. Just having your hands get too cold can lead to serious problems. If you really need a fire to save your life the simplest and most effective tool is the way to go. And don't put it under layers of clothes. A ice fishing friend got stranded in a lake effect snow band a couple miles out on the ice. The sub zero windchill and snow froze the zippers on his snow suit so he had to cut the pocket open to get his matches.

How many of us can pull the bullet from a 45acp case with numb, frozen fingers? Everything else is irrelevant if we can’t do that, unless the plan is just to blast off a round into a pile of kindling.