A question I always wanted to ask at TFL, but never did.

[Harold Mayo]

Not to sound like a "Rambo wannabe" or go OT, but carrying a few loose rounds in your pocket is an old trick that a lot of guys that I know do. The theory is that you still have rounds if you shoot your magazines empty. I don't personally see that there is any additional aid in doing that than in carrying an additional magazine but I do it at times, anyway. Makes me feel tactical.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"Wouldn't it blow up with the case going one way and the bullet going the other? You're saying it would just go ffffffffftt."

Yep, it pretty much would go ffffffft.

Smokeless powder is progressive burning, not explosive, Meaning that it burns faster and more efficiently the more pressure it's under.

In a gun you have a vessel that allows for pressure to develop rather nicely. The gun is essentially a pressure vessel.

If a round goes off uncontained, though, the casing itself is a pressure vessel. As pressure begins to rise as the powder burns, the bullet begins to move and pops out. Once the bullet, essentially the cork in the bottle, pops, pressure drops very rapidly.

The powder doesn't have the chance to develop the pressures it needs to burn efficiently or completely. Chances are if a round did go off in your pocket you'd find a lot of unburned powder and soot.

The biggest danger in a situation like this is the primer cup. If the primer compound pops, it is an explosion, and the primer cup and develop significant velocity. At short range it's more than enough to cause an injury at short range.

 

[MountainPeak]

Wondernine, is this really a safety concern you have, or a question about how many rounds to carry in a pocket so women will think you are "REAL" happy to meet them. Just kidding, by the way, I was born and raised in ND. I would be more worried about a freezer lock on flesh than a discharge! Well to each his own. !! Take care, talked to my brother today and he said he was having a 40 degree day. Not bad for Jan..

 

[larry_minn]

Harold Mayo Talks about loose rds. I do that when I don't want to bother to carry spare mag. A Glock mag is as(almost) hard to carry as a second gun. So I often stick half a dozen loose rds into watch pocket of my jeans. My thought is that if I have to use my gun. (and thankfully it has only been for pest control and putting animals out of misery) I can be fully loaded afterwards.
If forced to defend myself do not want to be out of ammo before I am safe.

 

[Gordon]

I would be more worried about hitting a perp and not a bystander if your COP is anything like mine was. Trigger pull about 18 pounds, no sight picture to speak of and danged if I could keep all hits in 7 yd k zone -slow fire! I still liked the "thing" though and kept it about 5 years and yes carried "it" too. Dont put your gun in a micro wave though I got it on good authority it will go off in a minute after lightning storm ect.

 

[griz]

If you are looking for something to worry about, it's probably more likely that a round will NOT fire when you pull the trigger than one just going off by itself.

 

[WonderNine]

That's the COP isn't it WonderNine? How is it when shooting full power magnums? Those looked like they had a bit more grip to them than most tiny 2 shot derringers and would be easier to control. - JohnK

Yes, that's what I have. Bought it NIB awhile ago. I've fired about 200 rounds through it so far and I LOVE it! Very durable and well made piece. Takes a little longer to clean though with the 4 barrels

I used to have a titanium Taurus .41 magnum (415T) as CCW piece, but it was just too loud w/ the 210gr.'s and too big for front pocket carry anyways.

The Cop has pretty good control for a pocket gun. Reasonable sized grip with checkering. I shot about 50 full house 125gr. Remington magnums through it and you wouldn't believe the muzzle blast. The last time I shot it at the range was a few months ago at dusk, some 12 or 13 year old kids were watching me and one says to the other, "That's a .50 caliber." made me laugh.

It is also too loud though with the full house magnums. I carry it with Remington Sabers as they are downloaded to about a .38 spec. +P+ level. Short barreled guns don't really benefit that much from full powered loads anyways.

I would be more worried about hitting a perp and not a bystander if your COP is anything like mine was. Trigger pull about 18 pounds, no sight picture to speak of and danged if I could keep all hits in 7 yd k zone -slow fire! I still liked the "thing" though and kept it about 5 years and yes carried "it" too. - Gordon

True the trigger pull is heavy, but I'm able to pick off bucket sized targets at 25 yards. Gotta squeeze the trigger, but that's like with any other gun. Perhaps you had a lemon? My rate of fire tends to be very good as well. I did some tests where I would rapid fire four shots at a box 10 yards away, I was satisfied with the results.

My biggest problem with the gun is the reload time. You have to pull out each shell individually and load a new one in each chamber. Oh well, can't have it all I guess.

 

[WonderNine]

but carrying a few loose rounds in your pocket is an old trick that a lot of guys that I know do.

Why not use an ammo wallet or speed strip or stripper clips or moonclips or speedloaders or extra loaded mags ANYTHING but loose rounds in the pocket.

 

[mowgli]

I carry the extra rounds in the right pocket of my jacket so when I sweep it to go for the holster it hangs away from my body for a second. Makes clearing the holster a bit easier. A roll of nickles would work too, but you can't shoot nickles if you get in a real bind.

This thread also reminds me of something I read a while back about a Fire Department study with ammo cooking off in fires. It turned out that ammo outside of a gun wouldn't even penetrate a turnout coat.

I am thousands of miles away from my library so please forgive my lack of ability to cite the info. It would stop the nagging in my brain if someone could tell me where I read that report.

 

[Gewehr98]

Those things are kinda collectible now, aren't they?