AZ Home Ammo Explodes

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yo Mama

Yo Mama

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
3,230
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/p...t-Phoenix/XPdUOc9NUkyTEhslbhXuaA.cspx?rss=704

News article I saw on tv on a home here in AZ that caught fire, and the ammo inside exploded.

I've been told that they will let your house burn down to the foundation if a crew showed up and bullets started exploding. I was also infored this wasn't a bad thing as the home is easier to rebuild. :D

How do you store your ammo, and do you even worry about this?
 
No, ammo doesn't "explode"; it WILL "cook off", and make all sorts of banging and popping noises, but it wouldn't be hazardous in any event, unless you were holding that super-heated round in your hand. Even if it WERE to cook off, the only part you'd need to be even remotely concerned about is having a lightweight piece of sharp brass come flying at you, which can't even make it through a cardboard box, let alone a heavy firefighter's coat.
 
Every fire has its own dangers. Burning ammo is a small risk, and to be honest the fact that the home was known to be unoccupied, and the fire had already self ventilated were probably just as much of a factor in the decision to go defensive.

A fire that has self vented (in other words burned through the roof/walls) has entered what is known as the 'free burning' phase- and this is when the heat produced by the fire is most intense. I usually have my crew go defensive at that point as well, especially in an unoccupied single family dwelling.

It is all about risk versus benefit- the home is a total loss, there is no risk of loss of life, so why put emergency crews inside, and risk an injury to them? Risk a little to save a lot, risk nothing to save nothing.
 
How do you store your ammo, and do you even worry about this?
Click to expand...

I don't worry about it because it doesn't happen.

Ammo not in a gun does not "shoot bullets at firefighters" like this news story I saw on Fox News claimed.

The bullet is heavier than the casing so physics says the casing is likely to fly farther than the bullet unless it's in the confines of a gun's chamber.

This is the media at work, as usual.
 
The bullet is heavier than the casing so physics says the casing is likely to fly farther than the bullet unless it's in the confines of a gun's chamber.
Click to expand...

Fine. I invite everyone to stand in front of a box of 357's that gets thrown in a campfire. No takers?
 
chris in va said:
Fine. I invite everyone to stand in front of a box of 357's that gets thrown in a campfire. No takers?
Click to expand...

Strawman. ;)

The 4.6mm Colibri has less energy than a Daisy Red Ryder, does anyone volunteer to be shot with it?

That argument doesn't mean it's powerful.
 
Fine. I invite everyone to stand in front of a box of 357's that gets thrown in a campfire. No takers?
Click to expand...

How much does it pay and do I get to wear a full set of firemans safety equipment?
 
The American Rifleman did an article on this a few years back. I thought I had saved it, but I cannot find it at this moment. If I remember correctly (I think I do, but I'm not 100% positive), it was the primers that flew with the most velocity and did damage. The primers could just barely penetrate a heavily used firefighter's coat, but not a new one. It's not likely to be lethal, but is probably not fun. I wouldn't worry about my ammo, powder, or primers in the event of a fire. They are all going to burn, and I doubt they are going to be any more dangerous than the canned food in the kitchen.

From personal experience, I had a round of .38 Special wadcutter cook off in a metal bucket full of brass put on top of the wood stove to dry it out after some winter shooting. It was about as loud as a .22 L.R. being fired, flung some pieces of brass out of the bucket, and scared the crap out of everybody in camp. PM me if you would like me to send you a picture showing the remains of the case, bullet, and primer. By sheer luck, nobody was injured. This was a good illustration of the saying "Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." Needless to say, I won't try to dry brass in that manner again.
 
urban ledgen

I was at a machinegun shoot when there was a hang fire which got ejected.
the rd mad a snap like a cap gun and th case flew 25 feet to land in front of my wife, the gunner got a cut on arm when the case flew by.
so what do you want to prove with the handful of 357s,that it scatered the fire or that you ========.
 
Fine. I invite everyone to stand in front of a box of 357's that gets thrown in a campfire. No takers?
Click to expand...

In firefighter gear and face shield? Sure. In a t-shirt? You're gonna get cut by flying brass. That's hardly the same thing as having the bullet coming at you at muzzle velocity. Again, it's just physics.

You act like this has never been tested or observed before. I assure you it has been.

Even the boys at Mybusters did this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BX1kvJVrjc

And the thread linked above shows some very interesting pictures by rcmodel. Notice in his pictures the results, as physics says they should be. The heavy bullets don't go anywhere, the light brass gets blown around pretty good.
 
Fine. I invite everyone to stand in front of a box of 357's that gets thrown in a campfire. No takers?
Click to expand...
I'll do it. T-shirt and shorts. Pay my travel, lodging, meals and I'll do it. Hell I can even bring a few friends.
 
You guys are overlooking the possibility that there may be ammo stored in a gun. A semi-auto can fire many rounds on it's own. About once a year you see a news story about some guy who stores his weapon in the oven, forgets about it and then the rounds start cooking off when he is trying to heat up some pizza.
 
Does primer cook off first because it's more volatile? If so, I would guess that the process goes something like this:

1) primer cooks off
2) case splits and pieces fly all over
3) loose powder burns up
4) bullet just sits there

It sounds like you wouldn't be in much danger if you were wearing eye protection and heavy clothes. However, if we're talking about a large quantity of ammo, then the air is going to be filled with flying scraps of brass. Not catastrophic, but not so good for the firefighters.
 
About once a year you see a news story about some guy who stores his weapon in the oven, forgets about it and then the rounds start cooking off when he is trying to heat up some pizza.
Click to expand...

That's the only one I've ever seen or heard of. I'll be 59 soon.
Click to expand...

I'm 55, and I've never even heard of anybody keeping a gun in the oven. Wouldn't the fridge be safer? Too much risk of condensation?
 
..."Does primer cook off first because it's more volatile?"...

more volatile, thinner metal, and much less heat sink than the case has.

gunnie

PS- wonder what a microwave would do?

:)
 
The myth about getting killed by rounds thrown in a fire was proved to be BS when I was a kid. Back in the day when on the Boy Scout summer jamboree we use to booby trap the other troops by placing ammo in their camp fires. The first year it was done it got their attention, but in later years everyone thought it was a waste of good ammo. During this time I think two 12 ga. Rounds (Paper casings) cost a nickel at the Western Auto Store. Hey that was a lot of money, a six pack of Coke was two bits( a quarter), a loaf of bread was ten cents and gas was $00.16 a gallon.
 
You guys are overlooking the possibility that there may be ammo stored in a gun. A semi-auto can fire many rounds on it's own. About once a year you see a news story about some guy who stores his weapon in the oven, forgets about it and then the rounds start cooking off when he is trying to heat up some pizza.
Click to expand...

Ok, let's take a look at this. Ammunition stored in the gun? Where? Chambered or in the magazine? A magazine full of ammunition wouldn't cook off in any appreciable order, except that the magazine itself, being thinner than the frame, would invite the BOTTOM round to cook off first.

Chambered round? Ok, the chambered round WILL, eventually, cook off, and fire. Now, how much velocity is open to question, as the round may simply be hot enough to explode, venting into the magazine. Still, a semi-auto wouldn't go full-auto in your scenario. It would, at most, chamber a second round, or attempt to, as the lack of anything restricting the recoil forces should result in a jam. Even if it did chamber another round, THAT round would have to be heated to the point where IT would cook off. Doesn't sound to viable to me. How about you?
 
Chambered round? Ok, the chambered round WILL, eventually, cook off, and fire. Now, how much velocity is open to question, as the round may simply be hot enough to explode, venting into the magazine. Still, a semi-auto wouldn't go full-auto in your scenario. It would, at most, chamber a second round, or attempt to, as the lack of anything restricting the recoil forces should result in a jam.
Click to expand...

Since the barrel and receiver would tend to act as a heat sink, I would expect the round in the chamber to be cooler than those in the magazine. That means the rounds in the magazine would go first, simply venting gas harmlessly, before the chambered round went. That would pretty much preclude a second round being chambered.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

armoredman
  • Locked
Be careful
Replies
6
Views
1K
tommyintx
T
D
  • Locked
(AZ) Prescott trespasser chased out of home, hit on head with gun
Replies
7
Views
631
El Tejon
E
V
  • Locked
Ammo explodes... proper permits?
Replies
5
Views
596
ants
A
E
  • Locked
dont forget to tell the Fire Department!
2 3
Replies
54
Views
3K
divemedic
D
Y
  • Locked
Open Carry = Good; Open Stupidity = Not Good
Replies
17
Views
1K
Sam1911
S
Back
Top