Can target shooting start a fire?

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grandutefan

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I live in southern Utah (Moab). 200+ miles north of here is a wildfire that is threatening homes and sent one firefighter to the hospital so far. The news is calling it the Dump Fire and claiming it was started by target shooter. Do you think this could happen? I know cases are hot but enough to start dry grass on fire. Maybe a spark from the bullet hitting a rock? I think it more likely it was a cigarette. I'm curious because I got my big boy coming home for a bit and want to take him shooting, and we do have fire restrictions but nobody said anything about shooting. Thoughts?
 
Yes, it can and does happen. More often than you think. Sparks from bullets hitting rocks or other metallic objects. Dunno if cases are hot enough but they do get HOT. Steel/bimetal jacketed or steel core are more troublesome. I've seen sparks in an indoor range from people hitting AR500 target supports.
 
I would think it's highly unlikely but I do believe it's possible. Sparks CAN occur depending on type of round/target. I wouldn't think that was the cause though.
 
It can and does happen. Last summer when it was bone dry one of the members of our shooters association back in Oklahoma set his pasture on fire while shooting his AR at targets.

Cheap ammo like the steel cased Russian stuff sparks like mad when you hit other hard objects. You can really see the sparks if you shoot that stuff in indoor ranges.
 
incendiary rounds, tracers, and steel core are all capable of it. In short, if you use your brain like you should be doing anyway, its not. but, so few in this world it seems, use their brains.
 
I'd say its very likely.

A while back I bought a good bit of M856 tracers. After reading up a little on load info I noticed a lot of fire warnings! Needless to say, now I only shoot them while it is raining or after we've had a couple rainy days.
 
This was in several newspapers today

Published Thursday, June 21, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY— State officials say they've already traced 19 wildfires in Utah to shooting guns, and that's with about three months left in the dry season.

State Fire Marshal Brent Halladay tells The Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/LjdPFx ) dry conditions and winds this year have made it remarkably easy to spark a blaze. Exploding targets pose risks, but so do regular bullets glancing off rocks and shooting sparks into brush.

Authorities counted 24 wildfires sparked by guns last year, and 20 the year before.

But this year, the earliest gun-induced fires started in February, while they typically start showing up in May or June.

Authorities at local levels can restrict certain types of ammunition and targets for fire safety, but Utah laws limit those kinds of regulations at the state level.
 
I set a bag of sulphur powder on fire with an 8mm Mauser shooting Remington core-lokts. The bag was backed up by concrete. It began smoldering after several hits and then the bag(thick brown paper) ignited.
 
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Oh yeah. Depending on the site and the ammo. It used to flat wear us out putting out fires when we'd be TDY to Ft Bliss. The range control issued those ratty burlap bags on sticks to go out and dissuade the desert from burning and it happened nearly every time we went out and some times - multiple times in a day.

Of course the worst was Raufoss .50 but we would get fires all the way down to 5.56 ball in slow fire too.
 
Our club has had two instances that I am aware of the berm catching fire. One of which I witnessed and helped to exinguish that definately didn't involve tracer rounds. My only thought was a round struck a rock and created a spark.
 
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