Ever thrown a bullet in a campfire?

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Yes, I have. On a backpack trip 20 years ago, my friend and I amused ourselves one evening tossing 22's into our campfire from behind nearby trees. There would be a low pop. some sparks, and I don't know about shrapnel, we were behind trees!
It was "safe", as we were alone miles from anyone.
 
Never live ammo but spending as mutch time on farms as I have. IV bin around many bon fires and where there's fiRe there's a" hay what yall think will happen if I chuck this in there" . Soon to b followed by the Loss of some eyebrows , smokeless powder bad . Glad I am a lil more grown up now
 
We use to go camping just about every weekend in high school. Five buddies, a case of beer and a campfire at midnight......you think some stuff wasn't thrown in the fire? IT WAS GREAT!!!!!
 
Repeat post my bad off to the yard to light a fire who's got ammo to burn
 
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+1 on the paint can. They sound like grenades and I was scared to death of the rattle ball! :what:

Wouldn't think of throwing a bullet in the fire. As a kid, I did happen to hit a .22 cartridge with a brick on a dare. My ears still ring when the weather gets cold.:scrutiny: That I can write this story is indesputable Proof that Guardian Angels do exist! Guess I'm that retarded brother mentioned above.:eek:
 
Never tried ammo but I did throw a damaged magnesium sidecase from a Penton 400 into a fire once. It took forever to ignite, but when it did it pretty much ruined the fire. It was so bright, we had to turn our backs to the fire for the longest time. The upside was we could wander a good long ways from the fire without a flashlight.

Then there was the time some buddies fired bottle rockets at a friend who was relieving himself in the woods. But that's another story...
 
No, but I know a guy that thought it would be a good idea to rake up all the dog poop in the backyard into a big pile, and then toss some kerosene on it and burn it. NOT such a good idea.
 
I'm so glad that the general consensus is that this is a really bad idea. The Mythbusters said it was not a good idea, but not lethal. I would say that anything that start's with "let take these bullets and try..." has the potential to be lethal.

Stupidity always has the potential to be lethal.
 
Been there done that. Tried to set off centerfire rounds with .22's too from 100yds. Only succeeded once and couldn't figure whether the round went off or the explosion was from the impact.
 
I was out by the campfire enjoying a tasty beverage once when somebody decided to throw a can of bug spray in.

Curled up in a ball when I heard the hissing and then there was a loud pop and a larger fire than before with some holes in the tent about ten yards away.
 
I've always wondered what would happen if you tossed a coconut, still in the casing, into a fire. Never had the nerve to try it though, since it's filled with liquid, I figured it would turn into steam and go off like a super popcorn kernal with shrapnel. If anyone tries it and lives let me know how it went. :neener:

Just kidding. Don't try it............
 
uh....
I used to pull the slugs from 22 cartridges set them pointed upward and light em like a roman candle. When it got the the primer it made a pretty good pop, kinda smoked up my bedroom too. That and various other adventures led me to tossing a Campbell soup can full of gas on a trash fire in 1971 ..and an immediate 6 week stay in the hospital complete with skin grafts. I was 11 then and I don't just "toss" stuff in fires anymore, it was kind of a buzz kill.
 
When I was younger and lived in the country I used to throw my miss fires in the fire. Just .22s, nothing big, though I still have a scar on my finger from setting off a large rifle primer up close.

I threw a can of WD40 into a fire in a 55 gal drum on the job one time. Everyone scattered and waited for the explosion. Don't you know the boss would drive up and get out of his car just as the WD40 sent a fire ball forty feet into the air. He was a Viet Nam vet. I didn't know a 5'9" two hundred and sixty pound man could fit under a Plymouth Reliant K-car.:what:
 
I honestly don't remember if we threw ammo in a fire or not, it's been 40 or 50 years since our folks would drop us off at the base of the mountain for a weekend or so of camping and general foolishness. Look out, 10-year-olds with guns and no supervision.

I would guess we did it at some point with a .22 or a shotgun shell, but ammo was expensive and we had spent the rest of our money on good stuff - cherry bombs, m-80s and strings of firecrackers.

Blasting tin cans into the air with cherry bombs and shooting them with .22s is fun. Remember, we had a mountain for a backstop.

No wonder my ears ring. No, we didn't know about ear and eye protection back then.

John
 
It's the "general foolishness" that I miss. Too many safety warnings and unengaged dads in this country. Let a darn boy be a boy. Set him loose at dawn and hose him off and bandage him before supper.

One of my favorite quotes is from C.S. Lewis, "We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful."
 
If you have a pair of pliers handy, it's easy to pull the slug off a .22 rimfire round - hold the slug (NOT the case!) in the pliers, and just bend the case over with your thumb.

Place the powder-filled case on a flat surface and light the powder (a burning toothpick is perfect for this). You'll get a nice jet of flame for about a second, a loud pop, and the hot casing will go flying off to god knows where.

Centerfire rounds are more dangerous to play with. I've seen primers ejected with great force, and the brass necks can shatter, throwing hot metal fragments everywhere, just the sort of thing that can make a mess of your eyes.

Plastic cigarette lighters will liven a campfire, though... :)
 
When I was a kid I cut a shotgun shell open, drained the powder out, and hit the primer with a hammer and nail on my dad's work bench.
Click to expand...

I did the exact same thing. Wow, a 209 primer has some serious power. My ears rung for a week. I had already hammered on a .22 primer and it wasn't very loud so I figured all primers are about the same so I grabbed a 12 ga shell, stupid me. I will never try that again.
 
A long time ago, perhaps 5-6 years, I saw a report by Underwriters Labs regarding fire and ammo. They burned a case of ammo in a fire with the perimeter screened in to prevent escaping fragments. They to found that only the brass fragments had any velocity and determined that ammo itself would not be dangerous to firefighters who were in their protective clothing. I have since been unable to find that study and UL denies having it.
 
Never thrown ammo, but I do remember a scout outing where we were trying to see how high a can of hair pray would fly if we could get it to explode. Problem was the bottoms didn't always blow.....
 
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