Here's a Doozy for Y'All—

[MrBorland]

FWIW - I was in the Springfield Armory Museum a little while ago, and on display was a Civil War era musket that had been hit by lightning. The barrel was twisted like it reached 3,000F, but upon inspection, it was found the musket hadn't discharged, and the cartridge was found intact. Here's a link:

http://www.nps.gov/spar/historyculture/mishaps.htm

 

[Apuuli]

According to Wikipedia, it's 30,000 C or 54,000 F.

 

[Iramo94]

I'm not a scientist, but I'll do my best to figure this out.

Temperature is basically an aggregate measurement of kinetic energy, because we can't get the energy of each individual particle, we get an average.

Since the current in lightning is actually not very large, and even smaller after it goes through the resistor that is your body, there probably aren't that many electrons actually passing through you. Now, each of those is carrying a HUGE ammount of energy, but the current is what we want to look at.

So we have some of the lightest particles in the world, electrons, passing through the gun. And there aren't many of them. That means that the total kinetic energy passing through the gun is probably not very high. Ergo, not much heat. Besides, the gun itself is a conductor, a much better conductor than either you or the air around you. Low resistance means no molecular collisions, which means minimal energy transfer, which minimizes the heat that appears.

I think what is written down as the heat of lightning is actually the heat that appears in the air as the electricity passes through it. That would happen because the resistance of air is extremely high, so high in fact that most books just assume it to be infinite for the purposes of electrical wiring.

Conclusion: You are probably safe from lightning in the gun because the gun won't heat up much. Now what it does to your body is a different story. It's survivable, but you'll definitely lose some movement.

 

[x_wrench]

if you received a direct hit by a lightning bolt, your gun going off would be the least of your worries. however, to be honest, if i thought i was in a situation, where i seriously had a good chance of being hit, i would dump that two pounds of mini-lighning rod to better my survival chances.

 

[FROGO207]

Well think about it-----If you ended up with the heat INSIDE the firearm like how it is theorized here how do people survive when the airplane skin is hit by lightning??? The firearm would not discharge as the electricity would shunt around the skin of the bullet or the actual firearm itself on the way to ground. This is how you are not hurt when the airplane you are in is hit. Also you die when hit because the voltage disrupts your heart beat rhythm. At the same time electricity flows through the body, heats it up and turns the conductive water/salt mixture to steam. The same process as it does to the water in sap filled bark on a tree. Well I would think that a firearm would be of no concern if you are hit anyway.

 

[General Geoff]

The electricity itself would not likely ignite the primer or powder, as the chamber surrounding the cartridge would typically be a better conductor than the casing material. The heat that's built up into the gun by a direct lightning strike, on the other hand, could very well cook off the round in the chamber. As I've read of metallic objects on persons being flash-welded together via lightning, it strikes me as very plausible for a lightning strike to heat a gun up well past flashpoint for the chambered cartridge.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I think that in the vast majority of cases, the strike is too fast to heat up the gun enough to cook off a primer.

See:

As I've read of metallic objects on persons being flash-welded together via lightning, it strikes me as very plausible for a lightning strike to heat a gun up well past flashpoint for the chambered cartridge.

A lightning strike could certainly generate enough heat for a cook-off......and probably weld parts of the gun together.

 

[Apuuli]

So there IS a connection!

 

[barnbwt]

I'll bet the round will only go off if you have your finger on the trigger, so carry safely during storms

Personally, I'd be more worried about the state of my drawers, in such a situation... I would bet that if a box of shells I was holding got hit it would be pretty exciting, too, though.

TCB

 

[MutinousDoug]

I recall, years ago that a BP hunter here was found dead in an aspen grove of a lightening strike. There was some controversy because he had bruising and burns around his waist that, at the time was thought to be evidence of foul play. I don't recall whether his gun had been actually damaged in some way, or just discharged.
Anyway, the forensic report concluded that the strike had set off some pre-made cartridges on his belt. His death, however resulted from the lightening.
The lesson being: Aspen grove is not a guaranteed safe lightening shelter.
At least in Colorado.
YMMV

 

[pikid89]

The mythbusters did in fact test a myth involving ammunition and electricity

The myth was could you use a .22 LR cartridge as a fuse in a vehicle

they pushed past the normal parameters of a vehicles electrical system, but they proved that electricity will in fact set bullets off

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-gun-cartridge-fuse-minimyth.html

 

[MachIVshooter]

The myth was could you use a .22 LR cartridge as a fuse in a vehicle

they pushed past the normal parameters of a vehicles electrical system, but they proved that electricity will in fact set bullets off

Yeah, push enough amps through them, and they'll warm up to the point of ignition. Brass is a pretty good conductor, so no real risk in the 12v, <30 amp interior fusebox of an older automobile that actually uses glass fuses; It'll burn up the wires or component first. But try it in place of a large fusible link, you may have quite the "fuse pop".

 

[scythefwd]

if the ammo was part of the path of least resistance.. I could see it happening. We do have electronic ignition on BP guns now.

 

[pikid89]

don't forget the Remington 700 Etronix that used a 9 volt battery to send an electric current through a special primer...a little different but still similar

 

[blackguns]

Unless the firearm (any type) were directly part of the ground path or somehow heated to the point of ignition by something nearby (clothes, flesh, etc.) burning I doubt anything would happen. The pistol on your hip, not touching a grounded surface, would exists in a zone of equipotential. Similar to how birds can sit on bare high voltage wires or how the crazy SOB inspecting the interstate transmission lines, wearing a faraday suit, can literally walk on the lines as long as he doesn't find a ground path.

A g-lock (cause they can handle anything!) wouldn't even know it had been strapped to a sorry soul that had just been hit by God's taser.

If that same pistol where somehow a part of the ground path and it was a nice conductive path, I would expect that all the ammo would ignite simultaneously, the frame and slide would both melt and a large portion of it would be converted to vapor. If you were wearing it at the time, well, you wouldn't miss it.

Electricity is perfect in its reliability and predictability. We call it unpredictable because we don't often know all the variables in every situation where we see electricity in action. But in all of history, electricity has not once chosen to ignore a path to ground.

 

[herkyguy]

Wouldn't the holster, in theory at least, keep the gun out of the path of electricity? I've been struck by lightning in an airplane and didn't feel a thing when it struck the nose and went out a wing (taking a generator with it along the way). if you were struck on the top of your head and then it exited out of your foot, it seems the lightning would not have a path to the gun since the holster is presumably leather or kydex or something?

by the way, i am by no means an expert. I failed physics II the first time and squeaked by the second time with a C- because the instructor liked me.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Wouldn't the holster, in theory at least, keep the gun out of the path of electricity? I've been struck by lightning in an airplane and didn't feel a thing when it struck the nose and went out a wing (taking a generator with it along the way). if you were struck on the top of your head and then it exited out of your foot, it seems the lightning would not have a path to the gun since the holster is presumably leather or kydex or something?

by the way, i am by no means an expert. I failed physics II the first time and squeaked by the second time with a C- because the instructor liked me.

The amount of voltage your dealing with where lightning is concerned changes the game a bit. Grab a high voltage power line, the current will take the most direct route to ground. But lightning may go into your head and exit your hip, then arc the rest of the way to the ground. It may also turn metal parts of your attire into branding irons instantaneously.

http://www.google.com/search?q=ligh...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CA4Q_AUoAQ&biw=1429&bih=555

 

[langenc]

I believe that someone who is direcrly hit by lightening has their corneas detach. Seems like I read that sometime ago.