keeping ammo in hot car

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rhinov

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Summer is coming and it will be getting hot. A few months ago I started keeping a shotgun and rifle in my truck and ammo for both. I am wondering if I could have any problems with the ammo being left in a hot vehicle. The ammo will not be in direct sunlight. So will this be enough to prevent any potential problems.
 
I had no problem with rifle, pistol, shotgun, or belt fed ammo kept in a vehicle while in Iraq during the summer. The temp(unofficially) got to 148F, and inside the trucks was hotter. The guys with belted 40mm had no reported ammo problems either, but didn't fire many rounds at all.

The weapons themselves got hot enough to burn skin- I needed gloves to operate my M249.

I see no problems with vehicles storage, besides basic security- especially if kept out of direct sunlight. I would keep chambers empty, however, for that and other(impact and fire in a collision) reasons.

If it makes you feel better, replace your vehicle ammo regularly. Peace of mind is worth more than current ammo costs. Plus, it guarantees you range time and practice.(wouldn't want that "heat degraded" ammo lying about)

Marksmanship is a perishable skill. Take any excuse to train that you can.
 
I've kept all 3 types in the trunk for over a year on the gulf coast... no problems.

Heck, after a few months... use it as range ammo if it worries you.
 
I think ArmyCop119 hit the nail right on the head. I've left ammo in the passenger compartment of my cars even in South Florida. Keep things that go boom out of direct sunlight (and hence direct view). Cycle your ammo frequently. In the extremely unlikely event of a bake-off, keeping chambers empty should really limit the amount of potential danger.

Steve
 
Never had any problems. I have my automobile vault secured in a shaded location.

If you are overly concerned, there are companies that manufacture cooling devices. Place your ammo beside one. I really believe it is a non-issue. We should send this one off to Myth Busters.
 
I kept a lot of ammunition in an M3A2 in the desert without any problems. Our 25mm rounds hung a couple of inches behind the engine. I don't know what the temperature inside of that thing was, but it was really freaking hot.
I'm not saying that your rounds won't cook-off, but I've never heard of it happening.
 
I keep AK mags loaded in my truck year round. It goes form high 90's to 100's in the summer to the teens or lower at night in the winter. I usually rotate the ammo through the mags by shooting it once a year. Other than a round or two (out of about 300) of Wolf not going off, which is normal no matter how its kept, they all go bang.
 
even if it did get hot enough to set off some rounds, it would not explode and do any damage except maybe set your car on fire..
for a bullit to do any damage, it has to be in the chamber where the primer and brass can not blow out first.
 
Funny how experience crosses over. Quite a while back a similar question came up over digital photography equipment as the battery packs can be far more heat sensitive than ammunition.

So I did a series of experiments and the end result was that the following steps could reduce the temperature of your items by as much as 27 degrees in the typical automobile.

1) keeping items in the trunk (or other storage area out of direct sunlight).

2) Using a cheap white-styrofoam cooler or wrapping items in a thick blanket (My thick wool "Chief Joseph" blanket seemed to work best).

3) Combining 1 and 2

I also discovered during the course of my experimentation that something as simple as a light colored covering (such as an old white sheet) also kept the temperature down quite a bit even when directly exposed to sunlight.
 
I've never had any problem with ammo, but never leave a Bic lighter on the dash in August. It will blow up.

Biker
 
+1 No worries. I travel frequently to Kansas and Alabama, by car, to see relatives. I only own five weapons so I take them all with me whenever I travel by car and leave them in a range bag in the trunk. No worries with the weapons or the ammo. If you're in an area with high humidity, you may want to get a small container to hold excess ammo in and a small pack of desicant.
 
Live in Vegas where it gets really hot in summer. No problems with ammo in the vehicle. I do rotate carry rounds frequently though due to breakdown caused by frequent tempurature changes. Go from 120 degrees to 70 degrees indoors, etc. Plus long term varancies such as temp being as low as 20 at night sometimes in the winter. But basically ammo wont get hot enough in the car to go off.
 
Definitely don't keep ammo in a hot car

Stealing cars is a felony, and possessing firearms during the commission of a felony can add another 10 years to your sentence. When you're in a hot car, make sure you're unarmed.

--Len.
 
Warren hit it on the head, although I'm not sure how much accuracy degradation means for the rifle you're using, although if any of my match .22 ammo gets exposed to anything other than 60-80 degrees, I put it in a pile that gets used at lower matches than I would normally use that brand/lot for.
 
If you're going to store ammo in a hot car for any length of time, it might make sense to rotate it out occasionally. A few months might not be too bad for it, but heat accelerates chemical reactions and deterioration is a chemical reaction. I keep a loaded rifle in the trunk and I use the ammo and replace with fresh a couple times a year. Never had any issues.
 
Hot car .... bad news ....

Definitely don't keep ammo in a hot car

Stealing cars is a felony, and possessing firearms during the commission of a felony can add another 10 years to your sentence. When you're in a hot car, make sure you're unarmed.

--Len.
Click to expand...

That was funny Len .... :D
 
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