"Let The Buyer Beware", fun Darwin Award Nominee story

[Deer Hunter]

I was cruising around the Darwin Awards website and came across this gem. Thought it would bring a smile to some people.

The things people do sometimes for money.

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Caveat Emptor
2002 Darwin Award Nominee
Confirmed True by Darwin
"Let the buyer beware."


(4 February 2002, New Mexico) Police say three men tried to rob an Albuquerque man who had placed a newspaper ad to sell a gun. The robbers arranged a meeting, then beat and sprayed mace on the gun owner in an attempt to steal the weapon. Surprise! The gun seller was also a gun owner. 18-year-old Carlos intercepted a bullet and died before rescue crews arrived.

One can understand the mistake of robbing a man who unexpectedly turns and shoots, but if the robber singles out a victim because he is selling a gun, then tries to steal the weapon, there's no excuse for being surprised to discover he is armed.

As a Darwinian bonus, there's a fairly good chance that the 18-year-old has not yet reproduced...

source: http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2002-09.html

 

[Deer Hunter]

Couldn't help with posting another!

Baked Bullet Surprise
2004 Honorable Mention
Confirmed True by Darwin
(17 February 2004, Wisconsin) Just as squirrels bury their acorns to protect them from predators for later use, a man from Howard put his ammunition and three handguns in a safe place before he and his wife departed on vacation. He wanted to be sure they would be there when the couple returned. But just as squirrels frequently forget where they buried a particular acorn, the man forgot that his hiding place was the oven. When they returned from their trip, his wife turned on the oven to prepare dinner. Shortly afterward the couple had to duck behind the refrigerator as the bullets began to explode like popcorn. The husband used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire the bullets started in the oven. No humans were hurt, but the prognosis for the oven was grim.
DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2007

http://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid2004-06.html

 

[akattack]

"As a Darwinian bonus, there's a fairly good chance that the 18-year-old has not yet reproduced..." Let us pray it is so.

 

[Pilgrim]

As a Darwinian bonus, there's a fairly good chance that the 18-year-old has not yet reproduced...

Wishful thinking these days.

Pilgrim

 

[Blackbeard]

The oven one was on Mythbusters. They found that ammunition left in an oven won't penetrate the walls of the oven. Larger rounds may break the interior glass. Ammunition left in the chamber of a gun, however, will penetrate.

 

[JohnL2]

Hmm.

 

[Charles Foxtrot]

.
Since I'm not about to experiment, and I'm far too lazy to Google, what temperature does it take to cook-off (heh) the ammunition?

Not just idle speculation: I store ammo in the safe.

 

[Charles Foxtrot]

.
Fighting my natural inclination to sloth, I Googled the intrawebs, and found a MythBusters fanboy site with the referenced episode. The MythBuster nutters found the ammo would cook-off about 500 degrees American.

http://www.mythbustersfanclub.com/mb2/content/view/235/27/

Paper autoignites at 451 Fahrenheit (thank-you Ray Bradbury), gasoline at 495. Polyvinyl plastic (Glocks?) melts at 414 F.

Students? It appears that if your ammo cooks off in the safe, you've already had bigger problems.

 

[revjen45]

Bet it didn't do the gun any good either. Can you say "heat treat" kids?

 

[Seancass]

dont worry revjen, heat treat starts past 900*, closer to 1400, really. it'll be ok for the guns. now glocks on the other hand, a mag inside it cooking off would probly mess the gun up pretty good.

oh, and i love darwin awards, just hope i never earn one.

 

[Deer Hunter]

To add something to the cooking-off bit,

steel cased ammo acts a bit different when it cooks off, compared to brass cased, that is.

 

[Robert Hairless]

Mr. Foxtrot, the temperature it takes to cook off ammunition depends entirely upon the recipe. A delicate quiche wouldn't take long but a stew would need hours. Just follow the recipe and, of course, be sure to preheat the oven as necessary.

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