Paranoid thought

[Prince Yamato]

As I'm giving my apartment a thorough cleaning, I had a horrifying thought... if I were to run over a bullet with a vacuum cleaner, and somehow strike the primer, what kind of damage would one be looking at? The bullet would probably just go *pop* right? And do what? Destroy my vacuum cleaner, burn a little bit of the carpet? Since there is no barrel to direct the bullet down, it wouldn't fire off in any direction, right?

 

[Josh Aston]

Not likely to happen, but if it did, yeah, it'd pretty much destroy your vacuum cleaner. It would basically act like a mini grenade. It would have a relatively small (kill) radius rather than being directional.

 

[Drgong]

You would kill a lot of dust mites, and your cleaner would be FUBAR, but you would be ok as long as you didn't have a heart attack.

 

[TStorm]

A cartridge firing without being confined will separate into two parts. Case and projectile.

The one with less mass (case) will want to go farther and faster.

I concur with the others. Hope you don't have Dyson ($$$), and don't need your deposit back.

 

[jad0110]

A cartridge firing without being confined will separate into two parts. Case and projectile.

The one with less mass (case) will want to go farther and faster.

I concur with the others. Hope you don't have Dyson ($$$), and don't need your deposit back.

Exactly. Physics at work. The worst I'd imagine that could happen was that you could be injured by the empty brass flying up and hitting you in the eye. That would surely suck.

The heavier bullet wouldn't move far, perhaps a few feet.

I'd love to see the look on the customer service rep's face at Wal-Mart when you try to return that one ! How would that story go?

I agree though, highly unlikely event. Maybe something for the Mythbusters to try.

 

[Chuck Dye]

As I recall, when NRA cooked off numerous different unsupported rounds under simulated house fire conditions, none of the components were deemed to pose a threat to firefighters. Whether and how that applies to vacuum cleaners is anyone's guess, but I suspect that everything would be contained even if the vacuum cleaner is damaged or killed.

(And please, your concern is about the ingestion of a loaded cartridge, not the bullet alone...)

 

[Neo-Luddite]

And, depending on what type of vacum you have--and how often you empty the bag/canister--you could be in for a REAL mess; remember, fine household dust could ignite in the bag creating a little fireball-on-a-stick.

Years ago (college apartment), using a little stick vac with a bag (what my Grandma called an 'electric broom' when I was a kid) I sucked up a strike-anywhere match and had the bag go WOOOOOSH. You might get similar results from a .22 with the added bonus of some shrap from the case. Less likely to go off but more deadly with a centerfire cartridge.

Also similar if you leave ammo in the grass and hit it with the lawn mower.

 

[Chihuahua Floyd]

What kinds Texas sized vacuum do you use? I think it would be pretty difficult to ignite the primer of a centerfire round in a vac, 22 rimfire, don't know. I have picked up a few live primers, no bang.
Fellow at Wal-Mart told me he dropped a case of primers and did burn down a vac.
CF