Video of 9mm Shell set off with Torch

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I used to test surplus ammo to see it was corrosive. I got burned once and ruined a barrel because I stupidly trusted the labeling, so I did this fairly routinely.

I had a square of 1/4 mild steel and I'd scrub the center with some sandpaper until it shined. Then I'd grab my inertial bullet puller and remove the slug and powder from a test cartridge, and grasp the primed case with a vicegrip. Then I'd go outside on the front step, heat the primer with a torch, and try to remember to keep the base of the case pointed in a safe direction while holding the mouth of the case over my steel plate. I wore glasses and muffs, same as for shooting.

There would be a loud pop, the primer would usually fly out, and a smudge would appear on the bare steel. Nothing to it. No gun to clean, no particular time or effort involved. I'd keep the steel in a damp place and a day later I'd know for sure if that primer was corrosive or not.

I was surprised how many people told me I was crazy but there was really nothing to it, other than the eye hazard which was easy enough to mitigate. I felt there was more danger involved whenever I ran my grinder or my saw, and nobody ever called me crazy for doing that. Never got fooled by corrosive ammo again, either.
 
I guess that is proof that rounds going off in a house fire are not dangerous.
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SAAMI did an interesting video of cartridge testing. Ignited individually, dropped from 65 feet in boxes and case lots, shot with a 308, ignited with blasting caps, and cases and cases and cases of ammo burned in fires, including a trailer fire full of ammo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c&spfreload=10
 
I inadvertently tested .22 LR shells 30 years ago as I bent over one morning to stoke a campfire (dumped out of my shirt pocket into the coals). The cases looked like popcorn (the next day).
 
When I was about 16 I closed the overhead garage door on a 16ga shotgun shell with primer end inside the garage. Set that sucker off with a BB gun then hide in my room for a while. No real damage far as i knew but that was the end of my ammunition test phase.

Most fun was a small cannon I made from Galvanized pipe to launch marbles with cherry bombs. Held it in a vice to stabilize. After my mom began to question damage to a couple of our Pecan tree trunks in the yard I dismantled that contraption. That was the end of my cannon making phase.
 
Oh sure, all fun and games till someone gets hurt. You'll shoot your eye out doing that! :)

I have given thought to doing similar but maybe setting the cases vertical on a plate that is heating and noting the temperatures the primers detonate at. Never got around to it but figured it might be entertaining.

Ron
 
A "hazard test" of the ignition of an unconstrained .30-'06 cartridge was written up in Phil Sharpe's "Complete Guide To Handloading", in my 1952 3rd edition. Basically, nothing bad happened.
 
Cool video. As a mischievous kid, I threw a couple of .45 ACP into a fire one time to see what would happen. Hid behind a tree until the round blew. Bullets pretty much stayed in the fire, the brass disappeared and I never found it. Nice to actually see what happens in a more controlled way. I knew the brass would move out, but never would have thought it could go that far into the gelatin.
 
Malamute said:
SAAMI did an interesting video of cartridge testing. Ignited individually, dropped from 65 feet in boxes and case lots, shot with a 308, ignited with blasting caps, and cases and cases and cases of ammo burned in fires, including a trailer fire full of ammo.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c&spfreload=10
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Thanks for that SAAMI video. Well worth the time to watch it and it confirmed several things I had always believed about ammunition in "bulk".

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It was pretty interesting.

The only down side was thinking of the half million to million rounds of ammo they used to do that.
 
A few years ago I suffered a house fire, and a .50 Caliber shell sitting on a self detonated. the bullet disappeared, but the casing was within inches of where it had been sitting, it had split at the neck.
 
None of you have ever thrown rounds on a camp fire? It is pretty harmless, other than the pop you get like a fire cracker going off. It really is no big deal without the chamber containing the pressure.

ETA: please don't take this as me telling you it is ok to throw live rounds on a fire. That is your own decision, just don't expect anything spectacular if you choose to do so.
 
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None of you have ever thrown rounds on a camp fire? It is pretty harmless, other than the pop you get like a fire cracker going off. It really is no big deal without the chamber containing the pressure.

ETA: please don't take this as me telling you it is ok to throw live rounds on a fire. That is your own decision, just don't expect anything spectacular if you choose to do so.
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Harmless in that you are not likely to get harmed, but my testing shows that if you are in the path of a bullet or case, you are likely to get injured.
 
I've watched that video of the simulated house fire with the huge load of ammo inside. Very interesting.
Used to have a couple guys at the local range that would lodge a 'fail to fire' round in the target frame and shoot a .22 into the casehead. The .30 Carbine made a healthy pop.
Another buddy once shot a .22LR into a full CO2 cartridge placed out about 10 yards. The CO2 cart ruptured and flew back to hit him in the chest! Only thing hurt was his pride. :D
 
When I was a kid we would take 22s and use a Wham-O slingshot to send them into a brick wall and see how many would strike rim first and go off. Then there was always the several in a fire. :)

Ron
 
This is why I warn against keeping a round chambered in your (fire) safe. I do think a safe will contain loose ammo, but in chamber with breech closed is a different matter.
 
Harmless in that you are not likely to get harmed, but my testing shows that if you are in the path of a bullet or case, you are likely to get injured
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I'm curious how much penetration would occur if the gelatin was set a couple feet away from the round when it popped.

Keep in mind, to calibrate ballistic gelatin, a bb is fired at it, and 3 or so inches of penetration is the norm.

Ballistic gelatin is great stuff, and can tell us a lot, but it still isn't exactly like live flesh in all instances. I don't think 3+ inches of penetration in live flesh from a bb going 600-ish fps is going to be typical, having known a number of people shot with bb guns (including myself). Heavy clothing generally stops bb's pretty well.
 
Malamute said:
I'm curious how much penetration would occur if the gelatin was set a couple feet away from the round when it popped.
Click to expand...
I don't think the case will slow down within a couple of feet. Nor will the bullet. The issue with setting up a test that way is that it gets exponentially more difficult to reliably strike the 6"x6" gel block the farther away you get. I do not have a tanker of propane and half million rounds like SAAMI.
 
You still have to be more afraid of the case, but especially the primer.
The bullet won't be going fast enough to hurt you.

A primer may be going faster then the bullet would have been if fired in a gun!

They will for sure hurt you!

As will rim-fire cases.

rc
 
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