Widener's On Fire

[Bubbles]

I hope no one gets hurt.

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=80632

Firefighters are on the scene of an apparent ammunition storage facility explosion near Indian Ridge Road and Locust Lane.

Johnson City, Jonesborough and volunteer firefighters were called to at Widener's Reloading & Shooting Supply Inc. in the area of West Market Street and Indian Ridge Road just after 10 a.m.

Traffic is reportedly being diverted from the area because ammunition is cooking off and shooting across West Market Street.

Not much information was available on what happened, but radio traffic from JohnsonCity/Washington County 911 dispatchers indicated a building near the property contained fireworks, powder and fertilizer.

A witness told the Johnson City Press that he saw a big plume of white smoke that turned black and heard what appeared to be fireworks.

No injuries were being reported by 911 as of 10:45 a.m.

A photographer and reporter are on the scene.

Keep checking JohnsonCityPress.com for more information.

 

[hso]

RATS! Awful news.

 

[Tim the student]

I hope they can extinguish it quickly without injury. Along with that, I hope a fair amount is salvageable.

It seems to be a common thing these days for gun oriented businesses. Nosler, Springfield, and now them. Where are the conspiracy theorists? It has to be an evil plot by (insert terrorists, politicians you don't like, etc here)

 

[Shadow 7D]

Damn, that sucks

 

[Buck Snort]

"Traffic is reportedly being diverted from the area because ammunition is cooking off and shooting across West Market Street."

Has anybody here actually witnessed such a thing? It seems to me like it'd be impossible.

 

[Shadow 7D]

probably the brass and stupid media

Mythbusters did an episode about hit, the bullet doesn't really move while the case goes flying (and not really that fast) off.

equal and opposite, the only pressure is what it takes to pop the bullet out of the case neck.

 

[forindooruseonly]

Has anybody here actually witnessed such a thing? It seems to me like it'd be impossible.

the bullet doesn't really move while the case goes flying (and not really that fast) off

Don't think the bullet would be the problem as much as the brass.

My father dropped a .45 ACP cartridge he had just reloaded off the bench and by chance the primer struck a sharp corner of a press laying on the floor and detonated. The bullet bruised the crap out of his thigh, but a large chunk of brass had to be surgically removed from his calf. Part of the case head and rim.

A buddy of mine nearly lost his eye to a piece of brass from a .22 cartridge stuck in a straw and thrown in the air.

Those are my firsthand experiences. I don't want to be around any ammunition cooking off.

 

[rcmodel]

.22 RF cases, all centerfire primers, and handgun brass fragments attain dangerously high velocity at close range.

Any of them flying across the street would not hurt you if it did hit you.

Here are photo's of some testing I did to answer the same question in my mind.

Rounds were placed inside a loose 1" aluminum thin-wall tube for guidance, and set off into galvanized furnace duct sheet-metal.

Test set-up:



Impact, side one: The aluminum Blaser .357 case head completely penetrated the sheet-metal. The RF cases and some of the primers nearly did too.


Impact, side two:



Recovered rounds:
The .223 round blew out the primer and all the powder burned out through the flash hole without the case exploding, or dislodging the bullet.



Note: The thin-wall aluminum guidance tube was not even dented.
Ammo loaded in magazines would almost certainly be fully contained inside the mags.

In no case did any of the bullets have enough velocity or energy to hurt you.
The other components are a whole different story!

Primers & rim-fire cases are most dangerous, followed by pistol round case fragments.

I think you would be in much more danger from exploding aerosol cans, paint thinner, lawn mower gas, and gas-grill propane tanks in the garage.

Only a round actually chambered in a firearm would have enough velocity to hurt you when wearing FD bunker gear.
It will have the full power of the firearm, just as if it had been fired normally. That's why it's not wise to store loaded firearm's leaned in a corner, or a drawer pointed at chest level!!

rcmodel

 

[rr2241tx]

Dang. I guess that means all that cheap US872 powder is off special now. Hope they had good insurance.

Thanks to rcmodel for the nicely documented experiment.

 

[doc540]

Sorry to hear this. I like buying from these people.

 

[armoredman]

I hope nobody was hurt. Everything else is covered by insurance.

 

[nathan]

Dang, sad thsi happened. I have had dealing s with WIdeners before. In fact i bought one of their last .3006 South Korean M2 suiplus ammo in 2004 just before they were all dried up.I still have it to this day. They are great people to deal with and fast shipping too. I hope they recover from this disaster.

 

[Texas Gun Person]

I'm a member of my local volunteer fire department.

We really don't worry much about loose ammunition sitting around in a house or building. It'll give you a scare, but that's it. Loaded firearms we take a bit more cautiously.

 

[zoom6zoom]

They posted on arfcom that the facility that was on fire was NOT a part of their business, and that they are 100% OK and up and running.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

It is clear that the main building on the highway where mail orders are processed and shipped (and where locals like me pick up our orders) was NOT affected.

The 30x30 foot storage building that burned was off in a field by itself; there was no evacuation of local residents indicating a lack of threat of danger.

2 Sep 2002 "Ammunition storage facility explodes near Johnson City/Jonesborough line" By Becky Campbell, Press Staff Writer, http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=80632

The map in the paper shows the storage shed that burned was in an open field far removed and not a threat to local residents, some of who watched the fire from a distance.

The Widener's website is up.


Update: ordered some ammo for the next military match through the website for local pickup and received a phone call the order would be ready for pickup Tue 3:00-5:00pm.

 

[paintballdude902]

noooooooooooooo