Dropped Live Ammo Can Detonate

[nipprdog]

There was a thread on GT a few years ago about something similar. Guy was shooting at an indoor range, and had an open box of ammo on the tray below him. Edge of a casing bouncing off the wall next to him hit the primer on one of the rounds in the box, igniting it.

 

[BGDave]

And this boys and girls is why you don't put your hand over the ejection port when clearing the chamber.

Many years ago a shooter had a discharge while doing just this.

Mark on the primer matched the ejector in a 45 ACP.

Think this incident was reported in the American Rifleman.

I'm to lazy to find and post a link.

Just tactically catch it in mid-air.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Unpossible. Mr. Safety Nanny's doctoring videos again. I ain't buyin' it.

There.

Now it is a Kirk thread. Thank goodness for DECD.

 

[Old Dog]

Batteries with 2 posts (think 9V) can also set off ammo. A friend of mine heard a small pop and said something like "what was that?". When I looked up, his pants pocket was smoking and he was yelling. Some hot brass and powder in his leg, little holes in his pocket. Only thing in his pocket was a 9V battery and a couple of .22lr. We assume that one of the .22s was resting on both terminals and heated up.

 

[Trigger Time]

So i should stop throwing boxes of ammo at people?

 

[KellyinAvon]

So i should stop throwing boxes of ammo at people?

If I catch the box of ammo I get to keep it, right?

 

[AGarbers]

Their deals are so hot they're explosive! Just wait until Black Friday!

 

[dleak]

now i gotta google horcrux *

 

[DadSmith]

Hmm. So if I through a box of ammo into the bonfire will people run away?

 

[Trigger Time]

If I catch the box of ammo I get to keep it, right?

i like you

 

[Trigger Time]

Good thing it wasn't .45 or everyone in the store would've had their souls trapped in a horcrux.

/end thread

 

[Thor]

There was a reason they didn't put pointy bullets in lever action tube magazines...KABOOM Willey.

 

[Gabriel]

Look on youtube for some videos of ammo being shot at, dropped, crushed, tossed in fires and other destructive testing. Amazing what it will handle without going off. For the record, none of the ammo shown in any video I've seen has detonated. It may go off but there is a big difference between detonation and deflagration. Nitrocellulose powder will detonate if conditions are right but it won't if dropped. It takes a high order detonation to set it off high order. Just being ignited by the primer or fire or whatever isn't detonation. Normally in a fire or other non firearm situation the case will pop the bullet out, you get some flame and the bullets won't even penetrate the box. With a detonation the case would be shattered.

Frank

I throw damaged ammunition in the fire to get rid of it. It just pops, but doesn't do much else without the pressure of the chamber/barrel to direct the blast.

 

[DadSmith]

I throw damaged ammunition in the fire to get rid of it. It just pops, but doesn't do much else without the pressure of the chamber/barrel to direct the blast.

Yep they are like firecrackers.

 

[Tombs]

Does that count as an ND?

I'd say no, as you aren't discharging a firearm.

It shouldn't normally be possible for a drop to discharge ammo, but tolerances exist. If a primer is just a whisper too high, it'll happen easily.

 

[INgunowner]

Is nothing safe anymore,

I expect all future ammo to have tiny warning labels to protect the innocent.

 

[Tactically Fat]

This is, literally, much ado about nothing.

Rounds not in a confined chamber don't do much but make some noise.

Yes, I suppose that something could end up in an eye. But unless you wear eyepro every waking moment, there's also a chance it could happen as you're brushing your teeth in the morning.

Yes, I now believe something as shown in the video *CAN* happen because I've seen it. I've also seen the footage mentioned above where an ejected casing landed just right on an ammo tray on a shooting bench and set one off.

So - what does this change? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

 

[WanderingSol07]

Saw a Youtube video of a guy putting .22lr into a straw, bullet in first, and then tossing them in the air to land on pavement. The straw caused the rim to hit first. He would throw them from the back of a pickup and then duck down. About two out of every five would go off. Bullets never left the straws.

 

[HoughMade]

I'd say no, as you aren't discharging a firearm.

It shouldn't normally be possible for a drop to discharge ammo, but tolerances exist. If a primer is just a whisper too high, it'll happen easily.

Ooh, a foreseeability analysis.

I approve.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

Unpossible. Mr. Safety Nanny's doctoring videos again. I ain't buyin' it.

There.

I forgot we had an 'Safety Nanny'. But I'm ok with it... Someone has to stand up and do it.