[darklyte24]

ok, how stable is handgun ammo? if you dropped a round on the hard floor will anything happen other than it denting? was there ever a case where a round went off accidently in a gun? does a round only go off when the primer is hit hard?



of course i would be careful as hell with ammo, i probably treat it as i would hold a baby. is it too much?..

 

[G56]

It's very stable, the sensitive part is the primer, but you are unlikely to accidentally hit that with anything but a firing pin. Over many years I've dropped a lot of ammo, never had a problem, although it is possible for a round to hit something that could cause the primer to ignite, it's HIGHLY unlikely.

 

[Dan Burwell]

I saw some pretty disturbing pictures from a guy that had his ammo open on the table beside him when one of his ejected rounds landed on the open ammo container it hit a primer just right and set off a round. I know this sounds like "net" legend but the pictures looked pretty convincing.



Dan

 

[Dan Burwell]

I knew I could find it if I looked hard enough:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...nd+On+The+Bench



You can read down through the It happened to me posts then check out the post by Carl Provan and check out his pictures and I think you'll put the lid back on your ammo next time you are at the range.



Dan

 

[G56]

I shot competitively for years and never saw that happen, nor had I heard of it happening. With a nationwide membership on message boards telling of their experience it has apparently happened more often than I thought, surprised the heck out of me!

Those photos definitely look legitimate.

 

[dmiculek]

Just a few weeks ago I was helping run a relay of deputies thru a qualification course and witnessed a kaboom when a deputy dropped a handfull of .40 S&W and one landed primer down on another case rim. No one injured (other than ego). Bullet was found laying on the ground nearby and the case was ruptured.



This was a first for me in just over 30yrs of shooting and reloading and 21 yrs of LE experience.

 

[cet]

When such an accident occurs, is the projectile any less lethal due to the force of the explosion being distributed in all directions, rather than specifically behind the bullet?



I would personally think the cartridge would behave more like a grenade ... wondering if the amount of power is insufficient to fragment the casing, thus not proving to be lethal, but still dangerous.



Any thoughts?

 

[YukonGlocker]

It does not explode like a grenade. The casing will just go flying. I have seen this several times.

 

[G56]

The main danger is to your eyes, there is a little bit of shrapnel put out, but it doesn't have much power, your eyes are the easiest thing to damage, so the risk would mainly be to your eyes.



American Rifleman had an article about the danger of ammo cooking off in a fire, they testing agreed with Martin Fackler's tests, there is very little danger from ammo cooking off as long as it isn't confined in a chamber, a loaded weapon can be dangerous in a fire, ammo not in a chamber offers very little risk. As an example, a firefighter's turn out gear is capable of stopping bullets or casings from a discharge that aren't loaded in a firearm.