Firefighters dodging ammo

[Jumping Frog]

Wow thats a bit of ammo. But for us who hold only a few hundred rounds at any given time, would a fireproof container prevent ammo cooking off? or is this just inevitable?

The whole "ammo cooking off" fear is pretty overblown. A cartridge forcefully ejects a bullet when chambered only because all the pressure is vented in a single direction -- straight down the barrel.

You could drop a handful of cartridges onto a campfire and they would burn, but there is no pressure being released and isn't particularly dangerous.

[KD5NRH]

You could drop a handful of cartridges onto a campfire and they would burn, but there is no pressure being released and isn't particularly dangerous.

This. Primers are loud, and that's all the bang you're going to hear from anything using smokeless propellant. Chambered rounds, of course, are a different story, but I do try to keep anything with a chambered round pointed where it's not likely to be much of a threat in a fire. (Anyone standing on top of the toilet behind the gun closet wall while the house burns down is probably not worth worrying about. )

[kragluver]

The whole "ammo cooking off" fear is pretty overblown. A cartridge forcefully ejects a bullet when chambered only because all the pressure is vented in a single direction -- straight down the barrel.

You could drop a handful of cartridges onto a campfire and they would burn, but there is no pressure being released and isn't particularly dangerous.

Absolutely correct. When a round "cooks off" on its own (i.e., not chambered in a firearm), the bullet and the brass will likely be found lying a few inches apart. If you think about the physics, the bullet is the most massive piece of an un-chambered cartridge. When the powder cooks off, the brass will burst and may move (it is light) - the bullet itself will barely move (conservation of momentum). Now, if that cartridge is chambered in a firearm whose receiver will contain the pressure - and whose mass is much greater than the bullet, the bullet will exit as designed with high velocity. In the news story, it sounds as though the homeowner did have loaded guns in the house in addition to the ammo.

Incidentally, the show "Mythbusters" conducted a very good demonstration of this a season or two ago.

[LongHairedRedneck]

my thoughts exactly. I visited a camp house that burned to the ground. 90% of the ammunition had burst through the brass case and the bullet was still seated in the cartridge. If I remember correctly the majority of the ammuntion was .30-30 and .30-06.

[Paladin]

I've heard from firefighters that if ammo is stored in the military steel ammo cans, that the ammo can's are effective at containing the ammo cooking off.

[Thomas]

I've heard from firefighters that if ammo is stored in the military steel ammo cans, that the ammo can's are effective at containing the ammo cooking off.

Umm... I'm not too familiar with ammo cans, but if they airtight, the whole can could become an explosive. Cooking the ammo is going to release a lot pressure and I don't know how well an ammo can hold/release that pressure.

[WildBill]

I've heard from firefighters that if ammo is stored in the military steel ammo cans, that the ammo can's are effective at containing the ammo cooking off.

Umm... I'm not too familiar with ammo cans, but if they airtight, the whole can could become an explosive. Cooking the ammo is going to release a lot pressure and I don't know how well an ammo can hold/release that pressure.

"Ammo cans" are designed for that purpose.

[Capt Jeff]

Agreed. All the spare ammo I have is either in the fire-proof safe or in surplus ammo cans.

[Thomas]

I think I need to get me some Ammo cans.... Thanks for the info

[bikerbill]

I recall asking a question at TFL about the liklihood of being injured by ammo cooking off in a fire and the concensus was that without a barrel to focus the energy of the powder, the extent of injuries from being hit by a bullet going off in a fire was minimal. Of course, the question didn't ask what would happen to you if 100k rounds cooked off ... I'm guessing the firefighters did the right thing by staying outside and letting it burn ...