Cooking off ammo

[Questor]

I read a really interesting article in a 1980s American Rifleman about a credible experiment in cooking off ammo to see what happens. The author built a 4'x4' room with sheetrock walls, used a fireman's jacket as a target, and cooked off individual rounds with a propane torch. Between the cartridge and the torch was a chronograph.  He used a variety of ammo, including centerfire rifle and pistol, 22LR, and shotshell. He found that the bullets can fly at up to about 250fps, but the primers will fly up to 900fps (even though they only weigh about 2 or 3 grains.).  

The bottom line is that firefighters needn't be overly concerned with loose ammo cooking off because they are adequately protected by clothing and face protection. But looking at the velocities, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a campfire that had cartridges thrown in it.

[rickyp]

The bottom line is that firefighters needn't be overly concerned with loose ammo cooking off because they are adequately protected by clothing and face protection

This is not entirely true! our face piece are just thin plastic, it is made for thermal protection and little in pact protection.
out turn out gear is getting lighter and thinner as new materials come out

A few weeks ago I posted a link to a local fire Dept that had a fire fighter injured.

I worry more about a round left in a gun then them on a shelf

[Questor]

I agree with your interpretation, but I'm echoing the author's conclusions. I wouldn't want to be hit with any bullet moving at 250fps or any primer going 800fps.

[Reed1911]

I believe the national fire marshall (not sure if that is the actual title, but it is close) has long ago issued a memo about such occurances. Their findings were that they posed little concern for the firefighters.

[jerkface11]

I saw an article in a gun magazine once where they tried to cook off some ammo in a fire and the lead bullets melted before the powder went off.

[jgalar]

A club member had a home fire and the fire effected the area where he stored ammo. He stated the bullets just popped out of the cases - none went flying. My guess is that there are different fire conditions that could give different results. It would be difficult to simulate all fire and ammo conditions in the lab.

[rickyp]

It would be difficult to simulate all fire and ammo conditions in the lab.

this is very truc

[Iowegan]

As a ignorant youngster armed with a Daisy BB gun, I once placed a 30-'06 loaded round in the crotch of a tree. It took several shots but finally I hit the primer. The round went bang and blew the case up. The primer propelled back 20 feet or so and stuck in my knee cap. Had to go to the hospital to get it removed. I would imagine a cooked off round would do something similar.

[Gregory]

As a ignorant youngster armed with a Daisy BB gun, I once placed a 30-'06 loaded round in the crotch of a tree. It took several shots but finally I hit the primer. The round went bang and blew the case up. The primer propelled back 20 feet or so and stuck in my knee cap. Had to go to the hospital to get it removed. I would imagine a cooked off round would do something similar.

 
Thanks for your experiment, and sacrifice, in furthering our scientific knowledge.
 
As a newbie reloader I wanted to dispose of a primed case that was defective.  To kill the primer I laid rags over the end of the case (to catch the primer) and proceeded to use a nail and hammer to hit the primer.  When it went off, the primer came out and just clipped the end of my thumb.  It hurt like heck!!
 
Now I use oil to kill the primer.

[Forest T]

Gregory there is a easer and safer way to kill a primer in a case all you do is just squirt some oil in it and that will kill the primer    Forest T