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Thread: Bullets in a fire

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Bullets in a fire

    Saw it on TV once. Guy got wounded by a round going off in a fire.
    Could that really happen????
    I would think the case would blow before the bullet is expelled.
    Has anyone tried it????
    As and experiment of course.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master


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    Check this out, it hurts looking at it, but only because the loss of all that ammo.
    "Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it."
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by abunaitoo View Post
    Saw it on TV once. Guy got wounded by a round going off in a fire.
    Could that really happen????
    I would think the case would blow before the bullet is expelled.
    Has anyone tried it????
    As and experiment of course.
    Have I tried it, no. Can it hurt you? Yes.

    The bullet is not what you have to worry about. Those usually stay put. The shell on the other hand tends to turn into a mini rocket. If they decide to just blow up instead, then you have the possibility of brass shrapnel causing injuries. This type of stuff usually doesn't have a lot of power to it. A wood crate or a steel ammo can will usually stop them. Bare skin won't stop it quite as easily. I don't know how likely it would be to kill you, but I'd rather not be the one to find out.
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    I read somewhere that firemen would/could not be hurt by exploding ammo, it wouldn't penetrate their fire suits.
    There is no barrel/chamber to help the cartridge build pressure or direct the boolit.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    The physics of it would suggest that you'd probably have to be in the same room or within not too many feet to be injured by a piece of flying brass.

    As Grmps mentioned, there's no chamber to prevent the brass from freely expanding and separating from the bullet at greatly reduced pressure.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    A local sporting goods store burned down here many years ago. They had a lot of ammo on their shelves and some of it "popped off" in the fire. When this began happening the firemen trained their hoses on the ammo stacks and got that stopped. None of the firemen were injured even though they were real close to the ammo that was exploding. They did not even have any brass particles embedded in their protective gear but it did give them a scare at first. When they got the fire out they were laughing about asking for combat pay for working in a live fire environment. The arson investigator who examined the scene privately reasoned this had been a "friction fire". He claimed the store owner's checkbook and the mortgage company's payment coupon book had rubbed together so much that this probably started the fire.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Wheelguns 1961's Avatar
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    Friction fire! That’s funny!
    Due to the price of primers, warning shots will no longer be given!

  8. #8
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    Bullets in a fire will just melt

    Cartridges in a fire may explode but there's not much danger unless the cartridge was contained in a chamber at the time. A loaded gun in a fire presents a danger to those around, particularly firefighters. If the round contained in the chamber cooks off the projectile will be expelled from the barrel as if the gun was fired in a normal fashion.

    A cartridge in a fire will also cook off but the relatively heavy projectile will not be launched with significant force. The casing may become a projectile but it lacks the mass to do much harm. The casing is also relatively weak and is more likely to simply split open as opposed to being launched as an entire unit.
    Last edited by Petrol & Powder; 10-19-2018 at 08:38 AM.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I do not worry about my loaded rounds....I do worry about the 150k+ primers I have stocked piled....they are in a separate building.
    Don Verna


  10. #10
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    Young, dumb and bulletproof; we threw .22 LR and shotgun shells in the campfire to liven things up. Once a .270 was tossed in and THAT was exiting when the brass rocket launched and hit a pickup close by. It didn't even scratch the paint, though.


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  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    We did put some 38 shells, that we found in a shed, in a fire when we were kids. Seemed like a good idea to a couple of 10 year olds. You could here the brass whizzing in all directions and by your head. We never tried that again.

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Long time ago, me and my helper were running a long run of emt up in a warehouse along a concrete wall. He worked off the lift and I did the bending on the floor and handed the pipe up to him. He was using, I forget the name brand, using a little hammer fired concrete pin setting device that used crimped .22 blanks to seat the pin through the strap into the concrete wall.

    Anyway, one of the blanks got away from him and was laying on the floor by me...when I dropped the bender to the floor the handle landed on the .22 blank, firing it. Scared the heck out of me. A few minutes passed and I noticed my left forearm bleeding. After looking closely I found an entry slit and exit slit about an inch apart just under the skin, a piece of that crimped brass must have blown off the case. I didn't even feel it hit me.

    I doubt it would have passed through clothing or a jacket but it sure could take an eye out.
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  13. #13
    Boolit Master

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    Once upon a time in a land far, far away, I watched a UH-1D burn from about 50M away...240 gallons of JP-4 and a ton or so of magnesium make for a very hot fire! The 7.62 in the ammo boxes sounded like popcorn popping but don't recall any injuries from fragments.

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  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Done it as a demonstration many times a loaded 30-06 in a cardboard box. The primer is the most dangerous as it really flies out of the pocket and will penetrate a layer and a half of cardboard, next is the case if the brass shears off the bullet just bounces around in the box. To destroy loaded ammo we just put it a little at a time in the wood stove outside and let it go and then salvage brass for scrap and lead for re moulding.

  15. #15
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    I have seen cases after a fire, and they generally are split open and jagged looking, with the bullet often still in place (maybe it has to do if the bullet was crimped or not?). I'd say that there is a small degree of eye danger, but doubt they'd go through any kind of clothing really, certainly not through turnout gear. I was on a fire about this time last year at an old farmhouse that we were fighting, when the fire reached the basement ammo started going off, sounded like weak little pops. Still a little scary since we had no way of knowing what was loose and what might be chambered rounds. I'm honestly more concerned about accelerants in a fire than live ammo, I.E. paint cans, aerosol cans etc... One of the craziest ones I've dealt with involved crawling in a burning semi trailer full of Dominos Pizza fixings, the non stick spray cans kept popping off and flying around the trailer on fire. Way worse than any live ammo I've encountered!
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  17. #17
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by Thin Man View Post
    A local sporting goods store burned down here many years ago. They had a lot of ammo on their shelves and some of it "popped off" in the fire. When this began happening the firemen trained their hoses on the ammo stacks and got that stopped. None of the firemen were injured even though they were real close to the ammo that was exploding. They did not even have any brass particles embedded in their protective gear but it did give them a scare at first. When they got the fire out they were laughing about asking for combat pay for working in a live fire environment. The arson investigator who examined the scene privately reasoned this had been a "friction fire". He claimed the store owner's checkbook and the mortgage company's payment coupon book had rubbed together so much that this probably started the fire.
    Friction Fire - Love it!
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  18. #18
    Boolit Master


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    Loaded ammo in a fire is not dangerous. But a firearm with a loaded round is another story.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Had a pick up truck catch fire years ago behind the seat were 2 boxes of 12 ga bird shot shells. some the crimp unfolded others the sides split, these were the plastic shells not the older waxed paper hulls.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Loaded ammo in a fire can be dangerous, mostly due to brass particles and primers flying around. While serious injury could happen the likelihood is pretty small. A loaded firearm in a fire is another story. Contained in a chamber and cooking off is the same as being intentionally fired. The Firemen that I know and have worked around are much more worried about aerosol cans or bottled propane.

    I recently saw a show, maybe Chicago Fire or 911, where a Fireman was injured by a loaded firearm in a fire. That may have been the show that the OP saw.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check