Ammo exloding..

[Dr Rockso]

So I got a funny story about exploding ammo (apology for potential thread jack here---> sorry!)...

It is 5:45AM and I am asleep in my bed. My mom comes in and goes "Nate, get up, we need to get the ammunition off the floor, it is going to explode!" Still dreaming of a hot date with some foreign supermodel, I said "Mom, you are crazy, why are you waking me up now? Ammo doesn't go off by itself." She then relayed the story of some teacher that smacked a rifle round on a desk to kill a fly and it exploded. With my good eye open (trying to maintain a semi-stupor to go back to sleep) I jump off my top bunk, go to my computer and look up what happened. As it turns out, this teacher had a live mortar/artillery round and when he smacked it on the desk it grenaded a la Saving Private Ryan (remember the end scene where they improvised those hand grenades?).

I told my Mom she was nuts and went back to sleep.

Funny. And sounds like something my mom would have done.

[Jonathan Doe]

There were instances where a person dropped a cartridge in a pile of live ones. The tip of the bullet being dropped hit the primer of one in the pile. The round went off, but no injuries. And there was another case where a coin envelope containing several loose handgun cartridges were dropped and a round went off when a bullet tip struck a primer of a cartridge.

So, if you carry loose rounds in a can, handle it rather gently.

[RANGER295]

[Nodda Duma]

FYI your basic small arms ammunition is considered DOT Class 1.4S explosive hazard.

m. Group S—ammunition presenting no significant hazard. See
paragraphs 3–2b(4), 5–7c(4)(e) and (f), and 6–5b(7). Ammunition
that is packaged or designed so that any hazardous effects arising
from accidental functioning are confined within the package. That is
unless the package has been degraded by fire, in which case all blast
or projection effects are limited to the extent that they do not
significantly hinder firefighting or other emergency response efforts
in the immediate vicinity (i.e., 5 meters) of the package. Examples
are thermal batteries, explosive switches or valves, and other ammunition
items packaged to meet the criteria of Group S items.

In other words, about as safe as transporting your mother-in-law in the back seat.

(Fun fact I learned the other day) Transporting nitroglycerin is another story. Very sensitive stuff. The transport of liquid nitroglycerin has been banned in California ... since the 1860s.

-Jason

[IllTemperedCur]

I guarantee you that the Iraqi desert is hotter than AZ. They don't have problems with ammo cookoff. Good to see that you're thinking safe around the munchkins though. Be sure to rigidly secure the ammo boxes so they don't fly around in case of a collision. That's probably more of a danger than cookoff.

(Fun fact I learned the other day) Transporting nitroglycerin is another story. Very sensitive stuff. The transport of liquid nitroglycerin has been banned in California ... since the 1860s.

-Jason

OT: The Wages Of Fear. A great movie about transporting nitro. Watch it and claw the vinyl off of your sofa during the hairpin turn scene.

Remade by William Friedkin as "Sorcerer" in the 70s. Not quite as good, but the rope bridge scene.....

[rkt88edmo]

Just don't park under any gigantic magnifying lenses and you should be ok.

[ohsmily]

There were instances where a person dropped a cartridge in a pile of live ones. The tip of the bullet being dropped hit the primer of one in the pile. The round went off, but no injuries. And there was another case where a coin envelope containing several loose handgun cartridges were dropped and a round went off when a bullet tip struck a primer of a cartridge.

So, if you carry loose rounds in a can, handle it rather gently.

Fascinating story. You describe it as though it happened to you or you witnessed it. Is this first hand knowledge? If not, do you have a link for the story or any support for it so I can read it?

Loose rounds are shipped in ammo cans all the time and there doesn't seem to ever be a problem. They certainly don't handle things gently in shipping.

[USN CHIEF]

Fascinating story. You describe it as though it happened to you or you witnessed it. Is this first hand knowledge? If not, do you have a link for the story or any support for it so I can read it?

Loose rounds are shipped in ammo cans all the time and there doesn't seem to ever be a problem. They certainly don't handle things gently in shipping.

Me thinks that Topgun has been watching too many movies. LOL. Handle lo
se rounds gently. LOL.

Maybe he was being sarcastic. I hope he was being sarcastic. LOL.

[rtlltj]

Unless your traveling inside an ez bake oven.

[Jonathan Doe]

Fascinating story. You describe it as though it happened to you or you witnessed it. Is this first hand knowledge? If not, do you have a link for the story or any support for it so I can read it?

Loose rounds are shipped in ammo cans all the time and there doesn't seem to ever be a problem. They certainly don't handle things gently in shipping.

It happened in my agency couple of times and there are emails and warning sent out to the personnel. I will see if I can forward you the most recent email I received.

CHIEF, which movie are you talking about?

[Nodda Duma]

OT: The Wages Of Fear. A great movie about transporting nitro.

I saw the one Little House on the Prairie episode when I was a kid and that was good enough for me :P

-Jason

[IllTemperedCur]

Nitro on LHOTP. Awesome.

How about nitro in The War Wagon? Old school Duke.

[Cranium]

Sorry, won't be traveling through Norcal. Slighty off topic, but anyone need anything from AZ gun shops?? Nothing illegal of course!!

Kinda surprised nobody else bit on this one.
If you're going to Prescott, I'll take a couple of hex receiver Mosins. Hell, pick me up some cases of ammo, too, since you're driving. Seriously. Shipping gets crazy on that stuff.

[edward]

Sorry, won't be traveling through Norcal. Slighty off topic, but anyone need anything from AZ gun shops?? Nothing illegal of course!!

You could buy a metric **** load of standard cap mags and break them down before bringing them back to CA, then sell them as rebuild kits.

If you do, try to find the kits that people in CA are having a hard time getting, due to the usual sellers not carrying them. I know when I was looking for G3 20 rd. alloy kits a few months ago, I had a very hard time finding them. That is just an example though, don't need em anymore.

Maybe make a post in the for sale section, 'hey, taking orders for mag rebuild kits.' Or something like that.

[USN CHIEF]

O.k, Top Gun did provide evidence that ammo can explode but not how the OP plans on transporting the ammo.

The evidence that Top Gun provided was where a round was dropped into a box where other rounds where and the round that went off hit another round in the nose when it landed.