Shooting and starting fires

[Scarecrow Repair]

As summer comes on and the grass gets drier, I wonder about starting fires by shooting. With cartridges, it's a question of whether bullets can start fires. I reckon a steel jacketed bullet could spark off a rock, or a broken up steel core could, but what about non-steel bullets? I had always thought the little black ring around holes in target paper was from friction, but a friend says it is oil. But would the 50th round carry as much oil as the first? And if it is a scorch mark, is it enough to start a fire in dry grass?

For muzzleloaders, I have always been leery of the wad and half-spent powder landing in grass. The lead balls are at least as safe as any cartridge lead bullet, but do they retain enough heat? I've never recovered one from a dirt bank soon enough to tell if it was still warm.

Are there any other ways to start fires with guns? I don't think spent cases could, even if they do get too hot to hold after a few shots from a semi-auto.

[Turbinator]

It can and does happen. It has not happened to me, and I have not witnessed it personally, but fired bullets are hot, probably hot enough to start a fire if they are in contact with dry grass for long enough. I would imagine *most* rounds would be embedded safely in dirt but a friend of mine did recount how he and his fellow soldiers started a grass fire during training, after firing multiple rounds in a dry grass area. They had to stomp out the fire, which they did successfully.

Turby

[Greg-Dawg]

One word: Wolf ammo...OK two words.

[JDoe]

You might find these interesting

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=136149

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=112819&page=2

Yosemite wildfire culprit gets community service

Be careful out there (even with water bottles...)

I was out shooting clear plastic bottles filled with water in a national forest once on a hot summer day around noon. After an hour, I started noticing the smell of smoke. After about 30 minutes of this, I realized it was coming from directly below several water bottles I had on reserve (for shooting later) behind a boulder downrange. They were sitting over bark that had fallen from some trees, and what must have happened is the sun shone at just the right angle, and the bottle of water just happened to be in the right shape, for a "magnifying glass effect" to occur. The sunlight was focused on the dry tree bark, which started smoldering.

[Scarecrow Repair]

There's an example of what I didn't mean

The newspaper article says he didn't realize he was shooting steel ammo. I know to not use that just because of the danger of sparks. Does anyone have any first hand experience with copper jacketed lead bullets starting fires from their heat alone?

I suppose what I ought to try is get some straw bales, let them dry thoroughly, take them out to a local field full of gravel, and plug them like crazy to see if they catch on fire. Or if nothing else, hope the straw or whatever backing I use can allow me to recover some right after shooting to see how hot they still are.

[Brutish]

Does this answer your question about whether a bullet is hot enough to ignite something on contact?


(P.S. Your friend is an idiot if he thinks the black ring around the bullet hole on the paper target is oil. First of all, there shouldn't be ANY oil in your barrel when you shoot a bullet through it. Second, even if there were, it would be burned out and turned to carbon after the first shot)

[Eckolaker]

I have seen tracer rounds start fires at Pendleton.

[thempopresense]

At A52 in 2008 a fire was started by a tracer round.

[emilio]

don't shoot at rocks! also avoid shooting metal targets in grassy areas. it's a good idea to bring a little pack shovel with you to clear shooting areas of dry leaves and grass (yea it's hard to just clear the grass, but you can turn the dirt over and that probably helps).

- emilio

[Plisk]

I started a fire with a bullet before... but it also involved a road flare and propane tank

I've shot FMJ .223 at far off-rocks before and seen sparks. So I'd assume anything is possiable.

[Lancear15]

My friend lit the dead under growth of a bush in his driveway on fire with a hand full of the tiny poppers the size of peas you can buy on an icecream truck. There is no doubt a rifle round can start a fire.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Not in this experiment

Bought six bales of straw, shot it 40 times with a Mauser, 60 times with an AR, read a magazine for half an our and saw no smoke, so my answer to my own question is NO. Then, since it's no fun being anal and paranoid unless you act on it, I set a sprinkler to hose it down for an hour or so just in case.

A friend said he couldn't see it anyway, since hunting is not banned in the summer.

No firecrackers, no tracers, no steel ammo, no plastic bottles, no flamethrowers, no nothing, just good old lead and copper jacketed ammo.

I shot as quickly as I could, not trying to aim well, since I didn't want bullets hitting each other. The Mauser was smoking nicely, got a bit more cosmoline out of the wood stock. The action got a little stiff the last 5 or 10 rounds. The AR never hiccuped but it got warm too.

I don't know how many bales the bullets went thru, but none came out the back. I'll keep shooting at them until they fall apart.

The bales in pristine condition:
bales1.jpg

100 holes:
bales2.jpg

Backside of the front bale:
bales3.jpg

[Jonathan Doe]

I have started a fire with tracer before. I never thought I could run that fast with two fire extinguishers.

[Vinz]

Bought six bales of straw, shot it 40 times with a Mauser, 60 times with an AR, read a magazine for half an our and saw no smoke, so my answer to my own question is NO. Then, since it's no fun being anal and paranoid unless you act on it, I set a sprinkler to hose it down for an hour or so just in case.

A friend said he couldn't see it anyway, since hunting is not banned in the summer.

No firecrackers, no tracers, no steel ammo, no plastic bottles, no flamethrowers, no nothing, just good old lead and copper jacketed ammo.

I shot as quickly as I could, not trying to aim well, since I didn't want bullets hitting each other. The Mauser was smoking nicely, got a bit more cosmoline out of the wood stock. The action got a little stiff the last 5 or 10 rounds. The AR never hiccuped but it got warm too.

I don't know how many bales the bullets went thru, but none came out the back. I'll keep shooting at them until they fall apart.

how about doused in gasoline....ok fine. I guess I watch too much of them Mythbusters.

We did start brush to smolder from shooting at a 50 gallon drum. So it is possible.

Vinz

[Vinz]

Your friend is an idiot if he thinks the black ring around the bullet hole on the paper target is oil. First of all, there shouldn't be ANY oil in your barrel when you shoot a bullet through it. Second, even if there were, it would be burned out and turned to carbon after the first shot)

harsh man,


but most likely carbon or metal trace.


vinz