Firemen apparently watch more B-grade westerns than is healthy. Small arms ammo in a fire is a non-event. Just as the kid who comes home with a .22 wound and claims that he got hurt by cooking a round off with a match is concealing having acdess to a gun.

Regards,

Tam 3

Take this opportunity to educate the TV reporter and the news director or editor. Politely inform him / her of what happens to ammo in a fire, and be prepared to provide documentation as proof that you know what you are talking about.

I've done that locally (Portland Oregon) with some success on several mis-reported gun stories. I even got them to issue corrections and in one case, the local cops issued a correction on mis-identifying an "assaualt weapon."

Fire burns up because heat rises, so store your ammo low.

I watches a 8lb can of Bullseye go up in a house fire. It was impressive. No explosion but it burned kind of like a flare. Actually watched it burn a 3' diameter hole through the roof of the garage it was stored in.

Ironically before the powder burned the fire department had used a grappling hook to pull the steel garage door off the front of the garage. They left the crumpled garage door laying in the grass about 30 feet from the building.

Soon the local newspaper reporter arrived and the reporter started looking for eyewitnesses. It was all I could do to keep from laughing as a bystander described to the reporter watching the garage door being blown into the yard when the gunpowder exploded.

And THAT my friends is how these urban legends get started.

As I posted on another website, an old military truism states: "The first report is always wrong." The media's first report often is its only report, and who can blame them? How long will you care about what you saw on TV tonight? You may hate the media, but they know what we want and they provide it.
Cordially, Jack

quote:

You may hate the media, but they know what wethey want and they provide it.

Fixed it for ya.

Cute, Forester, but I prefer my own word. I'm California, you're New Hampshire. You get to prove your opinion real soon now. Then it is my turn.
Hoowah!
Jack

quote:

Originally posted by JayDubya:
Cute, Forester, but I prefer my own word. I'm California, you're New Hampshire. You get to prove your opinion real soon now. Then it is my turn.
Hoowah!
Jack

Good enough. Just having a little fun.

Forester: Roger that!
Cordially, Jack

I don't worry uch about loaded ammo but most of it is in pressure containers (GI ammo cans) and that may make it quite a bit more dangerous if engulfed in fire.

I use a converted refrigerator in the garage (attached) to store my FFFg, Pyrodex and Triple Seven, along with maybe a constant 30-50# of smokeless powder and all of my primers. it has two gate clasps with decent padlocks on it. It rests against a non-house wall and if it EVER becomes involved in a fire, I'll do my best to keep the fireman 500 feet away.

I know the gasoline and kerosene and paint stored in the same garage represent a more immediate danger, but if I see the powder box in flames, I'm moving away now.

I'm with you exactly on the converted refrigerator - except mine's a freezer that stopped freezing. Perfect, good capacity, strong shelves, fairly airtight, steel cover and pretty well insulated. Pulled out the motor & other guts to make it lighter and easier to move, but other than that, it's a pretty good insulated storage box. And I thought I'd invented it!

Oh, and btw, the reason bullets come out of the end of the gun is because the chamber restrains the explosion. If a cartridge simply explodes, the force is expended in all directions at once; and, because the bullet has more mass than the case does, it's probably the last thing that starts moving when the powder blows. So, unless you're holding the cartridge in your hand when it goes off, you're actually pretty safe from it (as previously noted by other well-informed writers).

I don't know why you guys are disputing that fire departments do not retreat from ammo cooking off.

A local house fire was reported a month or two back and the owner was a reloader.

The fire department DID stop fighting the fire after ammo started cooking off.

The concern is that a gun owner might have sizeable amouunts of ammo and or powder might be an overblown concern but LOADED guns which can and do cook off are not. Semi-auto's have been known to keep firing and reloading and firing again according to reports on other forums with LEO and fire personal commenting.

I agree the concern of rounds going off is not a great concern, but when firefighters lives and the cost of disability and injury is high, they are not going to take unnecessary risks.

The local department retreated to let the ammo cook off before continuing to fight the fire incase the discharges were coming from loaded guns which COULD result in injuries or death as they are GUNS firing bullets.

Fire departments have for many reasons the discretion to let your house burn to preserve human life.

Some time ago, perhaps back in the early 80's when I worked in the sporting goods department of a discount store selling guns, ammo and reloading supplies, I came across instructions on how to store powder. Now this is from memory--Powder canisters should be stored in a heavy (steel?) vented box! This is to allow the expanding gases from combustion to harmlessly vent out of the box, so as not to build up pressure inside, and cause the box to have a catastrophic failure. IIRC, primers should be stored likewise, in seperate containers, in small amounts. I don't recall any instructions for loaded ammo, but I would imagine it would be prudent to store it in similar fashion. That way, the cartridge shrapnel would be contained, and the gases would not build up dangerously inside the container and cause it to fail.

I wish I knew where I got that info from, maybe it was an NRA or SAAMI publication, I don't remember. But I would think that checking with either of these two organizations would be a good source for information on this.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to store large caches of ammo and powder/primers in an unattached, underground structure, like a storm cellar. This would keep it cool and protected in the event of a house or grass/forest fire. Also, be sure that the storage location is well protected from water intrusion such as rain, condensation, flood, or fire hoses!

Keep your powder dry!

quote:

Originally posted by max:
I don't have a big enough truck!

+1000!

Between all the guns & ammo I have I would save the guns first. I can always get more ammo.

quote:

Now this is from memory--Powder canisters should be stored in a heavy (steel?) vented box! This is to allow the expanding gases from combustion to harmlessly vent out of the box, so as not to build up pressure inside, and cause the box to have a catastrophic failure. IIRC, primers should be stored likewise, in seperate containers, in small amounts. I don't recall any instructions for loaded ammo,

The poster above is correct; powder and primers should be stored in boxes made of wood, nominally 1" thick. The pressure is NOT to be contained in the box. As to the loaded rounds, the primer will/should pop out first. The NRA has a manual used for teaching reloading classes; the manual contains storage requirements and maximum quantities for both residential and commercial buildings. Caution: I don't know how often the NRA updates this manual.

I don't blame firefighters for backing off when threat of ammo or components are suspected. It seems prudent to lock these things up, and the tighter the better; it's just several of the counter-intuitive things we stumble across in life.

1x2