Rescue Mike: 07/24/2005

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Ammo..

A list server that I am a member of has been tossing around ideas on how to store your ammunition. It has been pointed out that any quantities of ammo going off at roughly the same time might act as an explosive if the house were to catch fire. It has also been said that firemen won't go into a structure with lots of ammo, because they don't want to be shot by a bullet that "cooks off".Another party brought about the idea that if you store your ammo in a gun safe, and it cooks off, the safe is now a GIANT explosive, and could level your house.. Hummmm.

So, I have done a little investigating..

"Any Quantities" is a misleading term, so let's define it to mean less than 5,000 rounds of ammo. I, of course am not storing quite that much, but we'll call it a nice round 5,000 in this discussion.

Myth: When ammo cooks off, the bullet will kill you.
Answer: This is soooo untrue. The brass is actually lighter than the bullet, and if the ammo cooks off, the BRASS would actually travel faster than the bullet. But, since there is no gun to restrain the brass and channel the energy, it has a tendency to go everywhere! In most cases, the bullet and brass go opposite directions, and can usually be found within about 40 - 50 ft of each other. About the same energy as a strong rubberband.

Myth: When ammo cooks off all at once, it will result in a HUGE explosion.
Answer: Again, false. IF the ammo cooks off at once, (highly unlikely) it will be a lovely show, but it won't level the house, and it won't blow up the neighborhood. It will help the fire though.. Lots and lots of heat! I saw a video from Iraq, of a Taliban truck that was hauling about 50,000 rounds get hit by a .50 Cal machine gun. As the truck burned, the ammo started to go. It was kind of an exponential reaction. 1 then 2 then 4 then 8 then 16 then 32, 64 etc.. You get the idea. By the end, the ammo had it so hot, the thin metal fenders were just nothing.

Fact: If ammo kept in a gun safe cooks off, there will be a huge explosion.
Answer: AHhhh, now we are getting somewhere! Explosions are simply an energy release. If the energy it free to travel in 360 degrees, its small. If it's restrained, now that's a whole different ball game. Ammo in a gunsafe, if, (and that's a big a if) if, it cooks off all at once, will result in a lovely explosion. It's a contained reaction, and it will be impressive.

OK, so 5,000 rounds is actually a fairly small amount of ammo in the grand scheme, and if a fire were to occur in the ole homestead, this amount of ammo would cook off but would not be any super really bad horrible problem.

Besides. A fairly large amount of my ammo will be expended at the class this coming weekend!

Six days and counting!