dropped bullet going off?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - dropped bullet going off?

Posted: 10/16/2004 11:49:24 PM EDT

Anyone ever drop a bullet and have it go off?

Posted: 10/16/2004 11:52:01 PM EDT

[#1]

Nope, and I have dropped literally 1000's of rounds.

SGatr15

Posted: 10/16/2004 11:52:13 PM EDT

[#2]

Never heard of it happening, but I could see it happening from a rimfire if you dropped it off....say, a 5 story building and it landed right.

Posted: 10/16/2004 11:53:10 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Never heard of it happening, but I could see it happening from a rimfire if you dropped it off....say, a 5 story building and it landed right.

True.

SGatr15

Posted: 10/16/2004 11:54:08 PM EDT

[#4]

so you pretty much have to slam it to the ground to have it go off. Just wondering cause I get a little nervous when I drop a bullet

Posted: 10/16/2004 11:58:17 PM EDT

[#5]

No. In fact, outside of a rifle I have only ever seen them go off or even heard of them going off if they are burned.

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:00:59 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
so you pretty much have to slam it to the ground to have it go off. Just wondering cause I get a little nervous when I drop a bullet

Dropping a BULLET from any distance should never make it "go off".

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:23:35 AM EDT

[#7]

No I haven't. Although I did shoot a live .40 cal bullet laying on the ground, with my G19. Damm .40 cal bullet vanished, even the case took off. I then decided, I shouldn't ever try that again.

I also had my G19 slip out of my pants at the top of some stairs. It tumbled all the way down the stairs and didn't go off.

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:29:39 AM EDT

[#8]

It is VERY diffucult to get a 5.56mm round to go off outside of a gun.

Believe me, I've tried.

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:32:16 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:
so you pretty much have to slam it to the ground to have it go off. Just wondering cause I get a little nervous when I drop a bullet

Dropping a BULLET from any distance should never make it "go off".

Yeah, what he said...

Ya'll might be referring to "ammunition" and no, it won't go off if you drop it, unless you happen to drop it in the chamber close the bolt and pull the trigger.

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:38:38 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:

No I haven't. Although I did shoot a live .40 cal bullet laying on the ground, with my G19. Damm .40 cal bullet vanished, even the case took off. I then decided, I shouldn't ever try that again.

I also had my G19 slip out of my pants at the top of some stairs. It tumbled all the way down the stairs and didn't go off.

Did you start using a holster?

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:39:08 AM EDT

[#11]

Well, in the early 90's I dropped a 7.62x39 out of a 9 story building once, onto a asphalt parking lot and it didn't go off.

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:41:12 AM EDT

[#12]

I threw a full beer bottle down out of a 7 story building, it hit the concrete and rolled

But that's not a bullet.

Posted: 10/17/2004 12:42:28 AM EDT

[#13]

I can tell you with absolutely no uncertainty, if you tape a marble to the bottom of a shotgun shell (as I have) and throw it into the air.....

You're an idiot.

Other than throwing it into a fire, it takes an indentation on the primer to set a cartridge off. You can throw it at the ground all day long without it going off. Or it can be dropped just freakin' right when the stars are aligned perfectly...

Personally, I've dropped100's.

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:11:26 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
I also had my G19 slip out of my pants at the top of some stairs. It tumbled all the way down the stairs and didn't go off.

great reason to never, ever mexican carry. Esp with a Glock (did you want to blow your dick off?)

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:17:21 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I also had my G19 slip out of my pants at the top of some stairs. It tumbled all the way down the stairs and didn't go off.

great reason to never, ever mexican carry. Esp with a Glock (did you want to blow your dick off?)

As a white male gun owner I take offense to that.

Posted: 10/17/2004 4:23:08 AM EDT

[#16]

You should never, EVER get mad at someone for ragging on you when you forget to bring some of your groceries camping and then put a shotgun shell (minus the shot of course) in their baked potato while they are taking a piss. Steaks go on the fire, taters go In the coals...... tinfoil ends up hanging from trees and Everybody eats steak only.

I still don't understand why they didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

Rip

Posted: 10/17/2004 4:31:23 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
You should never, EVER get mad at someone for ragging on you when you forget to bring some of your groceries camping and then put a shotgun shell (minus the shot of course) in their baked potato while they are taking a piss. Steaks go on the fire, taters go In the coals...... tinfoil ends up hanging from trees and Everybody eats steak only.

I still don't understand why they didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

Rip

Its all fun n games till someone gets potato in the eye!

Posted: 10/17/2004 4:36:28 AM EDT

[#18]

The Military drops thousands upon thousands of them everyday all over the world... I have never heard of one going off.

Posted: 10/17/2004 4:47:03 AM EDT

[#19]

My dad told me that when he was a youngster, he and some of his friends/cousins would take .22RF and throw them down onto pavement/other hard surface, trying to get the rim to hit just right. They would have one go off occasionally.

He did not tell me until I was an adult.

Posted: 10/17/2004 4:49:33 AM EDT

[#20]

A bullet won't have much velocity if the round goes off outside a firearm, correct???

Posted: 10/17/2004 4:52:46 AM EDT

[#21]

Never had one go bang. Still try to be careful though. I have burned a lot of junk ammo. Makes alot of noise and is a bit un-nerving but not really dangerous. Worst I have seen is a guy got minor cut from sharp edge of flying brass.

Posted: 10/17/2004 5:02:45 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

No. In fact, outside of a rifle I have only ever seen them go off or even heard of them going off if they are burned.

That's true... but stupid people will always find a way.

When I was a teenager, I had a friend who put a .38 bullet in a vice on his dad's work bench, and hit the primer with a ball point hammer, causing it to go off; the bullet put a hole in his mom's windshield.... the dumb ass did it with the car parked in the garage.

Posted: 10/17/2004 5:20:43 AM EDT

[#23]

A live round that ignites outside the weapon will have very little velocity and will usually not cause any significant damage. The case, chamber and barrel of a weapon focuses the forces to get the velocity required. Thats why live rounds cook off in a fire but rarely hurt anyone. Lots of noise though!

As a kid we would drill holes in a peice of wood and put 12ga shells in them. My buddies and I would take turns shoot at the primer with a 22. If you hit it square, kaboom!

Posted: 10/17/2004 5:28:21 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
A bullet won't have much velocity if the round goes off outside a firearm, correct???

From Hatcher's Notebook:

"To get some reliable firsthand information on what really happens when a 12-gauge shotgun shell is exploded while not in a gun, and when it is separated from the flesh only by a thin layer of cloth, as it would be in a shirt pocket, I took a bar of laundry soap, covered it with a pice of white sheet, and laid a shell on the sheet . . . A wire attached to one electrode of an electric welding torch was twisted around the metal base of the shell, and the carbon rod in the other electrode was laid against the primer of the shell. In this way, as soon as the electricity was connected to the welder, heat would be applied to the primer, and the shell would be fired. An ordinary corrugated cardboard box was then inverted over the arrangement just described, to catch any fragments, and to indicate what force they might have.

On closing the switch, the pop of the exploding primer was heard, followed by the rattle of shot inside the cardboard box. On lifting the box, I found that the end crimp of the shell had opened up, and the shot was scattered all around, together with the wads and some unburned powder. There were no marks on the inside of the box, and no scorch or burn on the cloth, and the soap was not dented or bruised.

The next thing I did was to explode a .45 ACP cartridge in the same way. There was only a dull pop, something like a champagne cork being pulled, and again, there was no bruising of the soap or scorching of the cloth. The bullet made a slight mark on the wall of the cardboard box, just a little polished place that could not be called a dent. Most of the powder was lying around unburned and the empty case had not even moved out of the wire loop (that held it in place).

The next cartridge fired was a .30-06. This made a dent on the soap about a quarter of an inch deep. That would have been a mean bruise. We found that the cartridge case had burst open and thrown some bits of brass around, and had left a smoky smudege about an inch long on the cloth. The only damage suffered by the cardboard box was a slight mark where the bullwet had struck.

Next we tried a .32 caliber pistol cartridge loaded with black powder. It went off like a very sick firecracker, and there was no damage.

During all the firing, the pasteboard box was penetrated only once, and that was by the primer, when we tried firing the shell by heating the metal and not the primer."

Quoted:
When I was a teenager, I had a friend who put a .38 bullet in a vice on his dad's work bench, and hit the primer with a ball point hammer, causing it to go off; the bullet put a hole in his mom's windshield.... the dumb ass did it with the car parked in the garage.

In light of Hatcher's experiments, it seems rather unbelievable. Did you witness this or did he tell you about it? Did the .38 bullet actually end up on the inside of the car or just bounce off the glass, making a hole in it?

Posted: 10/17/2004 5:33:20 AM EDT

[#25]

I was shooting .22LR, had a misfire, ejected it, and it went off when it hit the floor. It could have been a hangfire, although I did wait a few seconds before ejecting it.

Posted: 10/17/2004 5:36:27 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
Quoted:
A bullet won't have much velocity if the round goes off outside a firearm, correct???

From Hatcher's Notebook:

"To get some reliable firsthand information on what really happens when a 12-gauge shotgun shell is exploded while not in a gun, and when it is separated from the flesh only by a thin layer of cloth, as it would be in a shirt pocket, I took a bar of laundry soap, covered it with a pice of white sheet, and laid a shell on the sheet . . . A wire attached to one electrode of an electric welding torch was twisted around the metal base of the shell, and the carbon rod in the other electrode was laid against the primer of the shell. In this way, as soon as the electricity was connected to the welder, heat would be applied to the primer, and the shell would be fired. An ordinary corrugated cardboard box was then inverted over the arrangement just described, to catch any fragments, and to indicate what force they might have.

On closing the switch, the pop of the exploding primer was heard, followed by the rattle of shot inside the cardboard box. On lifting the box, I found that the end crimp of the shell had opened up, and the shot was scattered all around, together with the wads and some unburned powder. There were no marks on the inside of the box, and no scorch or burn on the cloth, and the soap was not dented or bruised.

The next thing I did was to explode a .45 ACP cartridge in the same way. There was only a dull pop, something like a champagne cork being pulled, and again, there was no bruising of the soap or scorching of the cloth. The bullet made a slight mark on the wall of the cardboard box, just a little polished place that could not be called a dent. Most of the powder was lying around unburned and the empty case had not even moved out of the wire loop (that held it in place).

The next cartridge fired was a .30-06. This made a dent on the soap about a quarter of an inch deep. That would have been a mean bruise. We found that the cartridge case had burst open and thrown some bits of brass around, and had left a smoky smudege about an inch long on the cloth. The only damage suffered by the cardboard box was a slight mark where the bullwet had struck.

Next we tried a .32 caliber pistol cartridge loaded with black powder. It went off like a very sick firecracker, and there was no damage.

During all the firing, the pasteboard box was penetrated only once, and that was by the primer, when we tried firing the shell by heating the metal and not the primer."

Quoted:
When I was a teenager, I had a friend who put a .38 bullet in a vice on his dad's work bench, and hit the primer with a ball point hammer, causing it to go off; the bullet put a hole in his mom's windshield.... the dumb ass did it with the car parked in the garage.

In light of Hatcher's experiments, it seems rather unbelievable. Did you witness this or did he tell you about it? Did the .38 bullet actually end up on the inside of the car or just bounce off the glass, making a hole in it?

+1...thanks, C-4...

Posted: 10/17/2004 7:36:36 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
Quoted:
You should never, EVER get mad at someone for ragging on you when you forget to bring some of your groceries camping and then put a shotgun shell (minus the shot of course) in their baked potato while they are taking a piss. Steaks go on the fire, taters go In the coals...... tinfoil ends up hanging from trees and Everybody eats steak only.

I still don't understand why they didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

Rip

Its all fun n games till someone gets potato in the eye!

So True ! I wrote it in the context of doing outrageously Stoopid things . Isn't it amazing the things you look back on and say "what was I thinking ?"
That being said...... it was still funny as shit at the time.

Rip

Posted: 10/17/2004 11:59:31 AM EDT

[#28]

I recall hearing of (but not actually seeing) two instances that are sort of along those lines.

In one, a guy at the range dropped something (forget what) on an open box of handgun ammo, hitting the primer of one of the rounds and setting it off.

In the other, a state trooper took off his Sam Browne belt with revolver cartridges in loops and, IIRC, dropped it. One round hit something just right and went off.

In a slightly different context, I recall maybe a couple of incidents where LEOs put a walkie-talkie into a pocket that had loose rounds in it. The rounds went off when making contact with the walkie-talkie’s battery terminals.

All of these incidents go back over 20 years. No one was hurt in any of these.

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:21:15 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

From Hatcher's Notebook:...........

Thanks, C-4.

This comes up regularily here. Always with some "war stories" about how someone's friend's cousin's next door neighbor blew off his leg, etc.

The NRA did the same experiements years ago and I have a very long article about the results, just like Hatcher's.

The NRA article was a result of some kid saying he was shot in the leg by a round thrown in a campfire. Turns out, after being assured it couldn't do that, he confesssed that he shot himself in the leg with a .22 pistol.

Cooked-off rounds do not do major damage. The heavier bullet doesn't move much and the case just backs off the bullet.

But save your Hatcher quote. You will need it again.

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:26:15 PM EDT

[#30]

I've seen it happen twice.

One was a .380 in a plastic baggy full of rounds. The bag was dropped and a round went off. Brass shrapnel was imbedded in the guy's leg, but the bullet went nowhere.

Another was a 5.56 that was dropped just right on gravel. Person was wearing jeans, so sharpnel did not penetrate flesh. Bullet stayed within a few inches of the impact point.

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:30:13 PM EDT

[#31]

my father use to always tell me he would also throw .22LR bullets on cement to get them to go off as a kid. He mentioned on serveral occasions doing this on long roadtrips on major highways through the window. he didnt wait until i was an adult to tell me. but then again i would never try it.

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:36:44 PM EDT

[#32]

Doubt it....

I once dropped 2 full boxs of the 550 round Remington .22 ammo in wal-mart one day, you should have heard the gasp from people, I picked up the boxs and walked off laughing.....

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:36:56 PM EDT

[#33]

Twice? Amazing. Never seen it happen, but as brouhaha implies - if everything is just right I see nothing to prevent it from happening. I've dropped a lot of ammo, fire cooked a few rounds, Thrown a few just to see, and cooked off a primer with a torch. Now, that was impressive. Primer came flying out and penetrated cardboard backing, a la Hatcher. Not too much energy in an unchambered cookoff because as soon as the pressure backs the case off of the bullet, the powder goes flying and pressure rise ceases soon thereafter.

I've seen the results of an out-of-battery ignition of a .50 BMG - decidedly hazardous to your health! Round went off after chambering but before bolt was locked. Shooter was lucky to live; luckier to keep his right arm. But that's not the same as an unchambered ignition. Not at all. Even with .50 BMG, I'd expect a lot of noise, some small frags, but *probably* not a lethal wound. I'd rather watch the experiment from a distance!

Mike

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:37:35 PM EDT

[#34]

I may have posted this tory on ARFCOM before but I will again when I was 12 or 13 I decided that a standard rat trap was not good enough, we had been trying to catch a rat that was living in the laundry room for weeks, he kept stealing the bait ithout getting caught. No matter how light we set the trap or how we set it up, he always got away. I cut the wire on the loop part that actually catches the rat and bent it, where when released it would stike the primer of a 45 acp casing that I had filled to the mouth with Hercules Red Dot and then crammed a 230 grn lead bullet down on. after baiting and setting the trap I went to put in place, as I set it down I jarred the trap to hard which released the "firing pin" and discharged the round in my face. No serious injury though I did have to explain to my dad why my face was bleeding from 13 tiny holes and the laundry room smelled like burnt powder.

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:41:30 PM EDT

[#35]

Nope

Posted: 10/17/2004 1:48:43 PM EDT

[#36]

In light of Hatcher's experiments, it seems rather unbelievable. Did you witness this or did he tell you about it? Did the .38 bullet actually end up on the inside of the car or just bounce off the glass, making a hole in it?

The cartrtidge being in the vice would make a difference. In Hatcher's account the shells were just laid out, with no restraint. Wouldn't that make a difference?

Very interesting stuff C-4.

I always put peanut butter on mousetraps. They try to lick it off the trip and get wacked.

Posted: 10/17/2004 2:18:19 PM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:
In light of Hatcher's experiments, it seems rather unbelievable. Did you witness this or did he tell you about it? Did the .38 bullet actually end up on the inside of the car or just bounce off the glass, making a hole in it?

The cartrtidge being in the vice would make a difference. In Hatcher's account the shells were just laid out, with no restraint. Wouldn't that make a difference?

I doubt it. It may help direct the bullet in a more specific direction, but imagine how quickly the pressure drops once the bullet has actually left the casing.

Quoted:
But save your Hatcher quote. You will need it again.

It's an awesome book. Someone mentioned it in the ammunition forum about a year ago. I obtained it through inter-library loan, photocopied it and read it cover to cover about 3 times. Well, except for the ballistic tables at the back.

Posted: 10/17/2004 2:23:53 PM EDT

[#38]

so it is possible but no very likely.
In other words I have a better chance of getting hit by lightning

Posted: 10/17/2004 2:48:48 PM EDT

[#39]

Any smokeless powder round relies on the chamber of the gun to support the brass or steel (wolf) shell caseing and the great internal preasure causes the powder to burn completly and create the huge volumn of gas that propells the heavy bullet down the barrel.
When a round somehow is set off without any support the thin case ruptures at a very reduced preasure and will blow brass chips and powder (some burned,some possibly not burned)around but the much more massive lead bullet never gets moveing very fast.Not anything you would want your face next to but much less power than a round out of a gun.
I remember reading in some NRA publication about some testing UL labratories did where they burned pallets of small arms ammo and declaired any firemen in proper gear (turnout coats,face shields,gloves ect) would not be likely injured.Much less risk than standard household items such as aerosol cans ect.
The 38 thru moms windshield (see post on first page) might have been partially supported and contained by the vice,giveing it some velocity.
I have dropped countless rounds and never hit one right to set it off but it could happen.Seems to me the highest danger would be bending over to try and save a falling round and catching the effect in the face.I once dropped some tool to the floor at my reloading bench,bent over to try and catch it,and had it set off a stray loose primer.Had some shit blast my face and rang my ears pretty good.Wearing safety glasses when around primers isn't a bad idea.

Posted: 10/17/2004 3:14:01 PM EDT

[#40]

When I was a kid we tossed some 12 ga. primers into a fire. They make a loud bang. Except one flew through the air when it went off and through my sweatshirt, and stuck in my forearm. Still have a scar today. Never told my parents about that act of stupidity.

Posted: 10/17/2004 3:33:35 PM EDT

[#41]

I've never seen a fully loaded cartridge go off when dropped, but when I was in high school, a kid in my class shot himself in the leg with a primer. He had a whole box of them and during lunch he'd take em out in the street n throw em down on the ground to make em pop. One of em hit just right and bounced into his calf muscle. Made an awful mess in the street with the blood. He was taken to the hospital, released a few hours later. The primer, or pieces of it are still in his leg if I recall correctly.

Posted: 10/17/2004 3:38:28 PM EDT

[#42]

On Mythbusters they stuck 22 rounds in place of a fuse and set them off by shorting the circuit. "Buster" the stunt dummy had a few holes in his pants when they got done.

Posted: 10/17/2004 4:39:06 PM EDT

[#43]

Some friends and I took a CCW class and at the range 1 of them was firing and a spent shell ejected and hit an open box of ammo on the floor and exploded a round of 9mm. There was a small chunk blown out of the concrete floor and he said he felt the 'explosion' on his leg. Everyone in the class was amazed.

So if a spent 9mm case can set off a primer, wouldn't dropping a loaded bullet have more of an impact on the primer?

Posted: 10/17/2004 5:04:18 PM EDT

[#44]

Well when I was about 12, I would take 22 shells and shoot them out of a slingshot. I had this bright idea to shoot them at a street sign, tring to get them to go off. Well one did, just missing my eye left a nice powder burn around my eye. I was about 40 feet from the sign.

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