Strange incident

[CountryBoy19]

It seems to me that I just read a story a week or so ago about this happening. A few guys at the range, one saw the case hit the tray of ammo and boom.

Are primers getting more sensitive? I have never heard of ammo going off this easily until the last few months...

 

[Drail]

Different batches of primers have different levels of sensitivity to impact. If a primer is seated a little too deeply the anvil is closer to the compound than normal and a light impact in just the right place will set it off. People who reload for S&W revolvers with very light springs have known for years that if you seat the primer deeply enough to almost crush the primer it will fire in a gun that will not ignite a standard primer. I have been using Federal primers for many years and when seated deep enough to almost flatten the cup they will fire every time where factory ammo would not. Everything was just right for this to happen. Another reason I cringe every time I see someone at the range whack on a pistol's slide when it doesn't go fully into battery.

 

[XtremeVel]

Had this same thing happen at Eagle Creek a few years ago. A guy was shooting a Taurus .380 with Wolf steel case ammo. Ejected case flew to the right about 12', landed on another shooter's carry ammo (Remington Golden Sabre .45ACP) that was in a plastic box. Hit the primer just right, 45 detonated.

IMO, thats not as shocking as a .40 setting off another .40. The diameter of a .380 rim would be small enough in comparison to a round using a large pistol primer that I could believe it possible that it could enter deep enough to detonate the primer. Comparing a deprimed .40 case to see how deep the rim of another .40 enters, I wouldn't of thought it would be enough.

I do think there possibly could be enough force though. If the case leads with the heavy end ( web end) when ejected with any authority, all that would left for this to happen would be a one and a million perfect hit.

 

[CarmelHP]

I find it hard to believe that the force of impact set off a primer. I've seen out of time revolvers that a firing pin hit a primer hard near the center without the primer firing. I could, however, believe a hot case falling and laying on a primer could cook it off.

About being in barrel, a cartridge needs to be in a barrel for the bullet to have any directional stability, but, if it goes boom outside a barrel, case and bullet are still going to go flying and a hot ball of burning powder in all directions. Not enough velocity to penetrate skin most likely but enough to sting or damage an eye.

 

[sjstill]

I find it hard to believe that the force of impact set off a primer.

You finding it hard to believe doesn't negate that it actually happened.

 

[E5RANGER375]

You finding it hard to believe doesn't negate that it actually happened.

yep. i cant argue with people who have seen it. flippin crazy day that would be

 

[XtremeVel]

I find it hard to believe that the force of impact set off a primer. I've seen out of time revolvers that a firing pin hit a primer hard near the center without the primer firing. I could, however, believe a hot case falling and laying on a primer could cook it off.

About being in barrel, a cartridge needs to be in a barrel for the bullet to have any directional stability, but, if it goes boom outside a barrel, case and bullet are still going to go flying and a hot ball of burning powder in all directions. Not enough velocity to penetrate skin most likely but enough to sting or damage an eye.

I understand what you are saying. Until I saw the case on display at Roush, I would not of believed it possible either.

I keep hot cases from jumping in my ammo. That thought just bothers me, but honestly, I'm not sure if a fired case would even be hot enough to set one off. If I remember right, it takes 300-400 degrees to cook a round off.

As for the primers with distinct strikes... I wonder how many of those are either dead primers or primers that simply weren't fully seated.

 

[rvb]

while cases aren't moving all that fast, they do carry some decent momentum and since they are usually spinning like crazy from hitting the ejector that adds to effective speed at which the primers are stuck. Any time I've seen this, or pictures of this, the primer had a nice crescent moon shape dent from the rim of the case. I bet had you found the case that's what you'd have seen.

Anymore, I wear safety glasses just about any time I handle ammo (especially since I store most of mine bulk, loose). Over the years, there have been many things that I would have thought to be impossible* or improbable that I have either seen happen or known people to whom it happened first hand.

-rvb

*That said, there are some, ahem, "theories" in this thread I still consider impossible...

 

[CarmelHP]

You finding it hard to believe doesn't negate that it actually happened.

I didn't say it didn't happen, did I? I questioned the assumptions about the mechanics.

 

[jim7310]

I too have had firing pins strike primers hard and fail to detonate - however, as was stated above, the observed phenomona is hard to dispute. This sounds a little like the claims of using fillers in reduced loads occasionally causing ringed chambers - multiple experimenters tried to recreate the phenomona with test equipment on a pressure barrel with no luck, yet there are many cases of shooters who have ringed chambers after using fillers in reduced loads. It happens very, very rarely - but it does seem to happen. Jim

 

[Aszerigan]

I'm going with the alien tractor beam theory.

 

[96firephoenix]

how hot would a shell have to be in order to set off another round? I missed taht episode of mythbusters, lol

 

[rvb]

hot enough they aren't going to cook off sitting in the sun. But not so hot they can't cook off in the chamber of a machine gun.

-rvb

 

[CarmelHP]

how hot would a shell have to be in order to set off another round? I missed taht episode of mythbusters, lol

lead styphnate autoignites at 330 degrees.

 

[thompal]

I would have said that, since they were sitting in a styrofoam tray that static electricity was involved. Styrofoam is horrible about static charges.

 

[jonny4523]

I've seen pictures of this happening before as well.

 

[SSGSAD]

hot enough they aren't going to cook off sitting in the sun. But not so hot they can't cook off in the chamber of a machine gun.

-rvb

Yes, Machine Guns, do get a little warm, don't they..... We did night live fire, in the USMC, you would be surprised, at how red the gas tube glows, after just one mag., (30 rounds), of ammo.....

 

[4TheResistance]

man thats just crazy, I was always worried about hot .22's falling in the big box but never would have thought that an ejected case would or could detonate another