How destructive is a bullet that catches fire?

[Adventurer 2]

Went to a rifle range today. Some guy lit the trash can on fire to get rid of all of the paper jammed in the can. Another guy yelled at him for doing it because there could be live rounds in the trash. I know I have seen live rounds in the trash before.
The guy that started the fire insisted that if a bullet was not in a firearm barrel it would not cause any damage. I was not as sure as him so I grabbed my stuff and left.
Has anyone seen what a live round set off in a fire can do? If so what caliber, and what happened?

 

[oldbillthundercheif]

The result is a wimpy "pop" noise and some low-velocity brass schrapnel. I'm sure it would not be any fun if you were looking down into the flaming drum when one goes off, but in general it's fairly unimpressive.

 

[STLRN]

Depends how much ammo and they type in the trash. A few rounds would just be like fire works with a bit of frag possible. A lot, could be pretty destructive, I have seen stone building reduced by ammo cooking off after a fire was started, granted the rooms were packed with cases and cases of ammo in the rooms.

 

[Dave P]

Uh, bullets won't catch fire. A cartridge may lightly explode - don't stand in the barrel.

Dave

 

[Wild Bill Bucks]

We burn target barrels at the range all the time. Since the rounds are not chambered, and the brass is lighter than the bullet, there is very little danger of a round going through the barrel. Mostly just a pop.

FYI: Don't put your head over a burning barrel

 

[T-Bear]

I still wouldn't want to be near one they start going off. About a week ago, Some kids threw some shotgun shells into a fire and 2 of them died because it. I'm not saying it will happen every time, but it is a possiablty.

 

[JohnKSa]

The real danger (such as it is) is from the primer which may be propelled at pretty high velocity. However, it is very lightweight and will not penetrate very deeply. Heavy clothing will stop it based on some tests I read about years ago. They can be fatal at close range if you're very unlucky.

 

[Northern Sod Breaker]

I would be more worrried about aerosel cans. BOOM followed by a sudden flare up. Unchambered rounds will will just go pop.

 

[bennnn]

as far as I know a bullet won't go anywhere without a barrel, I'm not going to throw a box of shells into a campfire to find out, but I'm sure it's not a WMD. Might get the marshmallows dirty though.....

 

[joshua]

I've seen live ammo have a light pop and some have a pretty good pop like a 7.62x51 Mil Ball. If the crimp is heavy enough the result could be brass fragments capable of imbedding into flesh. How about danger to eye sight? I've put 22LR into a bbq pit before and those suckers can be dangerous. Hot flying brass does is danger danger. josh

 

[Art Eatman]

Unprotected eyes can be in danger, sure.

In his "Complete Guide to Handloading", Phil Sharpe spoke of a test: A piece of denim cloth was laid over a bar of soap. A .30-'06 GI round was rigged for electrical detonation of the primer. A cardboard box was set atop the whole lashup.

The round went off. Nothing exited through the cardboard. The cartridge case was intact. Some unburned powder remained. The slight indentation in the bar of soap was deemed to equate to a not-bad bruise.

FWIW, Art

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

I have personally witness ricochet off an out building 40 ft from my burn barrel ( wife sometimes ends up putting dud rounds, or one that got corroded, etc in the trash we burn )... I'm sure the ricochet was 22 rimfire brass, not the lead, & I'm sure it came through a hole already in the barrel, or out the top...

... I would be much more concerned about steel cased 25 Tok, or 762 ammo than most brass cased ammo... but primers or brass fragments could do some serious damage to anyone standing too close to the barrel... & of course you could always poke someones eye out with those...

 

[shaggy]

Unprotected eyes can be in danger, sure.

I have an uncle who can personally attest to that. Lost an eye in the USMC when an unfired round, apparently on the ground where they had made a small campfire, went off and sent a piece of brass through his eye.

 

[stevelyn]

Dave Scovill wrote an article on it awhle back in RIFLE.

Basically........POP.....Pffffffffffffft.

 

[Varmint Eviscerator]

22 rf ammo will dent wood if it the cartridge is stopped by something before the bullet leaves it, thats about.
-Chase

 

[prater]

watch the movie "Chisum" starring John Wayne, theres a part where William (Billy the Kid) drops a handfull of cartridges into a fire to distract some riders... May not be very accurate but its the only time I've ever seen this topic addressed in a movie.

 

[guntotin_fool]

was around when a gun store when up in flames. The biggest sounds were aerosol cans popping, but when the ammo rack went up, it was a very big flare up, all that powder lighting off, it was pretty obvious it was powder going off. It was hot enough to melt steel shelving. there were quite a few pops and fizzes but the only bangs were the spray cans.

 

[Dave Haven]

I think .30-'06 or .308 blanks in a fire would be louder and more spectacular than live ammo, considering that blank powder has a VERY high burning rate.

 

[mrawesome22]

We used to throw 22LR in the fire then stand back about 50 feet. A pop and embers flying about about 3 feet out of the fire was all we got. Entertaining still. Smokeless powder works off compression. Without a barrel, not much is going to happen. Blackpowder however and it's derivative's (Pyrodex, Triple Seven, Pioneer) work off combustion. Their boom is as big no matter what's around them. Ask any fireman.