Is ejected brass really hot?

[Nickel Plated]

I haven't had much experience shooting. Don't have my own gun, NYC laws and all. But I have been to a rental range a few times and I never noticed the brass coming out of a gun being that hot. Sure it's a bit warm..kinda. But hardly anything I would call hot. Alot of times I would try to catch it coming out of the ejection ports while one of my buddies is shooting and it doesn't burn at all. Then there are the revolvers. You shoot the gun and eject the brass right into your palm for reloading.

So why does everyone complain about getting hit with ejected brass and getting burned?

 

[kmaysob]

ive been hit with some really hot brass. your hand tends to be less sensative to temperature than say your forearm or chest. i was sitting indian style shooting my browning .22 once and being a bottom eject the hot shells were hitting my ankle. i changed positions pretty quick

 

[thedaddycat]

It depends on what exactly you are talking about. A couple of weeks ago I went to the range with a friend and we laid one of those heavy silver tarps out to help catch the brass and keep it from getting lost in the dead grass and weeds in front of the firing line. The .223 brass wasn't too bad, but the .30-06 brass from the M1 was hot enough that it melted the tarp enough to stick to it. Power of the round, case size and construction, ambient temp, etc. can all have an effect on how "hot" the brass is. Revolvers hold the brass in the cylinder where heat is transfered fairly rapidly from the brass to the cylinder so it cools enough that by the time you dump them into your hand they have cooled enough to handle.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Yes, it is hot enough to raise a blister

I was shooting M-16 at the range when another shooter's brass flipped into my sleeve.

The range officer nearly had a conniption when he saw my arm flailing around trying to get that thing off my forearm. But calmed down before he got to me because I DID keep my weapon pointed properly downrange.

I got a tiny little blister.

I have no idea what powder is in G.I. ammunition, but I imagine powder selection makes a difference, on top of just the general power level.

I also have caught my shooting buddy's ejected 45 ACP brass out of the air. It is sometimes hot enough that I have to juggle it from hand to hand, but not usually.

Lost Sheep

 

[MLeake]

The two main points have been addressed: the type of round, and where the brass contacts the body, can make a huge difference.

A third factor is duration of contact. A casing that doesn't feel all that hot, feels much hotter if, say, one is wearing Tevas and catches the brass between two toes, and it sticks instead of bouncing out... Yep, first hand experience of that one.

Had a girlfriend disregard my advice about what to wear to the range, once. She opted for a scoop-necked camisole under an open leather jacket. Of course, she caught a 9mm casing in her cleavage. That led to an interesting dance...

Closed shoes, t-shirts under whatever, and possibly a brimmed cap (to keep brass from pinging off the head or forehead, and lodging between shooting glasses and eyebrows) can prevent some of the more interesting encounters of the casing kind.

Edit: Wouldn't you know it? While I was typing, LostSheep hit on the topic of duration of contact...

 

[ftttu]

I was at our agency's range qualifying when the brass from an officer shooting next to me landed inside the neck of my shirt which burned me pretty good. I have a permanent scar on my lower neck/upper chest area as a reminder.

 

[Nickel Plated]

Actually I had a few 45 ACPs go into my shirt and it was nothing. But I guess you should untuck your shirt so they fall straight through instead of sitting there.

If I remember correctly a 7.62x39 went down my shirt too. If it had burnt I would have remembered that but it didn't. It was pretty cold out, maybe that's why.

 

[Mike38]

I’ve had more then my share of hot brass burning skin. One time I had a .45acp round slip down the neck opening of a shirt and stop at the waist line. Left a nice red mark. Another came from a .22 LR while I was teaching my daughter how to shoot a 10/22. A piece of brass landed between my ear and my head. What are the odds of that? I hurt like heck. I thought a wasp stung me in the ear. I had to pull the empty from my ear, and tore skin away because it burned into my ear. A couple years ago while shooting prone at an Appleseed a guy 3 or 4 places to my left was shooting an AR15 and about half of his brass landed on the small of my back and stayed there. Very annoying, but little I could do. I put on a sweat shirt to stop the heat, and eventually grew accustom to the brass landing on me.

 

[Nnobby45]

Yes, it's hot. Have had it go down my shirt against the bare skin. Usually from an adjacent shooter, but my own brass one time. No serious damage, heat doesn't last long.

Had a piece of brass from the shooter to my left wedge between my eyeball and glasses. No serious burn, but eye was a little sore for a while. Had it it been a different part of the eyeball, things could have been more serious.

**ATTENTION, PLEASE**
Biggest danger might be from a startled and inexperienced shooter with a semi-auto pistol in their hand who could easily, and in a hurry, forget where their muzzle is pointed---along with finger being on the trigger. You never know what one's reaction might be to hot metal down the shirt, or blouse. Especially when totally surprised for the first time.

The baseball cap isn't just for looks on the range. Side shields on glasses are also a good idea.

 

[ltc444]

Had a 45 which dropped the brass on top of my head. Had one go down inside my shirt. It burned pretty good.

solution was to wear a cowboy hat.

 

[chris in va]

Try catching a 30-06 out of a Garand sometime. OW.

 

[natman]

No more than the hinges of Hell.

I once put my hand down on an ejected 30-06 case from a Garand. It had been sitting on the ground at least long enough for me to clear my rifle, get unslung and sit up. I only touched it long enough for my reflexes to kick in and move my hand NOW. I still got a huge blister.

I also learned to button up my left cuff tightly when shooting a Browning SA-22. It ejects straight down and loves to drop a hot 22 case down your sleeve.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

I'm a lefty so I get hit with a lot of hot brass shooting right handed guns. I've never been burned, but some rounds will get your attention depending on where the brass lands.

 

[Bigfatts]

Shooting a Star 9 Largo I had a piece of brass come down in the top of my safety glasses. It wedged itself between my glasses just under my eye and promptly burnt a hole in my face. That was a year ago and the mark is still visible. The damn thing took skin with it when I pulled it off. Yes, ejected brass is hot.

A friend's girlfriend had a .22 shell go down her blouse from a little Walther. Her shirt and bra came off so fast it was amazing. Only time I've ever seen a topless woman slapping her chest on the firing line.

 

[Fishing_Cabin]

I had one go down the back of my collar between my back and shirt. How, I have no clue...No, I didnt jump around any or yelp...But the way I was moving my shoulders, and twisting my back to get rid of it, the instructors thought I was about to break bad and start dancing...

After a minute it was over except for the jokes. Best thing though is my Pastor wasnt there to witness it and give me a lecture about the sins of it. I hope one day I find forgiveness.

Its pretty common when we qualify though to have a spent case bounce of your arm or cap from the shooter to your left. Some pistols are worse then others though.

Note to self: Next time, dont wear a loose polo shirt with a loose collar.

 

[Archie]

Well, yes.

There is a direct correlation between chamber pressure and burn temperature.

The higher the pressure, the higher the temperature. I've seen some reports with charts showing the pressure - temperature relationship. All I remember is many of the rifle calibers generate enough temperature to burn the leade of the rifling - which is why rifle throats wear out. (So do handgun barrels, but it takes longer.) Because the metal heats up and cools at a specific rate, rapid fire causes more barrel damage than slow fire. (The U. S. armed forces typically use machine guns with quick change barrels to mitigate the problem. In any event, machine gun barrels don't last nearly as long as bolt action or single shot rifle barrels.)

ALSO, the metal in the barrel and chamber heat up with repeated use. Therefore, the fifth case in a string is hotter than the first case shot from a cold barrel.

ALSO, the size of the case matters. It is easier to heat up a .22 long rifle case than a .45-70 case. The .22 case doesn't have as much metal to heat. The other side of this is the .22 case cools quicker.

But it's easier to get a .22 long rifle case down one's shirt than a .45-70 case.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Is ejeccted brass really hot?

The two main points have been addressed: the type of round, and where the brass contacts the body, can make a huge difference.

A third factor is duration of contact.

A fourth factor is the manner of ejection. Actually, this is probably the first factor. The other three factors apply to automatically ejected brass. Manually ejected from a single shot/ single barrel firearm (such as bolt guns), double barrel firearm (such as derringers and double barrel shotguns), and revolvers is not.

 

[Slamfire]

I had 30-06 Garand brass come down my shooting jacket while shooting rapid fire prone. It was from the shooter next to me.

I flopped around like a fish between shots. When the relay was over I got out of my gear and I had burn marks that lasted days.

A shooter from the 60's, when the Garand was the service rifle, told me the reason everyone wore the campaign hat was to keep Garand brass from going down their necks.!

He said, when you first got to Camp Perry, if you did not have one, you ran down to Commercial Row and bought your campaign hat. You still see Marine NCO's wearing them.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

So why does everyone complain about getting hit with ejected brass and getting burned?

Because the brass is hot.

What are you shooting, .22LR? Try getting a .45 Automatic case down your shirt ...

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Been there! Ouch!