Dropped round detonation

[ofcrfs242]

Okay, many people have heard the stories about being at the range, having an empty from your gun hit a box of live ammo (usually in the styrofoam tray) causing one of the live rounds to go off and not everyone believes it. Well, this was a bit different, but still worth knowing about.

When I load a batch of ammo I put all of the rounds in a box and an empty box next to it. I sit down with my case gauge and check each round, dropping it in the empty box if it's good. I'd estimate my hand to be 12-18" over the top of the box. I was doing this tonight when one of the dropped rounds bounced, hit another round and one of the two detonated. The bullet went through the side of the box and stopped 2-3 feet away, half of the case (bottom half) put a half inch dent in the ceiling and the rest was in a couple of pieces on the floor. I was wearing eye protection and only had to deal with some ringing in my ears. The half of the case that went into the ceiling could have easily blinded someone not wearing glasses.

I wouldn't have thought a gentle drop from a foot could have caused this, but sure as heck it did. I can't count how many live rounds I've seen dropped and not a one has gone off. I know it takes a lot of things to line up perfectly for this to happen, but it's possible. I'll try to post pics of the remains later. R,

I do the same thing minus eye protection. Drop them straight from the gauge into a box with hundreds if not thousands of rounds. Two things are definately going to change about that practice.

[Hoofy]

One more to add to the list of how to get yourself hurt.

Glad you're OK.

You're going to have to come up with some embellishing on the story

to get free beers though.

[1911nm]

Just had this conversation at the last local match. Seems two guys there had previous unintended detonations, one from bulk reloaded ammo in a car trunk getting rattled around, and the other with a new loaded round dropped into a box of bulk reloads. Had several of us thinking about getting 50 or 100 rd. individually separated ammo boxes. Glad the only thing wounded was your nerves and the ceiling. Could'a gone South really fast.

[caspian guy]

At a large match as I waited on the squad in front of mine to finish shooting. I saw a revolver shooter drop a partial moon clip of .45s as he made his reload... Federal primers + gravel on the floor of the berm + the weight of partial moon clip of .45s = detonation... Not sure what you could do about that either unless you wanted to do IDPA style reloads.

No matter how careful we are sometimes shit just happens.

[G-ManBart]

At a large match as I waited on the squad in front of mine to finish shooting. I saw a revolver shooter drop a partial moon clip of .45s as he made his reload... Federal primers + gravel on the floor of the berm + the weight of partial moon clip of .45s = detonation... Not sure what you could do about that either unless you wanted to do IDPA style reloads.

No matter how careful we are sometimes shit just happens.

Okay, I don't know the answer to this, but I wonder if that's an automatic "stop" and reshoot for the competitor? A mild explosion at your feet ought to qualify as outside interference even if it's your own ammo. Not only that, but from a safety aspect it'd be nice to make sure he didn't pick up any shrapnel.

[LadyinBlue]

OMG Chris...I'm so glad you're okay. Was your wife home at the time? Hope she doesn't banish you to the garage or worse....

Thanks so much for sharing this 1 in a million event with us...I'll consider myself warned.

I was bummin all day cuz I broke one of my mother-in-law's dishes...seems trivial now.

See ya Saturday!

[caspian guy]

At a large match as I waited on the squad in front of mine to finish shooting. I saw a revolver shooter drop a partial moon clip of .45s as he made his reload... Federal primers + gravel on the floor of the berm + the weight of partial moon clip of .45s = detonation... Not sure what you could do about that either unless you wanted to do IDPA style reloads.

No matter how careful we are sometimes shit just happens.

Okay, I don't know the answer to this, but I wonder if that's an automatic "stop" and reshoot for the competitor? A mild explosion at your feet ought to qualify as outside interference even if it's your own ammo. Not only that, but from a safety aspect it'd be nice to make sure he didn't pick up any shrapnel.

If I recall correctly the RO stopped him thinking maybe an AD had occurred. When he figured out what had happened the guy got a re-shoot.

[el pres]

Must be the Federal primers. I use CCI, from what I've been told

they are the hardest. Thousands of rounds and no misfire with

different guns.I even accidentally decaped a live primer or two

and no bang!!

[Carl Provan]

I have all of the peices of such a detonation. I was reading this thread and explaining to a new shooter on thursday. We went shooting on Friday and boom off went a case in the box. I gathered all of the pieces and brass. Here are some of the incriminating pictures.

We where shooting from a covered area of the range, the case bounced off the cover and hit the box about 10 ft away. Yes the bullet tray was out of the box with the bullets exposed.

Lesson learned, Always wear your safety glasses when you are on or near a shooting range.

This quote is from the following thread:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...c=30867&hl=

It cannot be said enough, always wear safety glasses. Just having street glasses on is not enough. They should be approved safety glasses

[mdstihl]

Bart, glad you're okay. Don't shoot nearly as much as most of you, but I will sure be more careful about eye protection and ammo handling.

[MichiganShootist]

Based on the postings in this thread... I'd guess if you were very unlucky a round tumbling into the tray of a Dillon press could land pointed end down on the a primer of a cartridge in the tray.

Those of use who use Federal large pistol primers are probably at the most risk.

[JBeach]

New to this site and I was reading about tumbling loaded rounds......just didn't sound safe....was told that it was a practice done with regularity. Still doesn't sound safe. More so after reading this topic!

JB=Jerry Beach

[Carmoney]

My gosh, due to this thread it just occurred to me that a meteorite could fall on my head when I go outside!!!!

I am definitely going to rethink my practice of going out to get the newspaper without wearing a helmet.

[Liota]

Just to add another one... I personally witnessed this one "up close and personal-like."

I was ROing a CHL class a couple of months back. One of the students was shooting a 9mm Glock using Winchester white box non-bulk pack. During one of the strings of fire, he stopped shooting and looked around. The gun remained pointed down-range. He looked back at me and said, "ouch!" I looked over and he was bleeding. He was concerned that someone else's gun had malfunctioned and lost parts. We called the line cold and tried to figure out what happened. One look at his box of ammunition revealed that a good chunk of the box was missing and one very neat round dent in the bench under the box. He came out of it with a very neat imprint of the headstamp, complete with "Winchester," and a small cut on the other arm. No other injuries. Range now has new policy stating boxes of ammunition will remain closed during courses of fire for CHL qualification.

Liota

[ima45dv8]

At a large match as I waited on the squad in front of mine to finish shooting. I saw a revolver shooter drop a partial moon clip of .45s as he made his reload... Federal primers + gravel on the floor of the berm + the weight of partial moon clip of .45s = detonation... Not sure what you could do about that either unless you wanted to do IDPA style reloads.

No matter how careful we are sometimes shit just happens.

Okay, I don't know the answer to this, but I wonder if that's an automatic "stop" and reshoot for the competitor? A mild explosion at your feet ought to qualify as outside interference even if it's your own ammo. Not only that, but from a safety aspect it'd be nice to make sure he didn't pick up any shrapnel.

If I recall correctly the RO stopped him thinking maybe an AD had occurred. When he figured out what had happened the guy got a re-shoot.

Was this at South River a couple of years ago?

[caspian guy]

At a large match as I waited on the squad in front of mine to finish shooting. I saw a revolver shooter drop a partial moon clip of .45s as he made his reload... Federal primers + gravel on the floor of the berm + the weight of partial moon clip of .45s = detonation... Not sure what you could do about that either unless you wanted to do IDPA style reloads.

No matter how careful we are sometimes shit just happens.

Okay, I don't know the answer to this, but I wonder if that's an automatic "stop" and reshoot for the competitor? A mild explosion at your feet ought to qualify as outside interference even if it's your own ammo. Not only that, but from a safety aspect it'd be nice to make sure he didn't pick up any shrapnel.

If I recall correctly the RO stopped him thinking maybe an AD had occurred. When he figured out what had happened the guy got a re-shoot.

Was this at South River a couple of years ago?

Yep.

[SV_shooter]

I'm never dropping my loads in a bag and heat sealing it ever again! makes my A$$ pucker just looking at those pics. I'm going to buy a bunch of Dillon ammo boxes from now on, and I will never sit at my loader without my glasses. I am going to write a Large note on my Bench that says EYE PROTECTION!!! Man that is a scary wake up call. Just realized how comfortable I was getting. Time to re evaluate my safe practices. Thank you so much for posting. You might of just saved an eye or someones life.

[Bret Heidkamp]

I recall being at a match in Colorado / Utah / Wyoming / somewhere around there years ago, and a guy tapped a full 45 single stack mag against his open palm to align all the rounds. BANG. Shrapnel, blood from hand, off to hospital for stitches.

We all thought there must have been a small pebble stuck to a primer for that to happen. I'm rethinking that conclusion now!

Edited December 3, 2007 by Bret Heidkamp

[TMC]

I had a small box of Federal 44 mag on the shelf in my den a few years back. There were only about 10-12 in the box and the cardbaord divider was gone. Well I pulled something off the shelf and the box fell about 5 feet to the floor at my feet. The rim of one round landed on the primer of another and BOOM! After checking for missing body parts, holes in myself and walls, calming the wife and kids down and when the ringing stopped I examined the wreckage. The box was blown apart, the detonated round became a small brass cup, a 1/2" wide strip of brass in a loose bullet. I count myself lucky. All of my ammo is the garage these days.

[Carmoney]

Guys, I used to be a non-believer but not anymore. You'll never believe what happened yesterday evening:

When I got home from the office yesterday, I was changing into my sweats and noticed a loaded round of .38 Special in my top dresser drawer. I was going to take it down to the basement and put it with the rest of the gun stuff, but decided to stop off to make a sandwich. I set the round of ammo on the dining room table and walked into the kitchen. Next thing I know, BLAM!!! Bits of shrapnel went all over the place, and the bullet penetrated through the exterior wall of the house and into the adjacent cornfield. This afternoon we found the bullet more than 80 yards away from the house, buried nearly 4" underground.

Needless to say I was shocked, since nobody was even in the room with the round of ammo when it suddenly detonated. Later on, we discovered the cat had powder stippling all over her face, and we found a piece of primer cup embedded into the wood table with a piece of cat whisker still stuck to it. Apparently the kitty had jumped up on the table (despite being sprayed with the water mister numerous times in the past) and touched the primer with one of her whiskers. I guess those Federal primers are just so sensitive that was all it took. Man, it was lucky that bullet didn't take off in my direction--I'm still shaky just thinking about it.

From here on I'm going to use a special kevlar-reinforced container to store and transport all my loaded ammunition--life is already too short to take crazy chances. Y'know, I never would have believed this could happen if I hadn't been right there. But I have nobody to blame but myself. Well......myself and the damn cat.

Lastly, I want to thank Brian for hosting this wonderful forum so that critical safety information like this can be exchanged.

[Bret Heidkamp]

Later on, we discovered the cat had powder stippling all over her face, and we found a piece of primer cup embedded into the wood table with a piece of cat whisker still stuck to it. Apparently the kitty had jumped up on the table (despite being sprayed with the water mister numerous times in the past) and touched the primer with one of her whiskers. I guess those Federal primers are just so sensitive that was all it took.

HA HA HA :lol:

I was just thinking about a round going off and heard a POP in the other room. Turns out it was a beer.

[G-ManBart]

Guys, I used to be a non-believer but not anymore. You'll never believe what happened yesterday evening:

When I got home from the office yesterday, I was changing into my sweats and noticed a loaded round of .38 Special in my top dresser drawer. I was going to take it down to the basement and put it with the rest of the gun stuff, but decided to stop off to make a sandwich. I set the round of ammo on the dining room table and walked into the kitchen. Next thing I know, BLAM!!! Bits of shrapnel went all over the place, and the bullet penetrated through the exterior wall of the house and into the adjacent cornfield. This afternoon we found the bullet more than 80 yards away from the house, buried nearly 4" underground.

Needless to say I was shocked, since nobody was even in the room with the round of ammo when it suddenly detonated. Later on, we discovered the cat had powder stippling all over her face, and we found a piece of primer cup embedded into the wood table with a piece of cat whisker still stuck to it. Apparently the kitty had jumped up on the table (despite being sprayed with the water mister numerous times in the past) and touched the primer with one of her whiskers. I guess those Federal primers are just so sensitive that was all it took. Man, it was lucky that bullet didn't take off in my direction--I'm still shaky just thinking about it.

From here on I'm going to use a special kevlar-reinforced container to store and transport all my loaded ammunition--life is already too short to take crazy chances. Y'know, I never would have believed this could happen if I hadn't been right there. But I have nobody to blame but myself. Well......myself and the damn cat.

Lastly, I want to thank Brian for hosting this wonderful forum so that critical safety information like this can be exchanged.

Mike,

I don't have anything against humor, but do you really think your comments in this thread are appropriate? Do you really think they're helpful? Would you like to disagree or doubt the authenticity of the claims?

Your first post was bad enough, but the second goes beyond thread drift into irresponsible behavior. You may not believe in it, or you may think everyone is being a bunch of wusses, but making fun of people for taking the most simple precautions when there's no downside to them makes no sense at all.

Maybe you really think it's all a bunch of BS, but it's not. Let me paint a scenario for you. I accept a certain amount of risk as a natural part of life and accept an even higher amount of risk based on career choice. With that said, if there's a risk that I don't have to take, or don't have to subject others to, I'll probably avoid it if it's not changing the way I live. I used to like to sit down and watch a little football, baseball, NASCAR etc on Sunday afternoons while case gauging my ammo and marking the brass. My wife would normally end up sitting a few feet from me and our two dogs would be somewhere in the room, but usually pretty close. If this had been the situation when I had the round detonate I might have a one-eyed wife or dog right now. That would be no joke.

I put this in the beginners forum because I'd be willing to be it hasn't happened to most beginners or they didn't know it could happen. Even if it doesn't change the way anyone does anything, it's not a bad thing to be aware of even as a remote possibility.

Further, there are probably a fair number of shooters out there that have spouses that are less than enthusiastic about shooting/reloading as a hobby. How fast do you think some of them would get shut down if they had a round detonate in the house? Pretty fast, and we might lose another shooter.

What if it just happened that little Junior walked into Dad's loading room just when a round detonated and Junior lost an eye and a story found it's way to the local paper because it was a slow news night? How would that look for the local gun club and gun owners? The list of possibilities like this is nearly endless.

Feel free to disagree, hate me or whatever will make you happy, but I think you're outnumbered, with good reason, on this one. I haven't seen anybody else making a mockery of it and maybe that should tell you something.

Edited December 4, 2007 by G-ManBart

[DonT]

+1

[ima45dv8]

Guys, I used to be a non-believer but not anymore. You'll never believe what happened yesterday evening:

When I got home from the office yesterday, I was changing into my sweats and noticed a loaded round of .38 Special in my top dresser drawer. I was going to take it down to the basement and put it with the rest of the gun stuff, but decided to stop off to make a sandwich. I set the round of ammo on the dining room table and walked into the kitchen. Next thing I know, BLAM!!! Bits of shrapnel went all over the place, and the bullet penetrated through the exterior wall of the house and into the adjacent cornfield. This afternoon we found the bullet more than 80 yards away from the house, buried nearly 4" underground.

Needless to say I was shocked, since nobody was even in the room with the round of ammo when it suddenly detonated. Later on, we discovered the cat had powder stippling all over her face, and we found a piece of primer cup embedded into the wood table with a piece of cat whisker still stuck to it. Apparently the kitty had jumped up on the table (despite being sprayed with the water mister numerous times in the past) and touched the primer with one of her whiskers. I guess those Federal primers are just so sensitive that was all it took. Man, it was lucky that bullet didn't take off in my direction--I'm still shaky just thinking about it.

From here on I'm going to use a special kevlar-reinforced container to store and transport all my loaded ammunition--life is already too short to take crazy chances. Y'know, I never would have believed this could happen if I hadn't been right there. But I have nobody to blame but myself. Well......myself and the damn cat.

Lastly, I want to thank Brian for hosting this wonderful forum so that critical safety information like this can be exchanged.

Mike....is it possible that this story *might* be a fabrication?

I doubt you would mean for folks to take a careless attitude when working with loaded rounds. The referenced incident (Bart's) of a loaded round going off in such an obscure manner should be taken as a reminder to always handle loaded ammo carefully. To do otherwise might invite a potentially catastrophic situation.

Let's all remember to take care and wear eye protection when handling live ammo, in any manner, just in case.

[Carmoney]

Mike....is it possible that this story *might* be a fabrication?

Just following suit!