EXPLOSION?????
 

Has anyone had a bullet just explode on you. I had one sitting in the middle of my chevy blazer. I dont know if it was static shock or electrical or what? I got in and slammed the door and KABOOOOOOM. the shell exploded, filled the car up with smoke,shattered my windsheild. Scared the crap out of me. I bet that would have really hurt if it hit me or my buddy(sitting in the passenger side). I have a witness. Primer never went off or nothing- still got that lucky bullet i guess?HAS THIS EVER HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE?????????

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I have no clue what might have done it.

I have seen such things happen, but there was always an outside source. My boss at the old gun shop had a few shells get wet during a duck hunt and got some rust on the brass.... took one back to the gunsmith shop and put it on the wire bristle brush and somehow managed to cook it off in his hands. Didn't even burn him... I guess the powder was wet or something.... pretty lucky in my eyes.

I'd suggest keeping your ammo in a better place. ;)Luck is often fleeting.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Actually, the bullet would probably not have had enough energy to do much damage at all. Since there was no case support, and no barrel to force the bullet through, the pressure dissipated rather quickly and the bullet wouldn't have had time to build up any really significant velocity. At least not as much as it would if the round had cooked off while chambered in the weapon.

Was this old/new ammo? Are you sure the primer is ok?

That is one of the first accounts I've ever heard of a round going off all by itself with no outside interaction (hitting the primer, heating the case up with a wire wheel/grinder, direct electrical current heating it up, etc)...

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I've never heard of this either but my guess is it was probably static electricity. This time of year it builds up quickly in a vehicle. It ignites gas so why not gunpowder? A good reason to keep your ammo stored in proper containers and not laying around.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I'll just have to see this one to believe it.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Actually can't be static electricity. The brass and bullet acts as a faraday protection, and no way for it to arc inside unless shaking the cartridge fast enough to build potential inside. Only way static electricity can do it, is if it heated up. I would say had something to do with the primer.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Pic's Please..........[:o]

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Sounds pretty odd to me .I live out here in the desert , and have had ammo in a closedauto over 180 degrees and never had any go off or burn up . Maybe it was just 1 of those freak things that occure for no identifiable reason . I don't leave the ammo in the autos any more though that oven thermometer scared hell outta me .

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

i replaced the windshield, i would have got pulled over while driving if it didnt get fixed.. I got the bullet and casing still. THe primer looks perfect. The bullet was one year to two years old. I couldnt figure it out either. I dont know either, but its pretty tough to brake a windsheild-easy to bust up a face. I just wanted to see if this happened to anyone else????I dont keep them in vehicles any more.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Post us up a picture of that shell Mike... depending on exactly how it ruptured we might be able to figure it out. Bigcountry is pretty smart about stuff like this.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I used to dump old ammo and stuff I screwed up loading into my burn barrel out back of the house. You would be amazed at how long these bullets would lie inside a blazing inferno before they started cooking off. And when they blew, I don't think any of them would have shattered a windshield. I just ain't buying this tale. And I know law enforcement guys who carry hundreds of rounds of ammunition around in the trunk of their cars year around where the temp must get pretty hellish...not to mention constantly being bounced around...not to mention the fact the ammo us surrounded by trunk mounted radio gear. It just don't happen folks.:eek:

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Somebody may have smoked their lunch here..... :D

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Only way for that to go off is for something to hit the primer with something..

Thats the best tale i've heard in a long time....You should put in on the TV..

Myth Busters ...

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Haven't ever seen this,but I aint never seen a UFO or bigfoot and I've been in the woods or on the lake my whole life and at night I look at the same stars in the same sky,but I'm still looking.Anything is possible.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I don't believe it! Had to have struck the primer!

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

well it happened PERIOD... it was just sitting their. no one touched it or bumped it.n THATS the fact.I posted pics ik wish they would be better.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I've looked looked at the pictures posted and would offer these comments.

1. The caseis obviously very old or at least in very poor condition. You've had to steel wool it just to get past the corrosion just to get down to the original brass. This makes me ask WHY in the devil would you even consider shooting crap like that in your rifle? That round of ammo should have been tossed long ago. It quite likely would have done worse damage to you if you had fired it in your rifle.

2. The phenomenon you are describing here, i.e. slamming a car door and detonating a round of ammunition, could only occur if the nitro separated from the cellulose and gave you something similar to the old thing of "sweating dynamite." Seperate out the nitro and then you've got a touchy situation.

3. If the round was resting on the car seat as you describe, I find it hard to believe it received any "jolt" significant to set it off simply because you closed the car door. Resting on a padded and spring supported car seat surely dampened anything and everything.

4. The case looks just exactly like the crap that was left when I tossed an old or defective round in my burn barrel. They ultimately cook off and blow exactly like your photo...leaving the same object behind. And frankly I suspect this is the true source of your "exploding bullet."

Sorry...I'm still calling bull**** on this one.:eek:

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I've loaded thousands of rounds, crushed primers, cases etc.Many off us have a box of rimfire in our glove compartment and I even have loose centerfires laying around. I have dropped rounds on the ground many times over the years. The cartridge in the picture has definitely gone off outside of a chamber, but I don't buy the going off by itself.Also looks to be WWI or WWII vintage ammo that does not belong anywhere but disposed of.A forceinduced the firing of the cartridge, be it impact, heat etc. Centerfire cartridges are very very safe! With the current push to now attack and regulateammunition by lawmakers, any input to society that helps them believe the rounds are unsafe is not responsible.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

I want to see a picture of the shattered windshield. Any bullet/explosion that can shatter tempered glass (especially that of a windshield)..... geezzz

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

i got a witness of this happpening.Shells tarnish after just a year.ITs brass. They tarnish easy. If it was in a fire wouldnt it have melted????The reason i tried to polish it because i had it in the bottom of a box that spilled stuff and it was all junky. I used one of those scotcth brite pads. The shell was not on the seat it was in the middle console. THe only thing i can think of is that a power from a cigarette lighter made it to it and blew it up somehow. I had coins their. i guess it was possible to go all through those coins and to the bullet. I thought about seeing if the primer would go off. I bet it still would. I guess just to hit it with a hammer. That would prove it wasnt in a fire right?

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

If the round is left ina corrosive environment it may tarnish. I have a couple thousand rounds loaded up, some over ten yrs old and they still look good. The melting temperature of brass is 1652-1724 degrees Farenheit. The lead bullet would have melted at 621 degrees. Doubt a normal camp or barrel fire ever getshot enough to melt the brass. When the powder was set off, more than likely the solid powder in the primer went off too.Do not hit it witha hammer.[:@]Unlessthe 12Vdc power was supplied at one end of the round and it touchedground at another point,it would not go off.

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

What ever you're selling Mike, I don't think anyone's buying it. This thread gets a little sillier each day. I don't think I'll waste any more time here. Be careful shutting those car doors in the future.:(

RE: EXPLOSION?????
 

Where's the pictures????? Few things are impossible, most are highly improbable. Pictures anyone??