Could Bullets Be Dangerous?

RipRoar · 10-02-2007, 04:22 PM

If you are loading a clip wrong or loading a clip too hard is it possible to make the bullet go off accidentally when you're shoving it into the clip?

Without the physics of the barrel forcing the bullet into a certain path, wouldn't a bullet that went off without being in a gun be significantly weaker?

What if your gun is jammed and your messing with it trying to get stuck bullets out, can heat from inner parts of your gun touch the tiny fuse on the end of the bullet and cause it to go off without being tapped by the firing mechanism?

**BLS33** · 10-02-2007, 04:30 PM

I don't see that as being very probable, first off chances are you won't be loading a "clip" it will most likely be a magazine (whether internal in the gun, or external). Also when a round goes off in space it most likely won't be lethal because the gas is not being concentrated and forcing the bullet to escape at a high velocity. You would have to be pretty dense to be rough enough with ammo to cause an accidental discharge, unless the ammo had some preexisting condition causing it to do so.

**bkt** · 10-02-2007, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RipRoar

If you are loading a clip wrong or loading a clip too hard is it possible to make the bullet go off accidentally when you're shoving it into the clip?

No. Rounds are capable of taking a lot of harsh abuse without going off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RipRoar

Without the physics of the barrel forcing the bullet into a certain path, wouldn't a bullet that went off without being in a gun be significantly weaker?

That's correct. Without a chamber and barrel to direct the force, a round going off (as it would if thrown into a campfire, say) would have significantly less force and would probably not be lethal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RipRoar

What if your gun is jammed and your messing with it trying to get stuck bullets out, can heat from inner parts of your gun touch the tiny fuse on the end of the bullet and cause it to go off without being tapped by the firing mechanism?

No, neither the primer nor the powder in the casing will ignite due to residual heat from the chamber.

XLRAE · 10-02-2007, 06:34 PM

How much abuse can they take by your estimate?

**bkt** · 10-02-2007, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XLRAE

How much abuse can they take by your estimate?

Well, you can drop them -- or even throw them forcefully -- against a hard surface, crush them, and expose them to heat that would burn skin and they won't go off.

I don't recommend deliberately mistreating ammunition, but you don't need to treat it like it's an unstable high explosive that will blow you to pieces if you look at it cross-eyed.

Jay · 10-02-2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

an unstable high explosive that will blow you to pieces if you look at it cross-eyed

...I've had that happen with people before, but never ammunition......

rickrem700 · 10-03-2007, 05:00 AM

Amunition discharged outside of a firearm will probably not kill you, at least not with the bullet, when loose rounds are detenated the bullet really dose not go anywhere, its the brass that you have to watch out for as it goes flying in direction it is pointed in .

**robocop10mm** · 10-03-2007, 01:21 PM

It would be almost impossible to cause a round to fire while loading a magazine.
There is the possibility that an unfired round being extracted manually from the chamber of an auto loading pistol striking the ejector and going off. You should keep your hand clear of the ejection port when removing a live round.

1hole · 10-07-2007, 10:59 PM

"can heat from inner parts of your gun touch the tiny fuse on the end of the bullet and cause it to go off " ?

I'm not sure I follow you. Bullets are, by definition, inert metal and are harmless unless/until they are fired out of a contained cartridge, usually from a gun.

There are no fuses at all on bullets, even tracer bullets have no fuse, as such. Only explosive shells have a fuse, bullets do not. ???

jberry · 10-13-2007, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1hole

"can heat from inner parts of your gun touch the tiny fuse on the end of the bullet and cause it to go off ?" ?

A round left chambered in a very hot barrel can go off - it's called a "cook-off." Very rare except in fully automatic weapons, which can get blazing hot with extended firing...
Otherwise, ammunition is quite safe, barring willful and violent abuse (no sledgehammers, please

10-02-2007, 04:22 PM	#1
RipRoar Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 4	Could Bullets Be Dangerous? If you are loading a clip wrong or loading a clip too hard is it possible to make the bullet go off accidentally when you're shoving it into the clip? Without the physics of the barrel forcing the bullet into a certain path, wouldn't a bullet that went off without being in a gun be significantly weaker? What if your gun is jammed and your messing with it trying to get stuck bullets out, can heat from inner parts of your gun touch the tiny fuse on the end of the bullet and cause it to go off without being tapped by the firing mechanism?

10-02-2007, 04:30 PM	#2
BLS33 Supporting Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 700	I don't see that as being very probable, first off chances are you won't be loading a "clip" it will most likely be a magazine (whether internal in the gun, or external). Also when a round goes off in space it most likely won't be lethal because the gas is not being concentrated and forcing the bullet to escape at a high velocity. You would have to be pretty dense to be rough enough with ammo to cause an accidental discharge, unless the ammo had some preexisting condition causing it to do so. __________________ Perhaps, if I am very lucky, the feeble efforts of my lifetime will someday be noticed, and maybe, in some small way, they will be acknowledged as the greatest works of genius ever created by Man. - Jack Handey

10-03-2007, 05:00 AM	#7
rickrem700 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 230	Ammo Amunition discharged outside of a firearm will probably not kill you, at least not with the bullet, when loose rounds are detenated the bullet really dose not go anywhere, its the brass that you have to watch out for as it goes flying in direction it is pointed in . Last edited by rickrem700; 10-08-2007 at 10:25 AM.

10-03-2007, 01:21 PM	#8
robocop10mm Moderator Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Austin, Texas, by God!! Posts: 3,937	Dangerous? It would be almost impossible to cause a round to fire while loading a magazine. There is the possibility that an unfired round being extracted manually from the chamber of an auto loading pistol striking the ejector and going off. You should keep your hand clear of the ejection port when removing a live round.

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10-02-2007, 06:34 PM	#4
XLRAE Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 6	How much abuse can they take by your estimate?

10-07-2007, 10:59 PM	#9
1hole Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 200	"can heat from inner parts of your gun touch the tiny fuse on the end of the bullet and cause it to go off " ? I'm not sure I follow you. Bullets are, by definition, inert metal and are harmless unless/until they are fired out of a contained cartridge, usually from a gun. There are no fuses at all on bullets, even tracer bullets have no fuse, as such. Only explosive shells have a fuse, bullets do not. ???

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