full ammo cans in a fire?
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Years ago the NRA magazine had an article about that. They showed a battered .30 Cal (M19A1) ammo box that had survived a fire even though the ammo had detonated. There were dents all over but nothing had penetrated the box. I think the results may be different with other kind of ammo like for example .50 BMG which has a lot more powder.
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I've seen rounds "cook off" in a house fire, some were in ammo cans, case expands so nowhere near the normal velocity when bullet flies, wouldn't want to be in that room or yard though. Most local firefighters would stand down the block and watch your house burn, couldn't blame them one bit. 
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Here's a link to the old thread.http://1919a4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13942&highlight
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This is why I bought my own fire truck, 1965 Ford F600 with less than 5,000 on it out of service last fall. I also got a 1941 GMC crash truck to restore to operation. Got several 5,000 gal tanks to go pick up and I am burying them in the yard so I got freeze proof water. Where I live the fire dept would be an hour away at best so this is my only choice and besides, nobody else but me can get hurt. Hotch
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The fire truck is way too cool.
Good point that's how I have store mine. I usually put two .50 cal cans (M2A1) and one .30 cal (M19A1) in a 20mm can (M548) partly for extra fire protection but also to get them off the floor for rust protection. I have also modified the 20mm cans to use padlocks for security.
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my experince is the cans will stay closed in a house fire it whould take an explosion to tear off the lids to make them spill their contents, then the laws of physics take over. when a round cooks off the case being liter than the bullit it will move the farther.. i have a .50 can of .45acp that was in a house fire all cooked off puffed up the can,melted most of the lead in the jacketed bullits ,all 500 rds. contained .the only flying bullits from a fire was when the ammo dump was hit at quang tri ,it rained bullits and a lot of other stuff too ,belive your firemans fears are unfounded
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Mine lives in its own temprature controlled concrete building. 1 foot of concrete on all sides including bottom and top. I feel pretty good about nothing being able to catch my ammo on fire, unless it spontaneously combusts. I guess anything is possible. My wife under no uncertain terms, did not want the amount of ammo I store anywhere near our house, and after seeing firsthand firefighters roll up and leave a burning house because ammo started cooking off, I cant say I blame her. If my house caught fire I would hate to think it would be written off because of a hobby of mine. I simply look at proper storage of ammo as a cost associated with the ammo itself. All our hobby needs is another reason for anti's to give bad press to our hobby and I think something to the extent of "500000 rounds of surplus rifle ammunition explodes in terrorists basement setting fire to houses on either side" would be what you call pretty bad press.
Firefighter
Volunteer types without the experience or knowledge may not try to fight a fire with ammo cooking off, but there is no reason for a firefighter not to fight the fire normally. I've done it and its not dangerous with the right gear on. Ref my previous comment.
If your concerned about your ammo then put it in a large 25mm ammo can and line it with plywood like a powder magazine, should keep it cool enough in a fire not to detonate the primers.
Volunteer types without the experience or knowledge may not try to fight a fire with ammo cooking off, but there is no reason for a firefighter not to fight the fire normally. I've done it and its not dangerous with the right gear on. Ref my previous comment.
If your concerned about your ammo then put it in a large 25mm ammo can and line it with plywood like a powder magazine, should keep it cool enough in a fire not to detonate the primers.
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I may have posted this on the last thread on the subject, but I took time to chat with one of the captains at the nearest fire station when we moved here. I asked how he felt about loaded ammo and bulk powder. The answer was as long as the bulk powder is in the original container (except for those really old metal cans with snap on or screw on lids) they had no heartburn about it. Apparently the newer plastic/paper cans are designed to melt or burn away before the powder ignites in the confined space of the can. It just spills out and burns up. He was even less concerned about loaded ammo. They have worked houses with loaded ammo before and their turnouts deflected the few cases that skittered across the room. Maybe he was just being a tough guy, but he pretty much waved me off.
I've seen the aftermath of military ammo dump fires and the loaded ammo cans not cracked open by the original blast - RPG, mortar round, whatever - look exactly as described above. Paint burned off, a little bit round on the sides with dimples here and there, the lid still firmly locked and no penetration holes from the inside.
All that said, I really like Jmann's idea of a separate blockhouse. Kind of hard to do here in the homeowner association controlled yuppie 'burbs, but I'm headed for the countryside shortly and have the perfect hillside to bore into.
Finally, way to go Hotchkiss. Now I have to deal with fire truck envy. . .
I've seen the aftermath of military ammo dump fires and the loaded ammo cans not cracked open by the original blast - RPG, mortar round, whatever - look exactly as described above. Paint burned off, a little bit round on the sides with dimples here and there, the lid still firmly locked and no penetration holes from the inside.
All that said, I really like Jmann's idea of a separate blockhouse. Kind of hard to do here in the homeowner association controlled yuppie 'burbs, but I'm headed for the countryside shortly and have the perfect hillside to bore into.
Finally, way to go Hotchkiss. Now I have to deal with fire truck envy. . .
Buy the time it gets hot enough for ammo to cook off. You already have bigger problems and will probably not be close by
The firefighters i've talked to expressed little concern over ammo burning in a house fire.
They said burning carpet and furniture and the like produce greater hazards
with the toxic fumes.
The firefighters i've talked to expressed little concern over ammo burning in a house fire.
They said burning carpet and furniture and the like produce greater hazards
with the toxic fumes.
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yea ammo poppin in the fire scares the hell out of me
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There is a decent size write up about this in "Hatcher's Notebook."
Hatcher and his crew did some experiments on this and basically it boiled down to no real hazard.
The book is a great read, but I'm afraid it is slowly being forgotten about. Rarely is it cited in online discussions dealing with some of the exact topics Hatcher addressed.
I almost never see it mentioned by the younger people in the hobby, I imagine most don't even know it exists.
-Patrick
Hatcher and his crew did some experiments on this and basically it boiled down to no real hazard.
The book is a great read, but I'm afraid it is slowly being forgotten about. Rarely is it cited in online discussions dealing with some of the exact topics Hatcher addressed.
I almost never see it mentioned by the younger people in the hobby, I imagine most don't even know it exists.
-Patrick
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