Time to debunk a few old wives tales. (I appologise to any old wives reading this)

Myth #4 If ammunition falls in the fire it will explode and shoot you.

 

Everyone has seen the cowboy shows where the villians with the black hats have the heroine tied to the tree. The hero is also tied to the tree. Now the bad guys are sitting around the fire and talking about how they are going to ravish the heroine. This is too much for the hero so by tremendous effort he manages to shuck some of his cartridges out of his belt and throw them into the fire. At this all hell breaks loose and the cartidges go off BANG BANG BOOM BOOM CRACK,  richochet noises here please, WHINE. Of course nothing touches the hero or the heroine but do manage to do in or run off all the bad guys. BUNK

Never happens. My son and I were camping up in the Rocky Mountains once and he asked me that very question. So I said lets experiment and see, son. He is always anxious to get in on Dad's experiments so I went to the truck and dug around under the seats and in the back and came back with some shells.

First we will try a 22LR son, and I dopped it in the fire. Prior to this I had designated a large rock for Trent to stay behind and I was going to use the truck for protection. After the .22 was dropped in the fire I stepped behind the truck and Trent ducked behing the rock. A pop was heard, about like the little yellow caps that the kids use in their toy guns. So we both advanced to the fire and there in the coals was the .22LR The case was split down one side and the bullet was melted and in a puddle of shiney lead.

Next I pulled out a 45 acp cartridge and dropped it in the fire. Back we went to our stations. We heard a pop not much different than if you were popping bubble package wrapping. We checked in the fire and the 45 acp case too was split down the side and the bullet was still in the end of the case.(FMJ) The primer was out of the case and lost in the ashes.

Next came a 30-06. Big bore now! Same procedure and this pop was louder still but not scary loud just like popping a muzzle loader cap to clear the barrel. This time we were not completely behind cover and we both saw the flame shoot up about 8 inches and burn for about 5 seconds. On examination the primer was popped out of the case and had hit the rocks and bounced up in the air a few inches and had fallen out of the fire circle. The bullet was still in the case and the case was split. The lead tip of the bullet was melted off. 

The last test was a shotgun shell. 12 ga. Because I know how powerful the 209 cap is I warned my son to not get brave and stand behind his rock. The shot shell primer did indeed live up to it's reputation of a powerful pellet of compound and when it cooked off it hit the rock and bounced about 4 ft in the air and bounded for another 6 ft before running out of evergy. The shotshell just burned all up aided by the short lived flame of the powder and the shot melted into a puddle of lead.

No BOOM no BANG no rechochet sound no casualites. And none of the bullets ever left their cases. Sorry Sharon Stone your movies are phony.

Sarge