# This Might Be a Stupid Question, but.....



## dereckbc (Jan 2, 2016)

When I was 13 my friend and I were out plinking with our .22's one cold day. I had a box of .22 shells in my coat pocket and went to reload my riffle, reached in my pocket, pulled the shells out, and dropped the box. The box of shells landed on a rock and discharged a shell striking my buddy on the chin with a glancing blow. Only gave him a scratch and a scare and we continued the rest of the day. Wheen we got home his Mom wanted to how he got cut. Lost my riffle for a year. 

Anyway here I am 42 years later with my first semi-auto pistol. Got a great deal on 1000 rounds of Ammo by Winchester loose in a bag. So now the question;

Is loose ammo in a zip lock bag safe? Is it a real possibility if dropped a round could discharge if two bullets are lined up correctly?

I understand how the .22 discharged being Rim Fired, but what about Center Fired?


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Center fire takes a more direct punch to the primer. Without a barrel to focus the projectile it's not like being shot out of a gun velocity wise.

I've had loose rounds in pockets, baggies, packed loose in ammo cans and never had any issues. Lots of people do the same and don't have any issues. 

I don't thing it's ammo legitimate worry.


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## CW (Mar 20, 2015)

I've occasionally dropped rimfire and centerfire ammo onto concrete floors without discharge. It is an issue with sensitive - not properly seated primers - mainly hand/reloads, but that is rare.
Of course r-f ammo has more contact area exposed than c-f.

Also lever-actions have typically used blunt tipped bullets for safety as spritzers in a tube magazine could be dangerous.

But I suspect you'd have to drop your lever-action butt down from high up to blow up the magazine.


I remember an old hunter safety course where the instructor used a special breach (probably a hammer-nail gun) and a blank, and fired it with a good rap of a spoon.


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## RK3369 (Aug 12, 2013)

I doubt that rimfire has that much of a potential to go off in most situations. I know you had that experience, but I wonder what the real probability of that was? In practice, I have bought many rounds through various internet sites, had it shipped UPS or FedEx and never known of a problem. The way UPS and FedEx handle packages and throw them around, if it had that much potential to discharge, they couldn't ship it. Just wouldn't be safe enough to be sent that way. Yes, it only takes one round to kill, but I think you experienced an event which probability wise should not have happened. 

Hey, on the other hand, maybe you should be buying a Powerball ticket today. With your experience with long shot odds, you might just win the jackpot.


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## AZdave (Oct 23, 2015)

The theory is without the barrel a dropped or cooked off round (throw some ammo in a fire cowboy movies) won't harm you. The bullet only has the length of the crimp to build up a force behind it.

But I wouldn't want to be around the camp fire or a dropped round.


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## dereckbc (Jan 2, 2016)

Thanks guys. I did not think it should be a problem, but I have never forgotten my lesson of 43 years ago. I got into a lot of trouble over that. But Randy and I are still good friends and we still hunt and play golf together and laugh about it once in a while. Anyway I have just never seen Bulk Ammo sold in a Zip Lock bag before until now. 

FWIW, yeah it was a freak accident. Once I became older, and an engineer I now understand what happened. It was a full box of 100 rounds of .22 LR. When I dropped it on the rocks, it landed on the corner of the cardboard box right. So the impact was on the rim of a cartridge with the weight of all the other shells on it compounding the mass. Randy still has the brass. It was a Perfect Storm event. Dang thing is I got into trouble and lost my gun for a year for being careless. Good thing is Randy's parents were OK with it, understood it was a freak accident, and still allowed Randy to hang with me.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

I intentionally performed in the past my own MYTHBUSTERS episode (untelevised).
I threw about 20 rim fire (22 shorts) ,, one at a time , on to an asphalt road. Only 3 went bang out of 20.....
CONFIRMED!!


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## dereckbc (Jan 2, 2016)

pic said:


> I intentionally performed in the past my own MYTHBUSTERS episode (untelevised).
> I threw about 20 rim fire (22 shorts) ,, one at a time , on to an asphalt road. Only 3 went bang out of 20.....
> CONFIRMED!!


Yeah and you can make Nut Busters (aka Strike Busters) with Shotgun Shells. Were popular decades ago to break up Union Strike and Protest. As a kid we made a few to see if they worked. Confirmed, they do and work every time.


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