Posted on 05/06/2016 7:18:31 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) - Fire crews were called to the scene of a major house fire in which ammunition was burning and exploding near 12th Street and Peoria Avenue in Phoenix.
According to the Phoenix Fire Department, crews found the body of an 80-year-old man at home.
The man has not been identified, but according to the Phoenix Fire Department, he was a gun dealer who loaded black powder ammunition as a hobby.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs5az.com ...
Just think of all the people who might have been KILLED if he was using IMR to do his reloading ... /s
Smokeless is pretty safe. It can be made into a bomb using a piece of pipe and cape on each end. Otherwise it just burns rapidly.
Not as dangerous as all the aerosol bottles in your home.
Black powder will explode but is not a powerful explosive like TNT.
Outlawing reloading in your home in 3... 2... 1... Come and get me.
Black Powder’s RE factor is .55 compared to TNT’s RE of 1.00
The relative effectiveness factor, or R.E. factor, relates an explosive's demolition power to that of TNT
A lot of blasting has been done with black powder.
Reads nicely with “explodes”.
I didn’t click on it, but it’s a very popular misconception that ammo EXPLODES.
I guess if you had many tons of it, you might get that, but without the pressure being confined to a sturdy chamber, most individual rounds cook off in a pretty benign way.
It’s not like it takes off at 3,000 feet per second.
Ah, whoops..!
Blackpowder.
Ah, okay.
I stand corrected —sorry I went too fast.
Unless the bullet is in the chamber of a gun. The potential for being”shot” is pretty low.
I hate when my ammo explodes while my house is burning down with a dead man inside.
I reload. I like to buy most of my powders in 5lb containers to save money. It is amazing how many people get completely freaked out when they see a few 5 pound containers of powder sitting around.
Storing gasoline inside is much more dangerous because the vapors are heavier than air under most conditions and can travel to an ignition source and the flames can travel back to the container. Propane vapor is also heavier than air and has a very wide flammability range, so it is also more dangerous to store inside. Propane containers BLEVE when they are inside a burning building.
During my career I went to several fires where propane tanks from barbecues exploded while we were fighting a house fire. Each time we were very thankful that we were far enough away that no one got hurt.
Huh?
Ammunition doesn’t explode. In fact, right here on good ol’ FR was a youtube video link of firemen walking through a fire with ammunition in a fire designed to ensure the ammo went off. The firemen had no injuries whatsoever. In fact, not even their coats had marks. Bullets simply have little energy from igniting shells. It takes a barrel to make the pressure needed to send bullets flying at lethal velocities.
Thousands of rounds “cooking-off” does sound pretty unnerving to some people. I’d keep a respectful distance, but that’s just me.
Unlike smokeless powder, black powder cartridges during a fire will explode, but much like a fire cracker and not a bomb.
Ardell Deliz of the Phoenix Fire Department was pretty clear on another station, saying the Fire Fighters were worried about rounds in fire arms. I was pretty impressed that she very clearly articulated that the real danger was the instability of black powder and their fear of rounds in the breech of black powder guns. Most or all in the local media missed that little tidbit and talked incessantly about the “bullets exploding and firefighters ducking projectiles”.
Not surprising. I believe there’s an IQ ceiling of about 70 for the media professions. Any higher and you’re out. This goes far in explaining their political proclivities.
fireman15
I’m also a firefighter (volunteer with lots of paper) and I handload also. My experience is the same as yours. Of course I store my smokeless powders as per NFPA guidelines and I keep it in our detached garage and sheds, not in the house.
I have had people in gun stores freak out when I’m buying 8 pound kegs questioning why would need 8 pounds and expressing gladness that they are not my neighbor in the event of explosion. Of course they don’t warn the owners of the LGS of the dangers of having 100s of pounds of powder sitting right there on the shelf waiting for the hapless consumer to place in their shopping cart.
I didn't mean to imply that I was storing my powder improperly. I was making a bit of an attempt at humor saying people freak out when they see a few containers of powder laying around. Smokeless powder is too valuable these days especially not to take proper precautions with it.
All of my stock is kept in storage that protects it from sources of combustion and from humidity. And everything is kept locked and off limits to all people other than invited guests. The containers come out when they are being used. But it is still amazing to me how many people freak out over my reloading area... people who should know better and people who think nothing of improperly storing propane and gasoline which in my opinion are more dangerous because their combustible vapors make them more likely to find an ignition source.
I’m sorry if you thought I was implying that you are not storing powder properly. I’m sure you do. I was agreeing with your experience 100% and trying to let you know that I have had similar experiences.
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