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TX: Twelve-year-old Boy Ignites .22 Cartridge with Cigarette Lighter
Gun Watch ^ | 19 June, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 06/20/2014 4:39:11 AM PDT by marktwain


In the story out of Texas, the boy's mother drives him to the hospital.  The deputy interviewing the young man found out how he was injured.  From thevindicator.com:

Deputy Hobson stated that upon interviewing the young man as to how he got injured from the bullet, the young boy told Dep. Hobson that he had held a cigarette lighter under a .22 caliber bullet to see what would happen. The bullet exploded sending bullet fragments through his left middle finger and lodging in the left eye lid.
There are a couple of lessons here.   The first is not to try to set off cartridges outside of a firearm in close proximity to your flesh.   A .22 does not have a lot of gunpowder in it, but it is enough to cause minor injuries if it is in contact with flesh when it goes off.  If you are more than five feet away from it when it happens, presuming that it is not contained in the chamber of a firearm, your risk is minimal.   Surprisingly, the tiny .22 rimfire seems to entail a bit more risk than centerfire cartridges.   The case is very thin and light, and is more likely to rupture or develop enough velocity to be dangerous. 

While we do not know exactly what happened, a .22 case and bullet, being made of metal, transmit heat very effectively.  I suspect that the boy was using something to hold the cartridge to avoid being burned.  Even a pair of pliers or a a few wraps of tape might have been enough to provide some support for the case and make the resulting ignition more dangerous.  I have heard of people who put the .22 cartridge in a vice and hit the base with a hammer.  That is a dangerous procedure.

In another article on fires and ammunition, a source on an Internet forum reported that he had experience of a fragment that barely punctured the skin at a range of less than five feet from a .22 rimfire case that was ignited in a fire.  He concluded that any other cases were too sturdy to fragment.  Here is a Link to the SAAMI paper, "Facts About Sporting Ammunition Fires".

40 or more years ago a fellow told me he touched a match to some homemade gunpowder to see if it would go off.   He lost his eyebrows and burned his hand a bit, but suffered no permanent injury.    Young males are adventurous, curious, and willing to take risks.   We can guide them and attempt to channel that energy; but suppressing it can result in more harm than good.  An amusing web site could result from the theme: Silly risks I took as a boy/young man.

As the "fragment" in question (almost certainly from the case and not the bullet) lodged in the boy's eyelid, it seems likely that the eye itself is not at risk.

Eyes are the most vulnerable parts of the body to these sorts of projectiles, which is why wearing safety/shooting glasses of some kind has become a regular part of most shooters' gear.  

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch


TOPICS: Education; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: 22; banglist; injury; tx
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To: marktwain

Hold muh kool-aid.


61 posted on 06/20/2014 7:50:19 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: fella
*** Why naturally we pounded on it with rocks to see if we could get it to go off***

We had an idiot in the military who found a .50 cal cartridge and decided to drill a hole in it for a souvenir.

They had his funeral a few days later. He could have bought all the dummy .50 round cartridges he wanted at the local Army Surplus store, but No-O-o. He wanted a real one!

62 posted on 06/20/2014 7:51:07 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need more than seven rounds, Much more.)
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To: marktwain

When I was five , my friends watched me pour the powder from a number of firecrackers into the smokestack of my favourite toy plastic locomotive and light it to see the smoke. This was outside and on the sand pile where we played - thank goodness. Mama didn’t allow no messing around in the house.

I saw smoke, but completely destroyed my locomotive in the process. Fortunately I had carefully tossed a lit match (no punk around) and run like hell, so I was not hit by the flying shrapnel. I still remember the smell, flying sand, and small pieces of plastic all over the place. It was DUMB, but I learned a lot from the experience.

Amazing what one can do with a little gun powder and a match.


63 posted on 06/20/2014 8:52:58 AM PDT by Texicanus (Texas, it's a whole 'nother country.)
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To: wrench

>>It is a wonder there aren’t bunches of one armed, one eyed 60 something men around these days.<<

There is. We’re just lucky not to be included in the group.


64 posted on 06/20/2014 8:59:12 AM PDT by B4Ranch (Name your illness, do a Google & YouTube search with "hydrogen peroxide". Do it and be surprised.)
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To: marktwain

Stupid kid. Everybody knows you’re supposed to ignite stray .22 cartridges by throwing them in a campfire.


65 posted on 06/20/2014 9:10:35 AM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: Married with Children

Having access to dynamite and powder filled blasting caps made my childhood exciting. Never did any serious damage but I had fun bringing down trees, clearing stumps and fishing.


66 posted on 06/20/2014 9:11:55 AM PDT by B4Ranch (Name your illness, do a Google & YouTube search with "hydrogen peroxide". Do it and be surprised.)
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To: heartwood

That story made me laugh out loud. I love it!


67 posted on 06/20/2014 9:17:32 AM PDT by B4Ranch (Name your illness, do a Google & YouTube search with "hydrogen peroxide". Do it and be surprised.)
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To: wita

The rocket fuel was in a small rectangular container....we lit it, and for a split second there was a five ft tall rectangular column of fire, and a load roar.

Smokelss powder burns fast....model rocket fuel burns as warp speed.


68 posted on 06/20/2014 10:50:48 AM PDT by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: Mark17
What was the result? How far will bullets penetrate into water?

I think there was more to this episode but here's a youtube clip of the .50 cal

Shooting into water

69 posted on 06/20/2014 10:57:29 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (By now, everyone should know that you shoot a zombie in the head. Don't try to reason with them...)
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To: Comment Not Approved
We filled up CO2 cartridges with gunpowder, then made our own fuses with masking tape cut into strips and covered with gunpowder. These things blew up REAL good. One totally vaporized a cinder block. My favorite was strapping them onto arrows and shooting them in the air.

We also took empty .22 brass, and filled them with match heads. Then, bent the end to contain everything. Once we made up a bunch we would explode them by hitting them with a hammer. Cheap fun circa 1975

70 posted on 06/20/2014 12:02:59 PM PDT by BlueMondaySkipper (Involuntarily subsidizing the parasite class since 1981)
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To: riverrunner

As long as it doesn’t kill or severely injure them experience is a great teacher.


The best teacher. Those it kills were not viable anyway.....

“Experience; the school master of fools and school is always in session.”


71 posted on 06/20/2014 1:02:03 PM PDT by S.O.S121.500 (Had ENOUGH Yet ? ........................ Enforce the Bill of Rights ......... It's the LAW !!!)
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To: marktwain
We would take 12 Gauge shot shells, take pliers and undue the crimp, empty the shot and keep one BB, place a marble or projectile into the shell hole, tape the BB to the primer face, throw the shell high up and the heavy metal case always came down primer first and the BB would set off the primer and BBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!
72 posted on 06/20/2014 1:26:52 PM PDT by Mat_Helm
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To: envisio

Why is it police business — taking a guess here that gunshot wounds are reportable to somebody.


73 posted on 06/20/2014 9:55:03 PM PDT by Cloverfarm
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To: marktwain
What?
I thought everybody did this at least once.

That shooting empty cans with M-80s.
74 posted on 06/21/2014 1:40:16 AM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus sum -- "The Taliban is inside the building")
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To: Texicanus
"Amazing what one can do with a little gun powder and a match."

Man o man...ain't that the truth.
75 posted on 06/21/2014 1:52:01 AM PDT by Tainan (Cogito, ergo conservatus sum -- "The Taliban is inside the building")
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
A few minutes later I jumped as something in my pocket got HOT real fast. Never again. I’ve always heard that money can burn a hole in your pocket if you don’t spend it quick.

Batteries close to the body can be a hazard. Sometimes, sadly, fatal.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4452360/Exploding-mobile-phone-kills-man-in-China.html

76 posted on 06/21/2014 2:00:15 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Tainan

We made our own “mortar” rounds by glueing m-80’s to model rocket engines and then firing them from brass pipe formed into tubes. Once the tube tipped over, pointing at us before the fuse lit it. I don’t think I’ve ever run faster.

CC


77 posted on 06/21/2014 1:37:08 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (tease not the dragon for thou art crunchy when roasted and taste good with ketchup)
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To: Married with Children

Great post - thanks!


78 posted on 06/22/2014 6:15:51 AM PDT by scott7278 ("...I have not changed Congress and how it operates the way I would have liked..." - BHO)
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To: scott7278

Welcome. Like I said...those stories were from a coworker of my father who is a chemist at an AGCHEM corporation. The guy is quite a character.


79 posted on 06/23/2014 6:14:54 AM PDT by Married with Children
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To: BartMan1; Nailbiter

For the comments...


80 posted on 07/08/2014 6:04:49 AM PDT by IncPen (None of this would be happening if John Boehner were alive...)
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