Primer detonation in live cartridge

Ganderite said:
I have destroyed hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammo by shovelling it into the fire. The primer detonates and shoots out the back of the case, at a fair velocity. It may or might not ignite the powder charge. If some of the powder burns, the case will rupture. The bullet goes nowhere. Sounds like popcorn.
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This to is a favourite out hunting, 22 rounds in the fire, great fun with the new guys. Just a pop sound no movie ricochet sound.
 
Sounds like the oven was too hot, in his book "Gunshot Wounds" Vincent Di Maio writes about experiments where ammo was heated in an oven.
.22 long rifle cartridges detonated about 275F, .38 Special at 290F and 12 gauge shotgun shells at 387F.

An interesting thing was that when heated in an oven the cartridge cases always ruptured, but the primers did not detonate. Which would lead you to believe that powder has a lower ignition point than priming compounds.

Try 150F rather than 350F.

Dan
 
Dan B said:
Sounds like the oven was too hot, in his book "Gunshot Wounds" Vincent Di Maio writes about experiments where ammo was heated in an oven.
.22 long rifle cartridges detonated about 275F, .38 Special at 290F and 12 gauge shotgun shells at 387F.

An interesting thing was that when heated in an oven the cartridge cases always ruptured, but the primers did not detonate. Which would lead you to believe that powder has a lower ignition point than priming compounds.

Try 150F rather than 350F.

Dan
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Hi Dan
My original post was rather long-winded, my apologies.

I guess you didn't notice "Warm function ~75C" - that's about 170F - enough to keep food warm. Although a bit "toastie" to the touch, I can pick the brass up with bare hands as soon as it comes out of the oven (after about a half-hour oven time)

That's why I'm surprised that the primer detonated. It is conceivable that live ammo could be stowed in a parked vehicle that could reach those kinds of temperatures:

"When temperatures outside range from 80 degrees to 100 degrees, the temperature inside a car parked in direct sunlight can quickly climb to between 130 to 172.” – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 
I also have trouble imagining a primer or a cartridge ignited at 75C, but I suppose the underlying message here should be that it's not clever to cook live ammo in an oven at any temperature. Carelessness can hurt you.
 
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My thought is that the lesson here is to check your brass before you process it. I had one instance of a bag of 38 Special range brass from a very reliable firm that had a dud live round in the bag. Bit of a surprise, but no hazard.
 
K-C said:
Hi Dan
My original post was rather long-winded, my apologies.

I guess you didn't notice "Warm function ~75C" - that's about 170F - enough to keep food warm. Although a bit "toastie" to the touch, I can pick the brass up with bare hands as soon as it comes out of the oven (after about a half-hour oven time)

That's why I'm surprised that the primer detonated. It is conceivable that live ammo could be stowed in a parked vehicle that could reach those kinds of temperatures:

"When temperatures outside range from 80 degrees to 100 degrees, the temperature inside a car parked in direct sunlight can quickly climb to between 130 to 172.” – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Never apologize, great topic.
I somehow interpreted that your tumbler had a 75C warm function - not familiar with wet tumblers.
Can't figure how a primer chemically could detonate at that temperature.
 
jethunter said:
I also have trouble imagining a primer or a cartridge ignited at 75C, but I suppose the underlying message here should be that it's not clever to cook live ammo in an oven at any temperature. Carelessness can hurt you.
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75 would be the ambient temp. I imagine that temp would be marginally hire closer to the souŕce of the heat.
 
Ganderite said:
I have destroyed hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammo by shovelling it into the fire. The primer detonates and shoots out the back of the case, at a fair velocity. It may or might not ignite the powder charge. If some of the powder burns, the case will rupture. The bullet goes nowhere. Sounds like popcorn.
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And of course someone always comes up with the "exception to the rule"... neighbor lady (she's the mother of my hunting buddy) carried a .22 slug around in her first knuckle of her second finger for 40 yrs or so...she threw the "floor sweepings" into the firebox of her cooking stove, she never put the stove top in place and a .22 that was in the sweepings detonated, embedding the slug in her finger, doc's gave her the choice...live with it for the rest of her life or have it removed along with the finger, she lived with it for the rest of her life.
 
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