[Josh Smith]

Hi All,

What temp does ammo cook off?

We're at 98deg right now, feeling like 109deg (though I wouldn't expect humidity to factor into cookoff).

Windows are up in my Blimmy (Blazer + Jimmy parts). It's probably up to at least 120deg.

I don't think I have any ammo in there but there may be the odd .22lr.

Should I be concerned? Or does it take much more for ammo to cook?

Thanks,

Josh <><

 

[lelandray]

It'll have to get a good bit hotter, I think. You won't get anything hot enough to do it just by leaving ammo or guns in a hot building or out in the sun. Fire a belt fed machine gun without spacing bursts, and do it for a couple of belts' worth, and you might find something interesting.

Dwight Eisenhower told a story of how he and George Patton took a Browning machine gun out during the interwar years. They fired it until the barrel was really, really hot, then stopped firing in order to go check their target. Just as they got forward of the gun, it began spewing rounds again, though luckily its traversing mechanism was locked down, or it would have fired all over the place instead of in a somewhat limited lateral arc. They managed to twist the cloth belt and get it stopped that way, but it took them a bit. Apparently it would fire a burst, stop, fire another, stop...

If you have .22 ammo outside the box and in full sunlight, who knows what might happen?

 

[Josh Smith]

LelandRay,

Thank you. I didn't think it would cook off but better safe than sorry.

Josh <><

 

[lelandray]

My concern would actually be with shooting the ammunition after it had been exposed to extreme heat for a period of time. I suppose it's possible that the powder might undergo changes which would cause uncertain results upon firing.

I've shot some really OLD ammo in the past, and some of it, I'm sure, had been seriously abused. I've never had any serious consequences, though I have half a box of .45 ACP surplus ammo with apparently dead primers.