Long but fairly interesting:
I saw the Mythbusters episode on ammunition in a fire… SAMMI got similar results. Basically it’s not that dangerous if the round isn’t chambered… you wouldn’t want to have your face right next to it though.
Someone in the comments mentioned they should have done a drop test with .22 LR. Yea no shit!
7:55 – Do a lot of people you know own blasting caps? I don’t know anyone that has any.
10:10 – I always wondered what would happen if I ran over my ammo with one of my many bulldozers.
12:27 – 28,000 rounds being lit on fire NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo
It’s funny how they use actually real people (firefighters) for a lot of the tests to prove that the exploding ammunition wasn’t dangerous. If you’re testing something, doesn’t that already mean you’re not 100% sure on the outcome, and you hope to find the answer? I’m sure a mannequin with some sensors would have done the trick for some of the tests, or at least better protection on the fire fighters.
Thoughts?
Hat tip: Russell
Comments
10 responses to “SAAMI Safety Tests On Sporting Ammunition”
I get the impression some one kept asking “what else can we try?”
oh and at the 18 minute mark they light 115,000 rounds in a building just to try putting it out… fucking hell…
I watched the entire thing and it nearly brought me to tears when they did that.
Where’s the guy lifting weights while standing over his ammo stash when SAAMI and the firefighters needed him?
http://gizmodo.com/5901925/weightlifter-shoots-himself-using-a-dumbbellno-really
Outdoors store near where I grew up caught fire several years back. Fire department said it was too dangerous with ammo going off to try to put it so they let it burn. Of course in the months leading up to this the owner started adding all of this woodwork to a previously all metal building. There had been rumors the year or so before the owner was trying to sell but it fell through.
Great video, but sad about all that wasted ammo…
but it has saved the lives of other ammo.
I learned some things:
1. Firefighters are silly and scared of everything.
2. Firefighters do not understand that when you “shoot a case of ammo” you don’t shoot -at- the case of ammo.
3. Ammo isn’t that dangerous unless its in a gun. A basic understanding of physics reveals this.
As a teenager I remember a farm house a mile or so from ours catching fire. The house had lots of guns and ammunition in it appeared that the fire department did a fantastic job of saving the chimney of the house and not much else. The owner died (and was cremated) in the fire. I know that they responded to the fire and were on scene while the house was still a house, but I can only assume that they didn’t fight it because they were scared of the ammo which was popping off inside. If only the fire fighters had seen this video, how much differently it could have turned out. Our family knew him and he was a great guy, I kinda miss that guy and it has colored my dim view of firefighters ever since.
If you are reading this and you are a firefighter and aren’t scared of your shadow, good for you, please continue. If you are scared of your shadow, maybe you should rethink your profession.
I’ll bet some of the firefighters took some of the undamaged rounds home with them. Especially from the shooting the package tests.
About that drop test with .22 rimfire ammo: Anytime the rounds are dropped from high enough to where the rim can be dented the round will land bullet first. The bullet being the heaviest part. Try it over carpet to start.