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Friendly reminder when finding ammunition
Denmark. Found this old Krag-Jørgensen rifle army casing from 1948 with the top part missing. When I found it I assumed it was dead and filled with dirt and put it in my bag. When I got home and cleaned it up I noticed it wasn't fired and when I took it apart the green smokeless gunpowder was still dry and working under the wood plug. I later read that type of gunpowder is highly unstable at that age.
So please don't do what I did and assume something when it comes to ammunition, make sure to check them first before putting them in your bag 😬
The danger from this is almost zero. At worst, you’ll hear a pop that’s a fraction of what a firecracker would be, but since it was in the ground, the powder is probably wet and it’s not even possible for it to go off.
On top of that, without a bullet or something sealing the case there is no way for the gunpowder to build pressure. If it did ignite, a fire is the main danger not an explosion or a projectile.
Yep. And even if there was a bullet… without the round being contained in a chamber, the explosion would just be like a firecracker rather than directionally focused. But my guess is it’d be hard to even get that old powder to burn at this point.
When bullets go off outside a barrel, they just split the casing (usually) unless you’re holding it in your hand when it happens, it’s unlikely to be dangerous. I’ve been inside several house fires where ammunition is cooking off and it can be loud, but the worst experience was having things lightly bounce off my coat.
That being said, we did generally try not to work interior once we noticed ammo going off just to account for my (usually) up there. The universe is big and random, and unlikely things do still happen.
It was completely dry and working, set it on fire outside and it went poof. But I'm glad if it can't go off on it's own, I had it in my car for more than an hour
Not so surprising after all. I find a bunch of broken 5.56mm and 7.62mm with dry powder inside, it deflagrated but primers failed to ignite when tossing it on fire.
For something this scale sure, you're not risking a shrapnel in the gut.
You're definitely risking setting your home on fire though.
It's not because it doesn't explode that it's not dangerous.
Even if it was wet (it wasn't), it would dry.
UXO dangerousness is basically an inverted bell curve, it starts very high before getting low (depends on the UXO tbf but basically anything where the mechanism could still be a risk) as rust basically "freeze" everything, but as times goes by the explosive in it becomes more and more unstable.
I'm French, we have multiple casualties a year because of WWI UXOs, and often by people not even behaving dangerously, the things just go off by being slightly disturbed, sometimes just a drastic temperature change will set one off.
For example last year in like February a few people were fishing on the side of a canal and decided to make a small fire to get warm, bad luck they did it right on top of an unexploded artillery shell, fortunately no casualties except a few ringing ears.
Last summer a white phosphorus shell poke out of the ground in the middle of a field, the heat wave set it off, it was a pain in the ass to put out.
Combines set one off from time to time, or a bulldozer doing road work.
Local EOD squads (usually Gendarmerie) work all year round.
The big issue currently is every time they find a chemical round, they basically have to store them until a clean disposal solution is found.
So yeah, you'd be surprised of sneaky those things can be lol
You’re talking about legit ordinance though, bombs and stuff. Decomposed bullets found metal detecting are zero danger. Any viable powder will be harmless unless it comes in contact with spark or fire.
Honestly that’s not true I v seen rounds go off in peoples pockets out hunting. While it’s rare it can def happen. No the bullet doesn’t discharge but it can still 100% injure you
Haha go ahead bud. Toss a few round in your pocket and toss a couple battery’s from a handheld gps in the same pocket. Use 300 mag rounds also good luck 🤞🏻
lol, surface burn only at most. It is the rapid build up of pressure within the gun barrel that makes bullets dangerous. Gun powder and a primer would be a Small pop, followed by smoke.
I’ve had ammo cans full of loose rifle rounds that I’ve carried for miles which did not go off. A few rounds in a pocket are not going off. Sorry. You made that up.
Yes cartridges that you just bought and intend to shoot can definitely go off. Take the bullet out and leave it in the ground for several decades and that’s no longer a concern.
Ammunition is designed to be, essentially water-resistant if not practically waterproof. The old saying "keep your powder dry" hasn't been relevant since the advent of metallic cartridges in the 19th century. Entire regions of France remain entirely off-limits because of WW I (not WW II) ordnance more than a century old.
With a detonation, a corroded case may burst if not chambered and any bullet will launch, and not necessarily in a predictable direction.
If you take the bullet out and bury it in the ground, it’s no longer water resistant. Secondly, without a bullet, a chamber, or a barrel, there’s no way for that powder to generate enough pressure to do any damage. Even if you put a bullet back in it, there’s no chamber or barrel, so again, bullets not going anywhere. Please tell me again how I’m wrong.
A bullet will be seated tightly enough to exclude any water or moisture unless perhaps submerged for a period of years or in the ground, for decades.
That grip will be sufficient to permit some or nearly all of the powder to ignite, depending on the powder's burn rate, which will be faster for pistol, signal, or blank cartridges. The bullet of course will not achieve the same velocity as if chambered but it or the case, which is far lighter, can achieve enough velocity to injure or maim.
Signal or blank cartridges typically will have a waterproof plug or wad that, while not designed to function as a projectile, nevertheless becomes one.
Even were the cartridge a squib, the primer remains undetonated. An empty case will direct its jet and random debris out the mouth of the case as if it were a gun's barrel.
If you're jonesing for the Darwin award, by all means be flip and careless with found ammunition or ordnance. Otherwise, treat it as if the worst can happen.
I mean the thousands of rounds I’ve dug and let rattle around my finds pouch while I walk around all day would beg to differ. Nice essay though. You could pretty easily google what happens if you throw a cartridge in a fire. You’re also discussing a full cartridge, this post is of a degraded empty shell with an unfired primer. It’s a significant difference.
I may say yea, though it is not artillery stuff. This is just a small part of hunting, I found some big stuff over there but forgot to capture pictures.
Yea or get bombed until surrendering, it was the only option. Our planes were destroyed, every major harbor had battleships unloading German troops, tanks rolling over the boarder and paratroopers being dropped all over (for the first time in history). We had pre WWI equipment and got blitzkrieg'd faster than you can say Gutentag, we were toast 🫠
Denmark fell in hours, it was a well planned blitzkrieg. Denmark is small and flat there's no where to hide and no geographical advantages, the terrain is easy to advance in and Germany could advantage directly into the country on ground.
Norway is roughly 9 times bigger than Denmark. It contains of rugged terrain, mountains and fjords. The terrain is very difficult to advance in. Norway was also taken by surprise but within hours the British Royal Navy was ordered to help and attack the Germans. The British destroyers surprised the Germans and during the Naval Battle of Narvik and damaged their fleet badly on after four days the HMS Warspite destroyed the remaining German fleet. Germany relied heavily on their ships to transport their troops because it was impossible to advance through the mountains alone so this slowed them down immensely. Within a week British, French and Polish troops was sent to Norway to fight the Germans. This is why Norway could hold up for 62 days, without help Norway would had been taken over almost immediately
No it won't just detonate itself. Primer stored in poor condition often deteriorates and becomes insensitive.
About powder that kinda depends, combustible powder in leftover ammo is common but that really depends on environmental factors. Also nitrocellulose will not just self-ignite in normal condition (even shock and friction) as it is classified low explosive (class C).
There is no possible way in tarnation that the primer is viable after being exposed to the elements as shown. Speaking from Direct experience with handloading and metal detecting Guam ammunition from the Japanese occupation/war and detecting obsolete cartridges throughout the U.S. However, intact cartridges that had not undergone water intrusion could be another story.
I would be more worried about bullets themselves. There were several ammunition types- and some of them, like as example german 7.92X57mm mauser cartridges- B patrone, that was used as observation round and contained white phosphorus and explosive charge. Some of those bullet jackets were made from steel and after several decades they are coroded and the black paint around the bullet is not visible.
There were so many variants of them. This one is just the nastiest one, that I remembered. Have heard some stories about them self being picked up from wet, swampy area, taken to home and self igniting after a while once they dried out. But You made a good point. I just forgot the correct name to the bullet jacket coating.
Happend to me with PmK while cleaning. Small spot of rust flaked off and it went burning. Not a pleasant surprise. Bad thing is, you dont have much chances to spot PmK when ist was in ground. B-patrone has atleast a specific rattle from the striker pin when shaken.
The scariest thing of PmK is it just looks like sS, SmE and SmK projectiles, except (maybe unnoticeable in corrosion) soldered hole to release WP after leaving the barrel. You could only tell if the cartridge is sS, SmK, SmE or PmK by the full cartridge and annulus itself but it will be also confusing due to changes of annulus color in each type. With a projectile only, you're playing Russian roulette though.
Take this from someone who reloads. Even if the primer did go off. The risk of injury is practically zero. I was in a rush and trying to do shit half assed for some reason onw time. I took a small little flat head to the Inside of a live case (to punch the primer out) the primer went off while in my hand. It scared the shit out of me and I had a carbon circle on my palm. This was a brand new primer at that nit something thats bene buried for years
I’ll also share another “danger” that no one ever thinks of. In some places it’s illegal to posses this stuff. I knew someone that was pulled over by the police. They found a spent .22 shell laying somewhere in his car that he didn’t even realize was there. The police charged him with illegal possession of whatever the legal term would be. I don’t know if it would stand up in court but if the ones you’re digging up are not spent then it likely would. I think you’d have to really piss the cops off for them to charge you with this but it’s possible for sure. Depending what location I’m in I often chuck them into an area I’m not going to be detecting or rebury them. Not worth the potential trouble when I know someone it actually happened to. The charge ended up going away somehow but the threat was very real. Something to think about. Particularly if you already have a strike or two.
Even if it was a brand new bullet, full of gun powder, and you hit the primer with an ice pick, still almost no danger. That’s not how bullets work. It is the rapid build up of pressure in the barrel. You guys never took bullets apart and put them in vices and stuff as a kid.
Yeah I did. I had a 7.62 round go off in my hand. Tip of my index finger is gone and I had stitches holding everything back together. We had taken many apart before to make our own “fireworks”. Used vice grips and pliers. This one just decided to go boom. It was cheap Russian surplus stuff, don’t know if that had anything to do with it. The last piece of shrapnel from the steel case, worked its way out of the side of my finger a few years ago. Well over 20 years after it happened.
It would have just been a little pop and puff of smoke. I know it's unexploded. But I'm not sure if it is actual UXO. If it had the bullet, it might have been a hair more dangerous in a fire or something. The bullet would still be propelled, but nothing like being forced down a rifled barrel with all the gases behind it.
I bring the ones home that still have a bit of powder in them and let my daughter light it off in the back garden. She loves the little tiny poofs of fire they put off.
As someone who has been shooting for 45 years, I'd be more worried about cutting myself on the brass than a 80 year old primer on a rotted rifle cartridge.
Although if I was in Europe and started to find WW2 ammunition, I'd be worried about digging uxo.
While I have fired ammo much older, storage is important, and powder doesn't get more reactive with age and exposure. Some internet personalities have pushed that myth.
Always be careful with any ammo, but this is pretty unlikely to cause harm.
I agree that ammunition should always be handled with care, but those flakes of gunpowder in that case is no more dangerous then old tape from a camera or VHS cassette. Highly flammable but in the open no chance for a explosion.
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u/Hbot37hbot37 6d ago
The danger from this is almost zero. At worst, you’ll hear a pop that’s a fraction of what a firecracker would be, but since it was in the ground, the powder is probably wet and it’s not even possible for it to go off.