22LR bullet put a hole in my pocket - literally!!

Just wanted to put this online so that others can avoid a potentially lethal situation.

Over the weekend me and some mates decided to go spotlighting for possums. I put 30 or so loose rounds into my chest pocket, along with a spare battery (18650) for the scope-mounted torch. Bad move.

About a half hour into it, my pocket went "pop" - and so did my arse hole. :o

Turns out a small part of the plastic battery wrap had worn off with use, meaning both the positive and negative polarities were just sitting there waiting for something to short them out.

Luckily just 1 bullet went off, and as it wasn't chambered it didn't have much push behind it, the shell burst open like a tin can getting hit with a magnum of some sort. Projectile nowhere to be found. I threw the shell away during my panic other wise i'd post a pic..

Never had an experience like that, I'm just happy the other rounds didn't follow suit!

shit sticks, hope ya life insurance is up to date lol, glad your all gd

Jeezus I keep loose rounds in my belt bag along with spare batteries for my camera. Since its been wet the last couple of days I have the rounds in a small plastic bag.

Here's a pic of my favourite jackets' pocket - Good excuse to go and see Nana :thumbsup:

Attachment 34937

Send ya yarn and pic too Davey Hughes ya might score a new one.

I have heard of .22lr going off if dropped on gravel, I dont carry them loose personally, you dont think perhaps you took a knock or somehow squeezed them into yourself? Mind you if the negative end was worn away at the corners that will in most cases be the positive giving the small gap needed to set off a .22lr. Weird the bullet went, most times the case goes flying.

Sweet baby Jesus........

Best place to store ammo is in the pest you just shot.

If you still got them in your pocket Damz, your not shooting fast enough !!

Thanks for sharing... not saying I do this but its always good to know what not to do!
:)

Thanks for sharing.
A good reminder for all to be careful with ammunition.

While unchambered ammo is very weak it would still put the shits up ya in your front shirt pocket!

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Originally Posted by JRW87

you dont think perhaps you took a knock or somehow squeezed them into yourself?

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Fair question, but definitely not. We were in the middle of the field, I had arms at my side, just using headlamp to scan trees etc.

Certainly gave me a fright! The guys I was with were shocked too...

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Originally Posted by Damz

Fair question, but definitely not. We were in the middle of the field, I had arms at my side, just using headlamp to scan trees etc.

Certainly gave me a fright! The guys I was with were shocked too...

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I only ask because its most likely literally one in a million, its taking alot of self control as a firearms enthusiast and electrician not to experimant with this, haha.

Those 18650's provide a ton of current for their size - glad to hear you're OK.
Could have been worse, it could have been in your pants pocket near the jewels.

I watched a video that the American fire fighters produced about ammunition going if in a fire. You have little to be worried about from what I watched.
These guys filled a forty foot shipping container almost full of ammo, various calibers and types. They set it up like a tightly packed gun store and put combustable materials to mimic a shop building structure and set fire to it.
They studied it for a while then got brave and stood at the door. They were getting hit by projectiles but nothing was moving fast enough to do any damage at all.
They also did a range of tests on packaged ammo, dropping it, shooting it etc and the results were surprising in the fact that ammo is really quite safe until is loaded into a barrel

Sent from my workbench

Have heard of this happening before, not nice, message here is it's probably best to keep bullets and batteries separate.

Ouchies!

I carry spares in a ziplock bag, folded up tight to stop any noise etc.
fill mags before leaving, the more mags, the merry.

a long watch but very interesting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c

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Originally Posted by Comfortably_Numb

Ouchies!

I carry spares in a ziplock bag, folded up tight to stop any noise etc.
fill mags before leaving, the more mags, the merry.

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Actually mate I barely felt it, the hole in my pocket is more of a burn hole than anything. Still, as you and others have said, ziplock bags and full mags is great thinking. Or seperate pockets or whatever.. Just not hanging out together! :)

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Originally Posted by smidey

a long watch but very interesting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c

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Excellent video mate

https://youtu.be/U4FQgrU2fYk

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Originally Posted by kiwijames

https://youtu.be/U4FQgrU2fYk

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FFS I hope my kids don't try that.

That's fairly high on the stupid scale I reckon

Sent from my workbench

Damz thanks for the heads up. Heaps of current the 18650s.. Dam i wounder how a .17hmr would go, might be nastier as they seem more solidly closed than a .22.

The thought of a dead shorted 18650 in my pocket scares me more than the prospect of a live round cooking off!

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Originally Posted by Monsterbishi

The thought of a dead shorted 18650 in my pocket scares me more than the prospect of a live round cooking off!

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good point theres a few vids of Li-Po cells going bang. Not nice as a pocket warmer!

Ive seen a mates drill battery catch fire in the drill he was using. We called it the DeFault after that.

Those Li-ion and especially Li-pol cells have a very low internal resistance which allows a much higher current to flow, more than 10 amps. So that's about 40 Watts for a brief time until the ptc kicks in and causes the circuit resistance to increase thus limiting current. I think they are great batteries but one must treat them with respect, be safe

have to be the most common bullet to go thru washing machine due to that exact habit ,growing up there was always a little pile on shelf above washing tub.
Never heard of that before and will never keep them loose again.

That is scary as fuck. I wonder how much power they lose without any "focus" to use the blast to push the projectile out if you know what i mean.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smidey

I watched a video that the American fire fighters produced about ammunition going if in a fire. You have little to be worried about from what I watched.
These guys filled a forty foot shipping container almost full of ammo, various calibers and types. They set it up like a tightly packed gun store and put combustable materials to mimic a shop building structure and set fire to it.
They studied it for a while then got brave and stood at the door. They were getting hit by projectiles but nothing was moving fast enough to do any damage at all.
They also did a range of tests on packaged ammo, dropping it, shooting it etc and the results were surprising in the fact that ammo is really quite safe until is loaded into a barrel

Sent from my workbench

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Interesting. We've all seen a bunch of movies where some wily hero puts ammo in a frying pan to use as a distraction or some such. But we also know how BS Hollywood is when it comes to guns though. I wonder how much force something like a 308 would have going off in a pocket?

More to the point did you have a change of undies in the wagon for the trip home :P

I had a neighbour a while back that was floggin my firewood. I did think of drilling a hole in a bit and stashin a live round in it.
But I thought better of it in the end as it could of gone bad

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Originally Posted by kidmac42

I had a neighbour a while back that was floggin my firewood. I did think of drilling a hole in a bit and stashin a live round in it.
But I thought better of it in the end as it could of gone bad

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yea a stick of jelly would be more effective ;):D

A fire cracker would be the go for that. Those little ones that just go pop but dont actually shoot anything out. Safe and clean fun except for the dudes undies

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Originally Posted by Toby

A marine flare would be the go for that. Those little ones that just go pop but dont actually shoot anything out. Safe and clean fun except for the dudes undies

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Fixed it for you :-)

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Over the weekend me and some mates decided to go spotlighting for possums. I put 30 or so loose rounds into my chest pocket, along with a spare battery (18650) for the scope-mounted torch. Bad move.

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I witnessed that happening. Also shooting possum. The battery shorted across the rim setting off the cartridge. I don't recall the bullet being found, just the case which was not blown open.

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Originally Posted by 303Guy

I witnessed that happening. Also shooting possum. The battery shorted across the rim setting off the cartridge. I don't recall the bullet being found, just the case which was not blown open.

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Hell, glad it wasnt just us. We were all a bit confused about how the rifle may have fired with the bolt open but lucky Damz is a safe arms handler as we all nhave to be when night shooting in a small group.