where do you store your handguns and ammo

[AvidshooterTX]

You might want to rethink keeping loaded firearms around the house in case of fire. Tests (that I saw in the American Rifleman a while back) have shown that once the gun reaches a critical temperature the one in the chamber can fire - and it may kill an emergency responder. From what I remember of the tests it's ok to keep the mags loaded and in the firearms because the propellant will not be contained and eject the projectile. It will probably destroy the gun but not injure anyone. Doesn't take much time to rack a slide. Of course, if they're inside a safe then it's probably ok either way.

[RightArmOfWyoming]

I live in a brick house and all the rugs and curtains are fire resistant.

MWD

[theicemanmpls]

I live in a brick house and all the rugs and curtains are fire resistant.

MWD

A brick house? Reminds me of a story I once read.





The wolf knocked on the door and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in."

"No, no," said the little pig. "By the hair of my chinny chin chin, I will not let you come in."
"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in," said the wolf.

So he huffed and he puffed and he huffed and he puffed. But the house of bricks did not fall down.

[Anubis]

... i've read that ammo and handguns should not be stored together. your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

Together in the same safe would be fine, as long as there are no chambered rounds, as AvidshooterTX noted. Together outside a safe would not be recommended because an unauthorized person might do something unpleasant.

I always have one on my person; all others are unloaded and locked up.

[91JEEPYJ]

My AR, Glock 20 and .22 rifle are always loaded although only the Glock has a round chambered as that's what I've been carrying lately. These are the "bug-out" weapons of choice. Everything else is unloaded, locked away and all my ammo is in ammo cans near by. Some cans have loaded magazines and others just have loose ammo.

[RightArmOfWyoming]

As for the fire safety thing....I think the 10,000 rds of boxed ammo would be a bigger danger in a fire than the rounds in the guns. I also keep fire extinguishers in every room, have smoke alarms, and keep guns pointed in a safe direction.

MWD

[theicemanmpls]

As for the fire safety thing....I think the 10,000 rds of boxed ammo would be a bigger danger in a fire than the rounds in the guns. I also keep fire extinguishers in every room, have smoke alarms, and keep guns pointed in a safe direction.

MWD

I trust you do not store your firearms with rounds in the chambers?

When I was a boy scout, i put a couple of .22's in the firepit. The scout masters were not very pleased with me. I didn't have a long carrer with the BSA.

Here is what I found on "cook off"

In his book "Gunshot Wounds" Vincent Di Maio describes various experiments where ammunition was heated in ovens. He says that .22 long rifle cartridges detonate at an average of 275F, .38 Special at 290F and 12 gauge shotgun shells at 387F. The interesting thing about these furnace experiments was that in all instances the cartridge cases ruptured, but the primers did not detonate. In fact the primers were removed from some of the ruptured cases, reloaded into other brass and fired.

When cartridges are placed in a fire he confirms that the most dangerous component of a cartridge is the brass, or fragments thereof that may cause eye injury or penetrate skin, but certainly there is no evidence that a cartridge that is not in a firearm can cause a mortal wound, either by action of the bullet or the brass/primer fragments. It is important to remember however that a chambered cartridge that detonates in a fire is just as dangerous as a cartridge that is fired under normal circumstances in a firearm.

To get a better understanding of the behaviour of free-standing ammunition in a fire, he conducted experiments with a propane torch. A total of 202 cartridges (handgun, centerfire rifle and shotgun cartridges) were used. If the heat was applied directly to the base of a shotgun shell the primer would detonate, the powder would ignite and the shell would rupture. Any pellets that emerged were traveling too slowly to be recorded on a chronograph.

In rifle and handgun cartridges where the flame was applied to the base of the cartridge the primers always detonated but the powder only ignited in half the cases and in those instances the cases did not rupture but the gas was instead vented through the primer hole.

When he heated these same handgun and rifle cartridges at the front, the powder would burn and the cases would usually rupture but with few exceptions the primers did not detonate. The velocity of expelled projectiles ranged from 58 ft/s to 123 ft/s. The only exception was the .270 cartridge where the bullet velocity was 230 ft/s. Primer velocities ranged from 180 ft/s to 830 ft/s.

As a side note he says that a revolver in a fire is especially dangerous because all the cartridges can cook off and be discharged such that there is a danger from projectiles. Only the bullet that came out of the barrel will have rifling marks and the ones that came from non-aligned chambers will have shear marks on them. Obviously if there is a question about the firing of a weapon and whether it was cooked off or fired intentionally they will look for a firing-pin impression on the primer of the suspect cartridge case.

References:

Sciuchetti G.D. Ammunition and fire. American Rifleman 144(3): 36-38, 59-60, March 1996.

Cooking-Off Cartridges. NRA Illustrated Reloading Handbook. Washington, D.C.: The National Rifle Association of America.

Despite what the facts are, if those 10,000 start cooking off, I wonder if your local fire department is going to back off at a safe distance, get a couple of overhead streams going, sit back and watch your place burn.

[B2Tall]

Did anyone see the episode of "Mythbusters" where they cooked-off ammo in an oven?? Their results were disappointing in the fact that the discharged rounds were not much of a threat. Only the .50 cal round did much of anything.

Anyway, in my home I keep my weapons in a gun safe (fire resistant, bolted to the floor) and my ammo is stacked in my closet. In my truck I have a lockbox bolted inside my center console. It also has a steel cable that comes out of the bottom of the console and is wrapped around the seat support. There will be no smash-and-grab when it somes to my truck.

[Islander]

I keep my guns and my ammo in the freezer... with MY MONEY!

[Red Hat]

I keep my guns and my ammo in the freezer... with MY MONEY!

I didn't know that we had any politicians on the site!