.380 Go BOOM!

TWtommers

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I went to the S&W Shooting Center today after our tour and a few of us decided to rent some guns on our own and shoot. I rented the Bodyguard .380 and after shooting through my rounds I switched to my 45. I left the half tray of .380 on the bench for the next shooter and proceeded to fire the 45.
I noticed a flash around the bench while I was shooting but there was a guy in the lane next to me shooting at the same time and I didn't think much of it. After I dumped the mag though I looked down on the bench and noticed a bullet. Not a cartridge but a bullet. The plastic ammo tray had a blown out pocket and there was a distorted cartridge!
Best we can figure, one of my 45 casings hit the primer on the .380 causing it to discharge right in the tray. Glad I didn't see it happen as it probably would have scared the crap out of me. You can't see it very well in my camera phone shot but the primer clearly had not been struck by a firing pin. It had more of a scrape mark on it.

380one.png


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Dude, buy a powerball ticket. Now.

BTW, welcome to the "getting ammo to go off without firing it from a gun or burning it in a fire" club. I've been a member ever since I dropped a box of loose 10mm ammo. [laugh]

-Mike
 
Jeez, that's nuts. I would has sworn up and down that that was impossible for a spent case to do.
 
I always knew that a cartridge posed a minimal threat (relatively) outside the chamber, but I was actually impressed at how little damage was done. It blasted right through the cheap plastic tray, but there wasn't so much as a scratch on the "table", which seemed like thick kydex at best.

Either way I'm glad I was busy shooting in the next lane, otherwise I'm sure it would have scared the crap out of me too!
 
Wow!! Never stopped to think about that ammo just sitting there with the primers exposed, while we blast away and the cases are flying. I t'ink I'll cover my ammo from now on.
 
I always knew that a cartridge posed a minimal threat (relatively) outside the chamber, but I was actually impressed at how little damage was done. It blasted right through the cheap plastic tray, but there wasn't so much as a scratch on the "table", which seemed like thick kydex at best.

Either way I'm glad I was busy shooting in the next lane, otherwise I'm sure it would have scared the crap out of me too!

The 380 lives up to its reputation (see bold above).
 
i never thought it was possible but like yanci i will now keep my unfired ammo covered. thanks for the heads up.
 
It's worth noting that the reason the 380 ammo was still there was that the Bodyguard we were shooting fell apart (takedown pin dropped) before we could shoot it all.
 
Wow!! Never stopped to think about that ammo just sitting there with the primers exposed, while we blast away and the cases are flying. I t'ink I'll cover my ammo from now on.


That was exactly what I was thinking. I always leave the open box of ammo on the bench.
 
It can be scary, but the worse danger is getting a scratch. Ammunition, short of a .50BMG, outside of a chamber is relatively harmless. One-in-a-million occurance, but I honestly wouldn't change my range habits over it. Always wear your safety glasses though!
 
Wow!! Never stopped to think about that ammo just sitting there with the primers exposed, while we blast away and the cases are flying. I t'ink I'll cover my ammo from now on.

I wouldn't worry about it, I"d buy some powerball tickets instead, your odds are far better.

+1 I never imagined it was a significant danger.

If you have eye pro on, it isn't, really. The incident I was involved in was 100 times worse- the bullet actually launched straight up off the floor and penetrated a thin foam ceiling tile, although it bounced off the floor above without even leaving so much as a scratch on the wood. We found the bullet lying on top of the ceiling tile next to it.

ETA: A bigger likely danger is a piece of sharp flying brass shrapnel getting embedded in your skin if the case itself explodes, looks like that one didn't.

-Mike
 
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