This Has to be Pretty Uncommon

[Pacific Ghost]

With hunting season basically upon us this year, I wanted to raise a little awareness and hopefully decrease the odds of this happening to anyone else.  A few seasons ago, I took my eleven year old son out for his first deer hunt, as he had previously completed the hunter education course.  We arrived at the location we would be starting from, and pulled in to the paved parking area.  I instructed him to stay in the truck for a few minutes while I readied our stuff for the hike. While I was fumbling around with packs and gear etc, I dropped a 7mm WSM cartridge (a round I would be using in my own firearm) onto the ground.  It landed upright, and primer down on one of the small rocks embedded in the asphalt below. Yes, there was a loud boom, and no it wasn't very funny.  There was also at least one other vehicle in the lot at the time, which I don't think was another hunting party, and they didn't stick around too much longer after that.  There are a lot of folks on here, and for those that may not know, when this happened the bullet did not go anywhere as it was not in a confined tube to project out of.  But the powder does fire and explode, sending shrapnel here and there.  Be careful out there this season, and something to watch out for.

[HikerHunter]

Wow, that's quite the story. Curious, how far away did you find the cartridge shrapnel and bullet?

[TVHunts]

Very scary!  We have all dropped loaded ammo before and I always cringe when it happens.  Glad no one was injured and thanks for the heads up.

[Stein]

I remember Mythbusters where they tried to fire a .22 shell by putting it in the fuseholder of a car and the same thing happened - the brass went further than the bullet. 

[Pacific Ghost]

The pieces (that I found) were very close by; not far at all.  My very first thought before any time to ponder, was that the bullet must have went somewhere, and where was that somewhere?  Then I quickly wondered what my son was thinking.  You know, super experienced dad, teaching the rookie "how things are done".  I've thought a lot since then about all of the places it would be even worse for this to happen.  In your home. In a more populated area such as a business or school parking lot, if ammunition was left in your vehicle and happens to fall out when the door was opened.  Just something to think about.

[jackson7]

great reminder. thx

[Caseyd]

I remember Mythbusters where they tried to fire a .22 shell by putting it in the fuseholder of a car and the same thing happened - the brass went further than the bullet.

Little rim fires are easy to go off, they are like pop it’s 

[Gentrys]

That's crazy.  Great lesson for us all.  How'd your kid take it?

[Pegasus]

As a kid we used to throw them in the fire and then run like hell.

[Elkcollector82]

As a kid we used to throw them in the fire and then run like hell.

    

[nwmein199]

As a kid we used to throw them in the fire and then run like hell.

yup handful of .22 rounds when no one was looking 

[Pacific Ghost]

That's crazy.  Great lesson for us all.  How'd your kid take it?

He was fine.  We used it as a teaching opportunity for both of us.  Can't say that he's never teased me about it a few times since then.

[boneaddict]

Physics 101.  Lightest thing is what flies.  That would be the case.  That bullet must have been seated/crimped pretty well for the case to blow rather then zinging off. 

I always twinge if I have ever dropped one.  I also wonder about the "spares" I have bouncing around in the bottom of my truck.  I never intend to have any there, but I bet if I went and dug Id find some.    I got searched really well at the border once. I think they found 5 or 6 different calibers back there.   

[fishnfur]

Weird!  I always wondered if a shell could go off when dropped.  I've done it so many times, and apparently from the other's comments, cringing is the appropriate reaction ( 'cause you sure don't have time to hit the deck).   Thanks for the reminder that we are never safe, no matter how hard we try. 

[NOCK NOCK]

I dropped a shell once,  it made the tink  tink sounds that metal does on rocks, that was a great thing.
The reason I dropped it I was trying to hurry and load one in the pipe because a cougar ran across the road in front of me. Good thing it made that sound because I believe that’s what made the cougar stop and look back over his shoulder. Bad mistake on the cougars part. 

[fishnfur]

Hmm..... any relationship of that cat in question to your avatar photo?   No way!!  Is that what killed him???  You dropped the shell on the rock, it went off and hit the cat crossing the road (after it attempted to rip out your throat) and now he is full-body mounted in your family room???  Too weird!        Seriously - good story, even without the embellishment. 

[NOCK NOCK]

True story, except I did have time to pick the shell up and reload. Put the gun up, cat was centered and looking back at me, boom, dead kitty.

[The Big Game Hunter]

With hunting season basically upon us this year, I wanted to raise a little awareness and hopefully decrease the odds of this happening to anyone else.  A few seasons ago, I took my eleven year old son out for his first deer hunt, as he had previously completed the hunter education course.  We arrived at the location we would be starting from, and pulled in to the paved parking area.  I instructed him to stay in the truck for a few minutes while I readied our stuff for the hike. While I was fumbling around with packs and gear etc, I dropped a 7mm WSM cartridge (a round I would be using in my own firearm) onto the ground.  It landed upright, and primer down on one of the small rocks embedded in the asphalt below. Yes, there was a loud boom, and no it wasn't very funny.  There was also at least one other vehicle in the lot at the time, which I don't think was another hunting party, and they didn't stick around too much longer after that.  There are a lot of folks on here, and for those that may not know, when this happened the bullet did not go anywhere as it was not in a confined tube to project out of.  But the powder does fire and explode, sending shrapnel here and there.  Be careful out there this season, and something to watch out for.

I had a similar thing happen once when I was deployed involving one of my Soldiers and a 5.56x45mm cartridge he dropped. He caught a tiny piece of brass in his neck, but it was fortunately very minor. Literally just a scratch. That's the sort of thing that's really scary and confusing when it happens, but as long as you don't get hit in the eye, it probably won't seriously injure anyone.