As in blow up in your trunk......no. The explosion that propels the projectile is the result of a chemical reaction and all such reactions are affected by temperature. I am told that temperature hot ammo reaches a higher peak pressure than cooler ammo, the reaction is faster. The result likely would be unexpected or erratic results, ei not shooting to normal zero. Your not likely to cause actual physical failure of the gun unless the ammo is loaded to the upper limits, the gun is in marginal condition or both.
Long term or repeated exposure to heat will permanently degrade the ammo. I store my ammo in a cool dry area. I don't leave ammo exposed to hot conditions any longer than necessary. I may be too cautious but I used up most of my nine lives before age 30.
Guys, he said transporting it to the range! I can't see damaging the integrity of the ammo with a trip to the range, unless of course he lives 400 miles from the range!
I'm thinking the ammo our boys are using in Afghanistan has seen temp a whole lot hotter than 130*. Know my trunk gets over 160 in the summer. I haven't blown up yet.
It bothers me when some on thinks they are "overthinking safety"... especially when life or death is concerned. It is my opinion, one can never think enough about safety. It prevents stupid things from happening. Ask whatever questions you need answered, no matter how "silly" you feel they are. We were all there at one time or other in our lives. I was fortunate to have a dad who was an engineer who was also an expert marksman in the Army and loved explaining things in minute detail (much to my regret at times ).
Ask away, GL. You will find we are a patient bunch, though we will poke fun at times, we only wish you the best in this sport/hobby/life we love.
As I recall, some states require your firearm be stored in the trunk while transporting, and the ammo in a separate box in the trunk also.
When we traded in my wife's car a few months ago I found a brick of 22lr I bought over a year ago. 22 long rifle cartridges detonate at an average of 275F, .38 Special at 290F and 12 gauge shotgun shells at 387F.
I leave a loaded CZ-83 in the pocket of my car door all the time, never got hot enough to set the rounds off. I have a loaded CZ-52 and an extra 70 rounds of 7.62X25 ammo in the truck of my car and have had it in there for three years in the Georgia heat and they are still ok. I have a 50 round "spam can" of 9mm ammo in the trunk of my car that has also been there for three years, still intacted. I open the car and put my hand on any one of them and they are cool to the touch!
It would have to be under some very specific conditions if it even could. Gasoline isn't actually flammable so much as the fumes are for one, so the tank would have to be more fume than liquid (1/4 tank or less) then one round would have to penetrate the tank... Meaning it would have to be chambered in a barrel and pointed at the tank, because the case is so much lighter than the actuall bullet ( most of the time ) and it would probably be shredded without a chamber to actually hold the pressures generated. But of all that worked out, the fumes would still have to travel up through the hole in the trunk and another round would have to go off.
And ... I'm thinking too that I carry ammo in an ammo box, that a safety coverage is happening here. The ammo shouldn't pierce the can, even is there was a misfire. Right?
I found some all brass 12 Ga. 00 buck shotgun shells in my Great Grandpa's attic in East Tennessee that had been there since long before he had his stroke in the 1930s. It's hard telling how hot those shells had gotten for the better part of the century that they were up there before I found them. Not to mention the cold weather they went though during the winters with all kinds of humidity.
I shot a couple of them and you couldn't tell them from new ammo. There was no degrading of any kind in those shells.
The only thing I can tell you about 22lr is that when it gets hot enough wax and lube will melt right down. It happened to me during an August delivery of 2500 rounds that were sitting on my doorstep for a day.
I'm a newbie here who's just enjoying nosing around the forum tonight. I have a related question.
I'm not asking about exploding or catching on fire, but rather, how quickly does handgun ammo degrade in the heat of a car parked in the hot Georgia sun? While I have a GWL (CCW), I don't usually carry, but sometimes if I'm traveling some distance alone I do take one of my .38's, which might then be locked in my hot car for several hours at my destination. Is this harmful to the ammo, as in damaging it or making it less reliable? I don't shoot very often any more, so my ammo isn't getting cycled. One of my friends and her husband, who have a son who is a LEO, routinely keep a handgun locked inside their car, so I hadn't given it too much thought til now. I don't leave mine in the car once I'm back home, but it has been subjected to this sporadic heat quite a few times. My spare ammo is kept in a closet at home, so no extreme conditions for it.
As someone mentioned, I'm sure military ammo is subjected to hotter environments at times, but it's also probably used up fairly quickly.
How much heat for how often is too much for handgun ammo, re degradation? Also, any other do's and don't's regarding shelf life or storage of ammo? Thanks!
I'm a newbie here who's just enjoying nosing around the forum tonight. I have a related question.
I'm not asking about exploding or catching on fire, but rather, how quickly does handgun ammo degrade in the heat of a car parked in the hot Georgia sun? Thanks!
Probably never in your lifetime. I also live in Georgia, not too awful long ago I opened a can of 9mm ammo that had been in the trunk of my car(s) for a good ten years and they shot just fine.
I doubt you would notice any difference even after quite a few years out of pistol ammo. If you were doing long range shooting with rifle ammo, there might be some difference in velocity and accuracy, especially compared to new ammo. I doubt the heat will break it down enough to matter in any situations or time frames that you will encounter.
I don't think you'll see any difference in handgun ammo. Like said above, if you're shooting long range, yes you will notice a change. Not that it's unusable, just have to make some sight changes.
Thanks so much, guys! Good to know I don't have to worry about the times I leave it in my car.
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