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Letter Re: Safety of Storing Ammunition in a Gun Vault
Jim,
Sorry if you've covered this topic before. First off, I'd like to thank you
for the information on your blog. I bought a gun safe yesterday, and thanks
to Bruce H.'s question a few weeks ago about the effects of an EMP on
a safe's electronic lock, I didn't make the mistake of buying one with such
a lock. (I'm close to Nellis AFB and
somewhat close to the Nevada [nuclear] test site)
After I got done putting in my guns, family heirlooms, coin collection, etc.,
I put 500 rounds of .223 in the safe, too. I figured that if there was a break-in,
flood, fire, or whatever, I'd still have some ammo to roll with. After I closed
the rather large, armor plated door, I thought, "Now let's see a burglar
or inferno try and take our stuff away from us!"
Then the thought occurred to me: "What if it's not the fire that destroys
our stuff? What if it's the 500 rounds inside that destroys our stuff after
they cook off in there?" The manufacturer claims that the safe will withstand
1,275 degrees F for 90 minutes and writes about the safe, "Designed to
maintain an interior temperature of less than 350 degrees."
My question is this - Will ammo inside a safe at or near 350 degrees F cook
off inside there? Thanks, Bill in Las Vegas
JWR Replies: Ammunition inside a vault will not "cook off" until
temperatures reach very high levels--by that time your house will doubtless
be totally engulfed in flames. And even then most ammunition is far less of
a hazard than
the house
fire itself. (They essentially pop like firecrackers--their projectiles have
very
little velocity.)
