I watched this video of these guys dropping, burning, bulldozing cases upon cases of ammo to prove the point that ammo is not dangerous when not in a firearm.

The only thing I feel sad about is the lost of all that ammo at over 400,000 rds!

www.youtube.com/watch?...OXowwC4c#!

So, there is no need to tell my insurance company that I have several thousand rounds of loaded ammo?
I wish I could get them to test my powder storage box. It is supposed to hold up to 50 pounds of powder safely for a period of at least 30 minutes without burning through. My bet is that it would hold off the fire for closer to 75 minutes but I have not tested it.

Since smokeless powder is a flammable solid it is no more dangerous than most flammable liquids and less dangerous than flammable gases. It is an accelerant unless closely confined where its rapid burn rate creates significant pressures that can have explosive effects. Black powder is an explosive and will explode even if not closely confined.

A number of years ago we had a major fire in a grocery store that spread to other buildings in the older part of the city. My unit was called upon to bring large pumps to lift water in stages up from the harbour to provide firefighters with additional water to battle a blaze that leveled a dozen buildings. While we were setting up the final portable tanks near the fire scene we were pulled back because cans of cooking oil that had been stored in the store basement were exploding with some actually rocketing into the air trailing a jet of burning oil.

If we have any firefighters in the group here my hat is definately off to you. I am glad that my hobby doesn't put your brothers in further jeopardy.

After watching this I thought about the haz/mat shipping costs for primers, powder. If you order primed cases, there is no haz/mat fee and it's the same with loaded ammo as well with no haz/mat fee.

When Hodgdon first came out with Pryodex, dot said it was not an explosive, then a short time later they flipped flopped and said it was.

Pyrodex has all the same burning characteristics as black powder. What makes it better is that it is not as corrosive, a tad more weather resistant but harder to ignite. The manufacturing plant here in Washington had a fire and the place was closing down so they took all the "contaminated" powder (pyrodex) and dumped it in a gravel pit to burn it. The fire marshal showed up and saw the big pile of powder and made them spread it out no more than 6" thich.
When they touched it off it was like a well tuned soil loosening with dynamite. You felt it more than heard it "WHUMP" and it was over. It is an explosive - it burns at the same rate whether it is contained or not.

400,000 rounds of ammunition ...

I need a drink.

Dimitri