Question about lightning and ammo

[KahrMan]

Just came back from lunch and we are having a pretty good electrical storm here in Brentwood. I started wondering what would happen to the ammo in your carry piece if you were struck by lightning? Assuming you survived the lightning strike, would the ammo heat up enough to explode in your gun?

[Guest UberDuper]

I seriously doubt it unless you keep your gun grounded while carrying.

[Guest friesepferd]

email mythbusters

my opinion? nope.

[Guest TackleberryTom]

email mythbusters

Great idea.

[Guest WyattEarp]

Lightning Trivia from The Computer Wizard

Lightning strikes the Earth 1,800 times at any moment.

Lightning puts 10 million tons of nitrogen into the Earth each year.

The Earth has 100 lightning strikes per second - 3.6 trillion per year!

The Earth has 2,000 thunderstorms at any one time!

Without thunderstorms, the earth would lose its electric charge in less than 1 hour.

Rwanda, Africa is the lightning capitol of the world, receiving nearly 2.5 times the amount of lightning as Florida

(Source: Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission Satellite, 2002)

Florida is the Lightning Capital of the U.S.

Central Florida, from Tampa to Titusville is "Lightning Alley" in the U.S.!

The central California coast has the least lightning activity in the U.S.

Lightning is the #2 weather killer in the U.S.

Lightning is the #1 weather killer in Florida - more than all other weather deaths combined!

Florida leads the U.S. in lightning deaths, injuries, and casualties

Texas is #2.

Pennsylvania leads the U.S. in lightning damage.

The U.S. has 20 Million cloud-to-ground lightning flashes each year - up to 70 Million lightning flashes aloft are also counted!

The U.S. has 100,000 thunderstorms per year.

The Odds Of An Individual Being Struck By Lightning Each Year In The U.S. Is About 300,000 To 1

Lightning injures many more than it kills.

Lightning often causes life-long severe debilitating injuries.

Lightning kills about 100 people in the U.S. each year.

Lightning injures about 1000 people in the U.S. each year.

In the U.S., lightning kills more than Hurricanes and Tornadoes, combined. Only floods kill more!

Lightning causes $5 Billion of economic impact in the U.S. each year.

Most lightning strikes occur either at the beginning or end of a storm.

Lightning is 50,000° F - three times as hot as the Sun.

Lightning is only 1 inch in diameter.

Lightning has been observed over 100 miles long.

An average lightning flash has the energy of a 1-kiloton explosion.

Lightning voltage can be up to 300 million volts.

Lightning current averages 30,000 amps, but ranges from 10,000 to 200,000 amps - 100 To 1,000 times as strong as a steel welder.

Corded telephones are not safe and should not be used during thunderstorms. The usual way that current enters a telephone is through the wire. Cloud-to-ground flashes tend to hit tall objects such as utility poles. When a pole is struck, its current enters a building through the wiring, then to the phone, and then straight to your head. Cell phones and cordless phones are safer, but be sure to stand away from the cordless phone's base as a strong current can possibly arc a few feet from the base to the handset. There is still a risk of ear damage from loud static and "pops" associated with cell phone and cordless phone use during thunderstorms.

(from lightningstorm.com)

Lightning damage to home electronics usually occurs when lightning strikes to nearby utility poles or wires, then enters the building through power, phone, and TV wires. For direct or indirect hits, the only sure way is to pull the power, phone, and cable plugs on sensitive electronics before thunderstorms threaten. Never touch wires during a thunderstorm, even to unplug your equipment. People have been electrocuted while unplugging their electronics during thunderstorms. Better your computer than you!

(from lightningstorm.com)

Jul 10, 1926: Lightning Exploded A Navy Ammunition Depot, Mount Hope NJ. 19 People Died, 38 Wounded, And Cost $81 Million To Rebuild.

May 6, 1937: Hindenberg Airship Destroyed By An Electrostatic Discharge 36 People Died.

June 1998: Lightning Struck An Outdoor Rock Concert With 35,000 People In Baltimore, MD. 13 People Were Injured, Despite The Installed Lightning Rods.

July 1998: 5 Firefighters Were Injured When Lightning Struck Their Firetruck In Las Vegas, NV.

October 1998: Lightning Killed 11 Soccer Players In Congo, Africa (All On The Same Team)

Dec. 8, 1963: A Pan Am 707 crashed in flames in a Maryland field in 1963 after lightning hit the Boeing jet and ignited a wing fuel tank. All 81 people aboard were killed.

The NTSB believes lightning caused the in-flight explosion of an Iranian Air Force 747 in May 1976 near Madrid, Spain.

May 9, 2001: HONG KONG –According to media reports a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 was struck three times by lightning close to Chek Lap Kok airport today. The airline confirmed the event and said a cockpit window was damaged. Nobody was hurt in this incident. Cathay Pacific Flight 250 from London Heathrow with 245 passengers on board was still approaching the Hong Kong airport when suddenly the series of lightning strikes hit the Jumbo Jet. One of the lightning strikes cracked the right side cockpit window, said the airline. The crew informed the control tower at Chek Lap Kok and then safely landed the aircraft.

Florida meteorologist Mike Lyons tells WPBFChannel.com in West Palm Beach a man has reported seeing what only about 1 percent of the population will ever see -- the rarest form of lightning called ball lightning. "It was a bright, glowing orange ball about the size of a basketball," the man said in the report. "It entered my house through the glass in the front door. It went right past me or possibly even through me into the living room. Then, it left the house through a large window where it hit a tree in the backyard." Lyons says ball lightning has "scared the pants off folks" as the bright spheres seem to appear out of nowhere. They've been seen in buildings, coming through solid walls and in airplanes. Lyons says science may never be able to explain ball lightning -- all researchers know is that it's real.

LONDON - Two women were killed by a bolt of lightning in Hyde Park when their underwired bras acted as conductors, a coroner said Wednesday. "I think this was a tragic case, a pure act of God," coroner Paul Knapman told an inquest into the deaths. He recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. The two women, Anuban Bell, 24, and Sunee Whitworth, 39, had been sheltering under a tree in the park during a thunderstorm. Pathologist Dr Iain West said both women were wearing underwired bras and had been left with burn marks on their chests from the electrical current that passed through their bodies. Death would have been instant, he said. The bodies were not discovered until the following day because passers-by thought they were vagrants.

[MacGyver]

I would love to see this tested, but would guess that it might detonate.

Both the current and amperage can be so high in lightning strikes that it would be nothing to get gap sparks. Even a small electrical spark inside a case would be enough to set a round off.

[Caster]

If you get hit by lightning somehow I doubt it will be your biggest concern.

[Guest TackleberryTom]

Lightning is dangerous, I propose we ban it.

Rounds in your mag would likely be the least of your worries/problems.

[Guest friesepferd]

Jul 10, 1926: Lightning Exploded A Navy Ammunition Depot, Mount Hope NJ. 19 People Died, 38 Wounded, And Cost $81 Million To Rebuild.

that is very different than what is suggested in the first post. Lightening can easily cause fires in buildings.

[Guest boatme99]

Florida meteorologist Mike Lyons tells WPBFChannel.com in West Palm Beach a man has reported seeing what only about 1 percent of the population will ever see -- the rarest form of lightning called ball lightning. "It was a bright, glowing orange ball about the size of a basketball,"

I guess I'm in the 1%. I saw ball lightning back about 1976 in Maryland. Very eerie. I was driving along a straight stretch of rural highway when off to the left, ahead of me was a barbed wire fence running perpendicular to the road. I noticed something odd and looked out in the field and there was a yellow globe "rolling" along the top wire towards the road! It looked like we were on a colision course, so I began slowing down. I was probably about 20 feet from the fence/road juncture when the ball hit the end post and just dissapeared. It didn't explode, it just kind of ended. The worst thing was there were 3 others in the car with me and they were so busy talking, they didn't see it. I was literally speechless while watching it and didn't say anything to them until after it disappeared. One of the wierdest things I have ever seen.

[enfield]

I've seen ball lightning, and a lot of people in my engineering office saw it too. It looked like someone was shooting a big roman candle through the parking lot.

But then, I've seen a plane crash while I was at the airport - those suckers burn hot and fast.

Back to the topic, I seriously doubt that a lightning strike would detonate cartridges in your pocket or handgun, at least not until after you were TU.

[Raoul]

If you get hit by lightning somehow I doubt it will be your biggest concern.

I'm with Caster. You probably wouldn't care.

[bajabuc]

The County court Judge in Bozeman Montana has been struck a total of 3 times while playing golf. Every time was on a teeshot and on the backswing. The first two didn't affect his performance as a Judge. The last one left him pretty much an idiot. He still performed marriages, as long as there was aomeone there to keep him on track and prompt him.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I read an article somewhere that at least some ball lightning comes from lightning hitting soil or other materials which contain certain minerals which get vaporized into the charged plasma, and the vaporized minerals assist the electric charge into maintaining the spherical form for "quite awhile". Presumably boosting the conductance and magnetic field of the plasma or whatever.

Dunno if that is the only explanation or even a reasonable explanation for some of the instances. Just trivia. For many years scientists claimed that ball lighning is impossible and reports were erroneous. Like scientists before the 20th century would deny the existance of rocks falling from the sky (meteors). Old wives tales until scientists saw it for themselves.

Skepticism is good, but thinking one knows enough to authoritatively rule out a phenomenon seems not so good.

Anyway, it seems possible that lightning can set off cartridges. The "rapidly changing huge voltage differential" in such close vicinity may heat up the conductive brass of the cases, via induction? Dunno nothin. Just a guess. Lightning can vaporize copper wires "in the vicinity" of the strike even if the copper wires are not grounded (and presumably don't carry the primary discharge current). I've seen that happen. Maybe it could do the same to a brass cartridge.

Maybe a steel gun would shield the cartridges from the EMP better than a plastic or aluminum gun? Many stainless steels are not especially magnetic, so dunno if a stainless gun would have as good shielding effects. If that even makes sense. Mike Gideon probably knows.

[mikegideon]

I would love to see this tested, but would guess that it might detonate.

Both the current and amperage can be so high in lightning strikes that it would be nothing to get gap sparks. Even a small electrical spark inside a case would be enough to set a round off.

The amount of current that will cause electrocution is under 1 amp. That small amount of current flowing near a gun would no be enough to induce any sparks. You can draw much higher current than that through a human body if the voltage is high enough, but at that point, it wouldn't matter if your gun exploded.

[tnhawk]

The County court Judge in Bozeman Montana has been struck a total of 3 times while playing golf. Every time was on a teeshot and on the backswing. The first two didn't affect his performance as a Judge. The last one left him pretty much an idiot. He still performed marriages, as long as there was aomeone there to keep him on track and prompt him.

Recent rulings by some judges would indicate they must have been struck by lightning on numerous occassions.

[McAllyn]

Dunno, but Mythbusters detonated several 22 rounds from the battery in a pickup truck, so I'd be inclined to think a lightning strike might provide just a little more of a jumpstart. Easy solution is get your a55 out of the lightning storm, and let someone else test the theory.

Mac