I’d love to see what happens when model railroaders get asymptomatically stupid about their hobby.
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tresspassing onto railroad tracks, in order to verify railroad livery?
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even a revolver?
I am seriously asking the following, and I freely admit I am underinformed about chemistry, firearms, and many other things that factor into my query:
If one is a cartridge collector, and the cartridge has gunpowder or other flammable material in it, and that material can get unstable over the years (since it is not fired or being used otherwise), then… how does one safely store one’s cartridge collection?
I understand what gun safes are for and have seen them at neighbor’s houses here in Texas.
Are there maybe like explosion-resistant “ammo safes” or “cartridge collection safes” etc.? Do people keep those inside where they live? Or some dedicated outbuilding for aging unstable ordnance?
Thank you for educating me and any insights you can provide.
As a current resident in the urban-wildland interface, where it is a very dry month indeed and wildfires seem to be worldwide and ongoing, you can probably imagine some of the roots of my questions.
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Back at engineering school, this poster was on a professor’s door, with a caption saying “Oh shit!”
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Sure. The barrel is just an obstacle for the “muzzle” of the cylinder.
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The main thing with cartridges is to keep them dry. Cool temperatures are a plus, but the main temperature consideration is avoiding lots of large temp swings. It is easy to find surplus ammo cans or knockoffs and those have gaskets on them that make them pretty airtight.
The dangers of old ammo are mostly when you try to use them. The propellant is supposed to burn at a certain rate for things to function correctly… too fast and the chamber pressure gets too high, too slow and maybe the action fails to cycle or you end up with a round lodged in the barrel or something. Some types of cartridges are prone to primer separation, which also messes things up.
I guess ammo is kind of a fire hazard, but by the time it is hot enough to cook them off the place is probably already burning down. The brass itself is pretty weak, so it is more of a fire thing and less of an explosion thing.
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When a model railroader pulls an HO gauge steam locomotive from a custom-designed shoulder holster and starts brandishing it around babbling about its stopping power and how Hitler had one just like it, that’s the last time they get invited to one of my parties.
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