can ammo detonate when in drilled slots in a 22 caliber?

Question

I saw on tv this survival guy drilled holes into the stock of hiss 22 so he could store ammo but is it safe and could the ammo detonate each other from the recoil. It didn't have any problems durring the show

Answer 1

That's an oldtimer trick. Been done since as long as there have been wooden stocks on weapons, I'd guess.

Perfectly safe. I've never seen nor heard of one failing in any way. Your biggest risk is in removing wood in a critical area....and years later, the stock splitting because of the drilling.

When you work with old guns, you often still see holes drilled under the buttstock for ammo....and even sometimes ammo still there.

I picked up a 27 Hamilton once at an auction that had a laced on leather cover on the stock (a common addition back then). Hamilton's had flat board stocks, btw. This was back in 93 or 94 if I recall correctly so the rifle was just a tad shy of 100 years old. Upon unlacing the leather, I found that some previous owner had drilled a bunch of holes exactly 1/2" apart in several rows....and there were 62 .22 longs still stuck in those holes. They had been there so long, about a third of them were corroded to the leather and another third were corroded into the wood. Of all of them, I think I kept twelve. Gave them to a local range owner who collects ammo.

Another commonality in old guns is the oldtimer practice of writing your name and date/town on a slip of paper and then sticking it down into the stock bolt hole under the butt plate or pad. You can sometimes pick up old guns that have a half a dozen names written on them. It's considered bad luck if you find the paper and don't add your own name ;)

You're perfectly fine in drilling your stock as long as you don't go overboard. Your best bet is to use a drill press and clamp to keep the holes centered, though.

The bullet in a .22LR round hits the center of the base on the one in front of it, not the rim....and that's been that way for a hundred years of tubular magazines. They don't fail in Marlins et al....they don't fail in the stock.

Answer 2

ohh someone else watched survivorman. old trick i hav seen rifles done this way and never saw any problems with it, it would take alot to set one off not just normal vibration from carrying it. the small hole he drilled would probably not have the points lined up with the rims of the rounds, which is were the primers are located in the 22lr and other rimfire cartriges. i see no problem with doing this

Answer 3

I can't see how it possibly would or could detonate without major blunt force against the primer's. Recoil certainly wouldn't do it. Even then in a hollow wood stock, I really don't see how that could happen. Maybe if you used your rifle for a "club" and hit something hard enough by holding the rifle by the barrel. But even then the soft lead bullets would be too soft to dent a primer. Another mystery for "Mythbusters"...lol

Answer 4

Survivor man. I saw that episode. If your worried you could always drill a bunch of shallow holes and put 1 in a hole. I wouldn't worry to much because some guns store them in a row under the barrel in a separate tube.
http://www.impactguns.com/store/media/henry_pump_action.jpg

Answer 5

i use a plastic/synthetic stock 22 as a survival gun and can put 4 50 round boxes of 22s in the stock and fire starting stuff in there too
edited to add
I forgot this but the bucket o bullets the 550 round bulk boxes they are just dumped in to one box no order looks like somebody just dumped 550 of them in a box and I have never herd about any of them going off and you know how gently they are handled.

Answer 6

i saw that survivor man episode on the discovery Chanel. he was surviving in the arctic with sled dogs. i actually did this to my little cricket survival rifle long before i saw this episode. i have rolled 4-wheelers on it, dropped it of a 20 ft rock face, and smacked it on some trees. all were accidental but i never had a round go off.

Answer 7

.22 ammo is rimfire. As long as the recoil doesn't affect the ammo, it will be fine. It all depends on how he did it.

Answer 8

No, because .22's do not produce enough recoil to cause this to happen. Also, they are rimfire and not center fire. If you want to do this, I would put pieces of tissue or cotton between each of the rounds.

Answer 9

Unless it is struck on the riof the cartridge, it will not detonate.

Answer 10

...it seems like if you hit the butt on a hard surface it could set a round off, I doubt recoil would do it though. It doesn't sound practical, necessary or safe to me. What show was this on?