Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Moving the accelerants out of the house

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If you think that safe is going to do you any good in a house fire I suggest you do some research on the subject so you can know what to expect. Ask Salmonella what it did to his BIL's gun collection. (I believe it was sal anyways)

Plain and simple, unless you build a custom concrete gun safe if you have a house fire your F'ed royal, it's just the way it is.

I have seen the contents of a couple of safes that went through fires.

In these cases, the contents were salvaged with some cleanup, and refinishing of the wood.

One must remember, fire safes do not protect via insulation. They protect the contents of the safe via water production. As the drywall in the safe heats, it produces copious amounts of water vapor. Water vapor displaces Oxygen inside the safe and prevents combustion of contents.

That is why safes are rated for a specific period of time at a specific temperature.

The hotter the fire, the faster the gypsum in the safe is consumed. Another good reason to remove fuel sources from the vicinity of the safe.

Many problems arise when a heavy safe falls into a basement during a fire and becomes inaccessible for days. The contents are thoroughly water logged from the aforementioned water production. Some additional water may enter due to fire fighting efforts. Hell, sometimes the safe is left submerged in the basement.

Usually damage done to guns in a good safe is water damage. That can be minimized by quick retrieval, oil, and elbow grease.

I did it as a career for over 30 years myself. The joke was one could leave a $100 bill and a pound of butter on the table, go on your 4 days off and when you came back the $100 will still be there but the butter will be gone! I also did 11+ as a volunteer where food wasn't an issue but good, reliable flashlights occasionally disappeared.

That said, there is little added fire risk regarding the amount of components I saw. Those shooting the various shotgun disciplines have far more on hand. I've been on more than one house fire where the owner was an enthusiastic reloader and we gave the "risk" little thought, even when the reloading room/area was involved. The primers will make a lot of popping noises and the powder will burn but not any more than a couch or Lazy Boy recliner. I had a lot more concern over those items plus any aerosol cans or sealed, partially filled containers of liquid.

Twice I've been on the scene of a fire involving a place that sold reloading components on the retail end. Once in my jurisdiction and once on mutual aid. Neither incident had any real concern regarding the components though those who gained their knowledge through Hollywood were more skittish than normal. That SAAMI video is telling as was the one made by Federal Cartridge much earlier. I knew a lot of the firefighter's involved in the Federal video.

Loaded ammo is another non-issue, if/when it cooks off there is only a pop and maybe a brief sparkle. If anything moves it will be the primer being ejected from the case. Its light weight makes it virtually impossible to cause injury. A round in the chamber and a loaded magazine or a revolver with a loaded cylinder is another story. There are documented cases of loaded guns firing when hot enough causing injury and even deaths. I have been in two fires where a revolver fired in such situations. No injuries and the report was muffled and not recognized as such at the time by being in a drawer and the various other noises in a fire.

Basically, the take away of this is that anyone thinking they are making things safer by moving their reloading components out of the house are mostly fooling themselves. There are many other common every day items that are far more hazardous that are overlooked and taken for granted by homeowners. The worry should be more on preventing a fire. That would be far more productive than trying to limit its growth. Particularly in this day and age where synthetic (read petroleum based) materials are so prevalent. If you can find it, the video " Firepower" is a good watch. I would try to post a link but I have not seen it available online. The last time I looked one could order it through their library for free. It shows how a fire doubles roughly every 2 minutes in free burn. And that was in a time natural materials were more prevalent.

So, if one wishes to move their components and ammo out of the house go for it. At best it will offer minimal fire security but it could help in reducing clutter and free up space for other things.

Most damage inside safes that I have seen was caused by smoke (actually "products of combustion" as smoke is mostly ash and the other includes smoke as well as all the other garbage produced in a fire but I'll use smoke as it is easier to write) entering the safe before temps got hot enough to expand and seal the door. This, combined with the water vapor exuded by the gypsum and any that enter prior to the seals activating, combine to produce sulfuric acid along with other compounds that will rust, etch, or otherwise damage that which it contacts. And the smoke residue is a bear to get off. Its been maybe two decades since safe manufacturers began using low temperature activating seals on some safes but even today they are not found on all safes. At least one can purchase low temp seal kits from the manufacturer as replacements.