SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department’s Bomb Squad was called to a Southwest Side neighborhood Saturday after dozens of rounds of ammunition were found underneath a home.The ammunition was discovered on the 7900 block of Dempsey Drive, near Old Pearsall Road and Southwest Military Drive, around 2:45 p.m. Saturday.
Capt. Troy Balcar of the San Antonio Fire Department said a family member found a sealed box with about 75 rounds of decades-old ammunition underneath the house. He said the rounds are .40 caliber and about 40 years old, based on a date written on the box. Half a dozen nearby homes were evacuated for about three hours.
“This is definitely a big danger, because they’ve been under there so long,” Balcar said. “They’ve rusted, they’ve been exposed to the weather, elements outside so we definitely want to get them disposed of as quickly as possible.”
Where do I even begin? That a Fire Chief would go on the record showing is ignorance about common ammunition or that somebody has a time machine and traveled back in time to deliver a box of .40 caliber ammunition 20 years before it was invented.
Hat Tip: Paul L.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_6_inch_/40_naval_gun
Yes, Don. That is 40 Caliber. The pistol rounds in question are .40 caliber. A mere difference of 15 times larger.
The “dangerous” rounds of .40 caliber pistol ammunition cannot and will not go off on their own. As a matter of fact, if they’re exposed to the elements, they become LESS dangerous, as once the primer and/ or powder gets wet, they will not ignite.
I just Googled when was the first .40 cal. made and came up with 1985, 30 years ago, and it was made as a low powered shell for the 10mm hand gun. The actual full load .40 didn’t come along until 5 years later 1990, 25 years ago. Even then it took another 5 years to market it properly.
Egg-zackley!!!
Cant stop ignorance , its like a train rolling down the track , with no Engineer at the controls .
The 40 smith was not even INVENTED until 1990……..propaganda much>
Simply Both!
ACTUALLY ….. doesn’t anyone park their automobile in their garage anymore?
In case of a fire, that tank of gas is quite a bit more dangerous that a few rounds of corroded ammunition. Even if the “ammunition” consisted of 40mm rounds from an M79, which I doubt.
Worst case is a car with the gas tank half-full; chances are the pressure in the gas tank would build up until it ruptured the tank, and the fumes would be, literally, explosive.
That’s funny and so sad at the same time! That caliber started development in 1986 which by my calculations makes it 30 years old even if it was the first box. Maybe they are using common core math!
they would crap if they saw what is in the pistol safes in my Jeeps at all times. Since my Carry piece varies by where I am going I have ammo going from 9×18 on up to .480 Ruger dangerous game loads and every common defense round in between. All sealed in air tight packs because 3 mags plus one in the gun are no fun ( plus the drop boxes for the revolver). No I;m not paranoid, I;m just aware of where I am, and I am definitely not afraid of anything especially while armed.
the .40 S&W was developed in 1990, per it’s developer, Smith and Wesson.
Ammo is harmless if cooked off outside the barrel of a firearm.
http://my.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/exploding-ammunition-is-this?q=forum/topics/exploding-ammunition-is-this
So this supposed “expert” things that GUNPOWDER that has been exposed to water and humidity is going to become explosive? This is gunpowder, not nitroglycerin.
Cooper approved and helped Collins get his idea to Guns & Ammo. By 1972 a Browning Hi-Power chambered in .40 G&A was test fired. The loads being fired consisted of a 180gn bullet at 1,050fps out of the 5″ barrel.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/factory-loads/75436-history-development-40-s-w-cartridge-best-sd-le-caliber.html
I’m sorry and have to comment on these post. The news got it WRONG! It was 40mm grenades used for the 203 launcher or m79 launcher Not pistol ammo!
Wait! What? The NUUZ got information wrong? Is this another of those “fake news” organizations? Next, will they be talking about the 22 mm pistols, that the Barnstable, MA Police Department uses for their “Citizens Academy” gun familiarization classes? (As read, by me personally, in the Cape Cod Times several years ago)?
I highly doubt they managed to figure .40 caliber out, and confused it with 40mm. Not to mention, how is someone going to get ahold of 75 rounds of 40 Mike Mike without anyone noticing?
So 1990 was 40 years ago (that was when this caliber was developed) and since when did lead, or even copper jacketed rounds, combined with brass casings ever rust?
I do the same thing, 350 + Lbs. in 5.56 alone. Total ammo, over 1/2 ton easy
Can you imagine how they would freak out had they been on a camping trip I took many years ago…
Not me, but some of my friends took great pleasure in throwing live rounds, mostly 22 .. into the campfire every so often, just to watch them cook off.
(If you think there was much danger with that, go visit your old Physics textbook.)
Having said that, I always found excuses for missing subsequent camping invitations from them.
News media make tons of mistakes.
AAAAAAH! The stupid, it BURNS! It’s even more tragic that people who are supposed to be experts in this field were this obtuse! San Antonio, I am SO sorry that you have such idiots for a police force, who actually believe that old ammunition rounds can explode and send projectiles hurtling off in all directions in spite of the fact that in order to fire a projectile, a round MUST be inside of a tightly enclosed space, like, oh, the chamber of a gun, AND it must have something impact the primer, and after these have been there that long, the powder load has probably become so degraded that even firing them from a gun would not be possible.
Sadly, STUPID cannot be fixed or cured. How did this fire Capt. get his job and what IDIOT called the bomb squad?
Close, but actually, it’s OCCAM’S razor. If you’re going to crrect someone, get it right.
Occam’s Razor is to seek the simplest of explanations as answer (or procedure) rather than the most complicated (Think donkeys, not Zebras) Hanlon’s is specific and humorous take on Occam’s.
“Is it conspiracy? Nope, they are just that stupid.”
The modern .40 caliber round began production in 1990.
Hmm,, lets think about this. Lead and brass doesnt rust or break down. And 40 year old ammo?? Wasnt made that far back. Now as far as the ammo in the elements,, if they were exposed to moisture,, then the powder is wet and primer is gone as well. What a bunch of dumb asses we have running our govt. Most especially a fire cheif , a public official we pay taxes to support, who should be more educated than most. Wow!!
Show me the date on the box… The .40 S&W was not available until 1990! LoL 40 years old? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
This is sad a Fire Chief should know better. Even exposed to fire the rounds would not have been a threat. The rounds need a chamber to have any force.
[…] […]
Um… 1990 (the year .40 S&W was introduced) does not equate to 20 years. Only 4 years. Still time travel… And since when does brass rust?
Obviously they are drinking the kool-aid
All this stupidity over “old ammunition”, and then it took 3 hours to remove 1 box of only 75 rounds!?
What ?, are they afraid the my fizzle and do nothing ?. idiots don’t understand Firearms and need some instruction badly..
Wow… what an agenda…
Get educated: https://youtu.be/3SlOXowwC4c