‘Do not store guns in your oven’: Loaded gun stored in oven fires multiple rounds after getting overheated

realcaseyrollins@thelemmy.club to Not The Onion@lemmy.world – 538 points –
live5news.com
140

Want to make a "firing range" pun, but nothing's coming to me...leaving this as a placeholder in case inspiration strikes later.

Good move. The last thing you want to do is post a half-baked pun.

Who knew? Them damn guns need a warning that says "Do not store in or near excessive heat, fire or flame"...

🤦‍♂️

No one ever thought of making such a warning because nobody thought anyone would be this stupid!

I've literally seen pocket lighters that had a warning that said "Do not use near fire or flame", coming from a device literally designed to generate fire! 😂

People have already proven themselves excessively stupid, I don't see why guns aren't required to have a lengthy safety warning literally etched into the metal by now. 🤷‍♂️

As Dave Barry famously observed, the box a Water Pik comes in bears the warning, "Do not use while sleeping."

Guns already have lengthy safety warnings etched into them. Unfortunately, there definitely isn't enough space to describe every moronic thing people could do with them.

I've never seen any warnings etched into guns before, but I haven't seen any newer guns made since like the mid 90s.

All I've ever seen etched into guns was the brand name, ammo size, serial number, and where the safety button/switch is.

It started in the 70's, By the 80's Ruger was putting it on all of theirs. After Dix V Baretta in the 90's it became fairly standard.

Fair enough. I was never a gun enthusiast, but my late father had like 5 different older guns I got to try out back in the day. 🤷‍♂️

pffftt guns can never be the problem, we need to add the safety label to the ovens!

(I don't have time to make an image right now, but anyway)

Hey America, how you doing?

Don't keep your gun in the oven.

Oh.

Constantly shocked by people that don't open the oven door at look every time prior to preheating the oven.

How else will you find:

  • no pilot light
  • a blanket
  • cast iron cookware cooling
  • loaded guns
  • forgotten food

Look in the oven people! It takes 1 second.

Edit: I am amazed how many people don't look in the oven before turning it on.

I do not understand ever storing anything in the oven, its a cooking tool not a storage tool.

I will agree if you have a gas stove that checking the pilot light is a good idea, but those are becoming less common as we are discovering just how bad they are for your health - that, and induction is amazing for anything that doesn't require an open flame (and that's what bbqs are for!).

we are discovering just how bad they are for your health

It turns out that burning a highly flammable carcinogen in your living environment isn't the best idea.

Best thing to cook on in the world though. It's worth opening a window or whatever.

Disagree...induction is far better to cook on. It has much better temperature control, heats up faster, and when you're done it's easier to clean.

And it doesn't do as much to heat up the kitchen because the heat stays concentrated in the pan.

I wish they'd installed an electric stove in my current place...now I have to get an electrician to come upgrade the circuit. 🙄

I am dying to try cooking on an induction with my favorite iron pans to see how much I like it vs. the gas I have now. I know if/when this thing dies, it will absolutely be replaced with an electric induction with a convection oven. [That almost rhymes..]

I don't know any chefs who agree with you but I know four who disagree. And I disagree. But admittedly that's a small sample size. I paid to have the gas line extended to reach my kitchen.

I'm not trying to flambe in my kitchen. I don't need what gas provides.

I have a gas stove right now. It sucks. It likely helped give my wife asthma, and the temperature control is for shit. I bought an induction plate to play around with and it lets you set the temperature in the pan in terms of degrees in 10 degree increments. It detects when the pan has been removed from the cook top for a while and automatically shuts off. It's cool to the touch a minute or so after it shuts off.

Induction is like cooking in the future, gas is like cooking in the Fred Flintstone past (using dinosaur farts).

I have a gas grill, and it's good for its use as well (yabba dabba do), but if I want control over the heating element it's induction all the way.

Which induction plate did you get? I've been meaning to try one out as well, after watching Technology Connections' video about them.

Disagree. Electric the heat goes into the pan. Gas you get heat fucking everywhere, it's so uncomfortable. And loud if you're doing it right and have the fan on full blast. I don't understand how people think it's hard to cook on electric.

I know people who store valuable documents, items of devices in their ovens. Usually the reasoning is "if a burglar breaks in they wouldn't think to check the oven for valuables". Honestly, pretty stupid reasoning because I'd imagine any burglar worth their salt has heard that old chestnut and will probably place the oven fairly high on their checklist.

It was probably the most unrealistic scene in all of Limitless.

I can't even remember the last time I saw a gas range or oven that didn't have pizoelectric starters. My cousin has a stove from the 1930s, that was probably it.

The last time I saw one was in France in about the 1990s. That's because France in the 1990s is similar to everywhere else in the 1840s

I wonder when the black-and-white striped shirt first came into existence in France. My guess would be the 1840s because of the spread of power loom technology.

1858 when the French Navy instituted an official uniform for low level sailors. Previously they had worn their own clothes.

my oven cooking tools are stored in there im gonna need it anyway

If you're in a small place, you store where you can. I get the impression most people never use their oven.

Because normal people don't put random shit in their oven to check for?

Right. My oven has a few roasting dishes in it that live on the bottom, and that’s it. Who the fuck puts non-cookware in an oven when it’s not in use?

My grandfather never really used his oven for anything, only the stovetop, so he stored boxes of cereal in his oven. You know, cardboard ones.

But when he hosted for the holidays, other people would show up and use the oven... We figured that out PDQ, but not before at least one box of cereal went up in flames.

Why would you expect anything to be in the oven? Maybe the cast iron is the exception but only because it can take the heat

Fun fact: Some ovens have a storage drawer at the bottom (drawer under main door.) Some ovens have a broiler at the bottom (drawer under main door. Maybe only gas ovens, maybe not.)

And some call that storage a “warming drawer”.

Hopefully you know what you have, plus why would you put anything in storage at someone’s house, if not the place it came from?

That's because on some ranges the drawer is a dedicated warming drawer, with its own heating element and independent temperature control from the oven. But some people see that once and then assume every range in the world is like that, but they aren't. The feature appears to have been more common historically than it is now, as well.

Yep, ve never had that on any stove, but do have one on my grill

Gas ovens pretty much exclusively these days, and that's a cost cutting thing for anyone wondering. On cheap models, the manufacturer uses the same burner for both broiling and baking so they don't have to pony up to include two separate burners, valves, and igniters. In broil "mode," you just put the food item immediately below the burner in the drawer so it's much closer to the source of the heat which is now also conveniently above it rather than below it.

I'm reminded of a joke from Burn Notice where Michael has kept a folder of critically important blackmail files in his mother's oven for several seasons. He just casually points out she never actually cooks anything herself.

Thinking that's a good idea, and remembering to do it, are two different things.

Because I know that I didn't put any random things in there. I'm not insane.

Mythbusters S05E16. Loose bullets fire off but do not have energy to pierce the metal. A gun will fire a lethal bullet

Because of the lack of barrel. But in this case the gun was loaded so it should come out full force

They fucking tested this on myth busters. Don't store bullets near fire

So I initially went to the page to see if that was confirmed or busted because I couldn't remember (I do recall them having difficulty just keeping bullets in the oven) and I ended up finding this instead:

I don't remember that episode at all!

Pretty sure I learnt this one from a Chip n Dale cartoon when I was about six.

Amazed to see this. New old house. Used oven for first time. Some sort of stench and black gunk dripping from top heat shield. Gas stove. Investigate. Pull out pieces of a gun. Glock or something. Previous owner stops by for mail (unusual situation). I had over the melted pieces, "you forget something in the oven?" "Oh shit. No problem, I can fix it." "uh.. Okaaaaay... "

What is this scenario referring to? Is there another article with actual details, or...?

I mean to be fair who likes to eat cold lead

On one hand, it's stupid as hell to store a firearm anywhere but in a safe/cabinet designed for them. An oven is another level of stupid

On the other, I used to store our cast iron Dutch oven in the oven and I can't tell you how many times I started preheating the oven and then remembered to take it out. Usually after its oil seasoning started to heat up

Uhhhh, also don't store loaded guns? Like, at all. Anywhere.

This is the part that's boggling my mind.

  1. Stored guns in an oven.
  2. Stored guns loaded.

But not content to stop there:

  1. Stored loaded guns, inside an oven.

This headline is AGAINST THE SECOND AMENDMENT! Not Be Infringed MEANS NOT BE INFRINGED! I can Store my Gun WHEREVER I want!

I worry about the people who need to be told things like this. How did they survive childhood without signs warning them not to breathe water or drink the contents of thermometers?

wait... when you say "fired" do we mean, chambered, and fired down the barrel, cleared, and then cycled fully, repeating, or do we mean the rounds just popped off in the stack, not in the chamber.

Possible with a semi auto, since the chamber and barrel would transmit heat better to a chambered round then the magazine and all the safety parts don't really assume cook off. Yeah a round fires, slide racks back and loads next round, next round cooks off, over and over until all rounds are the same temp.

Spooky stuff.

looking at the images they showed the handle looked messed up, the call also stated an explosion not multiple, suggesting all the ammo went off at once.

it's possible, but i'd also assume you would probably not have a round chambered at all, so. Although, depending on the gun, it's not held back, so you're probably not going to properly rack and engage another round into the chamber. From what i understand, most small handguns have this problem if you limpwrist them. It's less common sometimes, but i imagine if it's not being held at all, this is going to be a pretty common occurrence.

This is the same person that put a loaded firearm in the oven we both know there was a round in the chamber.

And no, in my experience very few hand guns have the "limpwrist" issue.

This is the same person that put a loaded firearm in the oven we both know there was a round in the chamber.

yeah, that's probably fair.

And no, in my experience very few hand guns have the “limpwrist” issue.

hmm, either case, this guns is im assuming just sitting in there, so if it does fire a round, the force to rack the slide would have to be less than the required force to move the gun around. It's possible it could do both, due to physics fuckery, but i've not exactly tested that one...

I really want to test this, but the idea of inventing a more random version of Russian roulette where the gun is in a box and will shoot at random in a random direction you can not see......

Damn it, I need to test this.

the gun in the box is both fired and not fired, until we look inside the box BANG OW!

Can I recommend digging a hole to test in. In addition to the typical hide behind a very solid wall not right next to it with some way to remotely pull the trigger. And one live round with the followup round being a dummy would also be a good bet.

But there are so many variables to test here... If it works on a smooth surface then you gotta see if it works on a surface like an oven rack. Would have to check different models as well. We just really need some semiprofessional to test this thoroughly.

I would need to ether dig a whole and also have a bullet stopping roof on it or build a four berm range. I was thinking the better way to test it would be to hand load some rounds with the same powder load and bullet weight (needed to cycle the action) but with a bullet equivalent that is not capable of much penetration (like a fine lead powder).

I think I would start with 2 rounds and the firearm fixed in place (to test if the action will cycle at all). Then go to oven with gun on baking sheet and 2 rounds. Then go oven rack and 2 rounds. And then maybe baking sheet and full mag if it all worked as theorized. I don't think you need a way to pull the trigger since the firearm while heating is inherently in an unsafe condition, you would have to instead leave the thing to cool for a long time (also to rule out hang fires) and unload the rounds for inspection (not to be reused).

Oh I was definitely just considering testing the firearm being able to cycle the action when sitting loose on a flat surface, lol. I wasn't anticipating getting a fully functioning oven in the hole, that does complicate the matter considerably.

Oh if I tested this it would be full on danger oven. The most expensive part would be the ruined pistols (extra difficult in my country where we can no longer legally buy new ones)

Commenters are getting this backwards. If there was a round in the chamber it would be the last to go off, not the first. Whereas the rest of the rounds are directly exposed to the heat, the chambered round has a thick metal barrel around it protecting it from that heat.

i'd think it probably depends. the barrel itself is quite large and transmits heat pretty well, given that if it didn't shit would melt.

compared to rounds in the magazine which are more closely exposed, but through plastic, or air, which doesn't transmit heat quite as effectively.

i guess we should probably put a gun in an oven and see what happens hm?

While the oven is preheating, allow me to postulate that the thermal mass of the barrel, especially in vicinity of the breech, would require far more exposure to heat to reach the temperature required for the powder to spontaneously ignite.

This is why hot gun cook-offs occur, because the barrel has absorbed enough heat that it's able to ignite the powder through the casing via conduction. As such, as you would expect, after containing a single explosion (i.e. firing a round), the chamber would be warm to the touch while the exterior of the barrel would remain cool. It's not until the metal is exposed to enough heat internally that the barrel becomes too hot to touch externally.

So that's my logic here. If it was suddenly 500 degrees outside, I think the safest place to hide a bullet in a gun to keep it from exploding is the chamber.

yeah, that's a possibility, but maybe if it's a really slow preheat, or over a long enough time period, it might be possible.

Although you might expect the magazine to also cook off, but if you have a round chambered in the barrel, it might be an inevitability at that point so.

Or if the gun barrel is in direct contact with the element (as in "hid" on the bottom of the stove).

The 'article' or accompanying video didn't specify unfortunately. I guess it is possible the hottest round would be the one chambered and cooks off, engaging the semi auto chambering mechanism loading the next round and repeat.

the article also tells me not to store anything else in there, but that's where I keep my pizza stones (I usually cook pizza on the grill) and fuck you I'ma keep them in the oven.

Honestly fuck anyone who stores things in ovens.

Guns is certainly a new one, but don't put plastics in there. Especially if there's ever a chance that someone else might touch your oven.

An airbnb I stayed at stored a gray plastic food tray in the oven. My friend understandably thought it was a cooking sheet. Very sad cookies that night.

At least here in Missouri, no licensing or training is required to own one of these deadly weapons.

And it shows.

I wouldn't be surprised if we find out later this was a murder attempt

Ideally, avid gun enthusiasts and the dumbest fucking people on the planet would be two separate circles of people, and yet…

Well, the chief of police in my city did this (accidental discharge of gun in the oven) once, so make of that what you will. He did have the integrity to discipline himself, per department policy.

They generally are.
Problem is there is a tiny little overlap in the middle of that Venn diagram, and that tiny overlap seems to be responsible for a great deal of problems.

We will have to disagree upon how tiny that overlap is. I don’t think it’s as tiny as you’d like to believe.

I don't think there's nearly as many as you think. It's a perception bias, the few that there are stick out a lot because they are hilariously stupid so you read about them a lot and it seems common.

Keep in mind that in the US, about half the households are armed. And the half that own guns own enough guns to arm the other half. There's more guns than people in this country. If they're truly was a significant overlap between very stupid people and gun ownership, the nation would be like a roadrunner cartoon with Yosemite Sam type a shootouts and people firing into the air on every street corner. That is seriously not the case.

A person who needs to be reminded of this should not own a gun in the first place.