Bullet in the clothes dryer?

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AL45

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Just now I heard something bouncing around in the clothes dryer and asked my Wife what it was. She suggested it was perhaps a live round. I went to the dryer, opened the door and discovered her chapstick. It got me wondering if a live round could go off in a dryer. I realize that since it isn't in a gun, it wouldn't be overly catasrophic, but still wouldn't be the best thing that could happen. Does a dryer get hot enough to ignite the powder in a live cartridge?
 
I guess you could be unlucky and strik the primer as it tumbles, but I dont believe it would get hot enough to cook off the round. Might I suggest that you test it, film it and post on "You Tube".
 
I would not want to run this test.

Does a dryer get hot enough to ignite the powder in a live cartridge
Click to expand...
I'm going to "Guess" not. Just going by personal experience and this has happened to me, a couple of times. However, this isn't anything I'd test and yes, we have a gas drier. I take extra care to clear my pocket and the wife always checks for this. I mostly catch it when I leave paper towels or napkins. ... :rolleyes:

Be Safe !!!
 
22 LR, 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP in the washing machine or dryer
don't do anything other than produce varying quantities of noise.

Most of the noise seems to be something like--#$%^&^%@ WHY CAN'T
YOU REMEMBER TO CLEAN OUT YOUR POCKETS!!!! Odd that pocket
change and the occasional currency doesn't produce any noise---
 
Dryer Cycle Temperatures

Low Heat (Delicate/Gentle)...........125°F
Medium Heat Permanent Press).....135°F
High (Normal/Cottons).................135°F​

That is far below temperatures necessary to set off a primer or gunpowder.
 
Nah, the wife has washed and dried many a round of my reloaded ammo without incident. And yes they did work and go bang after all that
 
Haven't been able to get one to cook off yet...

Actually haven't tried but like mentioned it's unlikely unless something hits the primer just right. The powder inside requires a much higher temperature than you even come near in the dryer (which is where the primer comes in) and the primer material even more energy. While it's rather unlikely I don't recommend drying bullets in the dryer.
 
As TheDevil pointed out, dryers really don't get all that hot. If a live round went off in that temperature, Hiram Stevens Maxim would have had to go back to the drawing board after his invention blew up a bunch of times.

Since there are rarely any sharp corners in a dryer, I doubt that one could go off by the primer being hit either.
 
I have left a ChapStick in my pocket and did it ever make a mess out of the dryer! The waxy stuff was all over the place.
It is more dangerous to carry a 9 volt battery in your pocket with 22 ammo than have 22 ammo in the dryer.
 
Never had a problem with the dryer and I have done it a few times. Now if you forget you have a 22 in your pocket and it is mixed in with some lint that is in your pocket that get thrown into to fireplace. That will gets the wife's attention. If that does happen remain cool and act like it's no big deal. The storm will pass in time.
 
I wouldn't think so, but a 50 bmg round laying in such a way that it is about to make electrical short will make you pucker.
I've left a few in pockets and no harm has come.
 
It doesn't get hot enough and the bullet is protected by a few layers of material so you don't have to worry about a primer being hit to go off.

I've made the mistake more than once of forgetting rounds in my pants.

That's my experience. Yours may be different.
 
As long as you've remembered to take your pants off before throwing them into the washer and dryer, there should be no harm.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. :o
 
Ask my wife, she has a whole collection of ammo that went through the dryer.

None ever hurt anything, except to cause a lecture about emptying pants pockets before tossing them into the hamper.
 
I once put 2 5rd Speed Strips of Black Hills .38Spl through a full wash and dry cycle by accident. For curiosity's sake, I decided to try and fire them, albeit using a .357Mag revolver in case there was some sort of pressure issue.

All 10 rounds fired with no issues; no squibs, no signs of overpressure, felt like every other round of the same ammo, and it was just as accurate.

I'm not necessarily endorsing this practice – I'm just pointing out that it takes more than just a little heat to ruin ammo.
 
As said, the temperature would be nowhere close to that needed to ignite a round. I suppose there is some possibility of something like a zipper tab hitting a primer just right, but the odds of that would seem infinitesimal.
 
I've run ammo through the washer AND the drier with no ill-effects. Sure do come out shiny. I did, once, have a round go off inside a vacuum cleaner, once. It was old, anyway.
 
It's not hot enough.

Impact against a metal snap, button, or zipper tooth probably won't do it either.

In my misspent youth, I once qualitatively investigated the impact resistance threshold of various primers. With a ball peen hammer.

It actually takes quite a tap to set one off. I doubt that a dryer would be able to do so.

I wonder about rimfire cartridges, though. I never "investigated" those, thankfully.
 
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