Yes, even pistol brass is HOT; any IPSC shooter will be able to tell you about getting showered with their own brass while shooting next to a wall or through a port, and when they manged to land and sit on a bit of exposed skin (top of ear, down a shirt, perched against the side of your head and your shooting glasses, or even on top of your trigger finger alongside the frame) they start to MELT into your skin.
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Is ejected brass really hot?
- Thread starter Nickel Plated
- Start date
Walklightly
Moderator
It's hot for about one second.
Sparks1957
New member
Is ejected brass really hot?
The answer is "yes". Maybe not hot enough to permanently scar someone, but plenty uncomfortable if it goes down your shirt.
spacecoast
New member
I've been burned at least 3 times by .22LR brass, and it's hot for far longer than one second. Just yesterday I was competing in Bullseye and the shooter next to me ejected a case that went in the armhole of my short sleeve shirt and right down to my waist. Fortunately I was only aiming and not in the act of pulling the trigger, or it would have ruined my shot. I quickly put down my gun and pulled out my shirt tail to get rid of it.
On another occasion I had the next shooter's hot brass land on my outstretched arm on the area inside my elbow, where it stuck, during timed fire and had to let it burn me while I finished the round (20 seconds). That left a blister and I still have a scar. Both of these incidents occurred in the last year.
I think .22s are especially bad because sometimes they don't bounce away and they have such little mass compared to the energy of the round that the brass gets really hot.
On another occasion I had the next shooter's hot brass land on my outstretched arm on the area inside my elbow, where it stuck, during timed fire and had to let it burn me while I finished the round (20 seconds). That left a blister and I still have a scar. Both of these incidents occurred in the last year.
I think .22s are especially bad because sometimes they don't bounce away and they have such little mass compared to the energy of the round that the brass gets really hot.
HALLAUSTIN
New member
I had a 7.62x39 casing go down my tucked in shirt with 2 of the 3 buttons on my collar unbuttoned... It was not fun. Burned the inside of my bellybotton, but I dont think I could recreate this scenario if I tried. But yes, it was rather hot.
. I'm not fond of hats and when I shot I just wore shooting glasses and a sweat band. A blister on my right eyelid from a round of 45 brass convinced me that a brimmed cap was a wise and cheap investment. Nuff said.So why does everyone complain about getting hit with ejected brass and getting burned?
Back in 75, in Basic Training, we had a guy killed as a result of getting hot brass down his shirt. That, and his own actions...
We were shooting old M16A1s (they don't give trainees new stuff), the ones without the "hump" to deflect the brass. And we didn't have the brass deflectors that snap into the carry handles, either.
The guy was a lefty, had his shirt collar open (against regs to button the top button!), and was shooting in a "foxhole" (two man fighting position, a board lined rectangular hole in the ground).
Hot brass went down his shirt, and he dropped his rifle. The rifle landed butt down in the hole, and discharged, striking him under the chin, killing him.
The next time we went to the range after this tragic "training accident", we had the snap on brass deflectors, and orders for leftys to button their shirts all the way up.
Spent brass out of an autoloading rifle is very hot! Hotter than brass from a pistol. The actual firing temp is about the same (combustion of powder), but the amount of powder, and the pressure in a rifle case is much more than a pistol case. And pressure is heat! (basic physics). So the higher pressure rifle brass gets hotter, and there is more surface area to burn skin with.
Manually operated repeaters don't pull the brass out of the chamber fast enough (no matter how fast you work the action) for the brass to retain all its firing heat. The steel of the chamber is a good heat sink. Eject the cases as fast as you can from a manually operated repeater, and they come out warm/very warm at best, not hot like from an autoloader.
We were shooting old M16A1s (they don't give trainees new stuff), the ones without the "hump" to deflect the brass. And we didn't have the brass deflectors that snap into the carry handles, either.
The guy was a lefty, had his shirt collar open (against regs to button the top button!), and was shooting in a "foxhole" (two man fighting position, a board lined rectangular hole in the ground).
Hot brass went down his shirt, and he dropped his rifle. The rifle landed butt down in the hole, and discharged, striking him under the chin, killing him.
The next time we went to the range after this tragic "training accident", we had the snap on brass deflectors, and orders for leftys to button their shirts all the way up.
Spent brass out of an autoloading rifle is very hot! Hotter than brass from a pistol. The actual firing temp is about the same (combustion of powder), but the amount of powder, and the pressure in a rifle case is much more than a pistol case. And pressure is heat! (basic physics). So the higher pressure rifle brass gets hotter, and there is more surface area to burn skin with.
Manually operated repeaters don't pull the brass out of the chamber fast enough (no matter how fast you work the action) for the brass to retain all its firing heat. The steel of the chamber is a good heat sink. Eject the cases as fast as you can from a manually operated repeater, and they come out warm/very warm at best, not hot like from an autoloader.
Double Naught Spy
New member
9mm ejected up and went 'tween my glasses and face and waslodged against that tender sensitive skin at the juncture of nose and eye...
Full blown 2nd degree cooked tissue...
Yep, something similar happened to a buddy of mine when my .223 brass came down inside his glasses. He has two reddish partial circle scars now. When he squints, the two scars come together to form a circle just slighter larger than the base of a .223 case. ... same tender skin. Ouch.
gearhounds
New member
During quals, had a piece of .40 brass from the next shooter drop in behind my body armor; had a nice casing shaped burn on my stomach for a couple of weeks.
Willie Lowman
New member
Had a 9mm case bounce off the partition between shooting lanes and land perfectly on top of my safety glasses. I got a little red case burn bump just above my eyebrow.
aarondhgraham
New member
In a word,,, Yes!
Years ago, when I signed up for my CWL class,,,
Ear protection and safety glasses were on the list of required items,,,
They (state of Oklahoma) also required a baseball cap with a normal sized brim.
I asked the trainer why the requirement for a baseball cap,,,
He said it was to prevent brass from going behind the eye protection.
I saw one very frustrated couple who weren't allowed to take the class,,,
Because they showed up without caps and no one had spare caps for them to use.
Aarond
Had a 9mm case bounce off the partition between shooting lanes and land perfectly on top of my safety glasses.
Years ago, when I signed up for my CWL class,,,
Ear protection and safety glasses were on the list of required items,,,
They (state of Oklahoma) also required a baseball cap with a normal sized brim.
I asked the trainer why the requirement for a baseball cap,,,
He said it was to prevent brass from going behind the eye protection.
I saw one very frustrated couple who weren't allowed to take the class,,,
Because they showed up without caps and no one had spare caps for them to use.
Aarond
Shoot long enough and you'll learn how hot brass can be!
Like most of the other posters, I've had a .22 fling over onto me and land in a sensitive spot - cheek in my case. Sucker left a nice bar-shaped burn for a couple of weeks. Had others on the arm that I barely noticed, but the one that hit the face sure did sting!
Also makes me fairly religious about eye protection. Usually have a cap as well.
Like most of the other posters, I've had a .22 fling over onto me and land in a sensitive spot - cheek in my case. Sucker left a nice bar-shaped burn for a couple of weeks. Had others on the arm that I barely noticed, but the one that hit the face sure did sting!
Also makes me fairly religious about eye protection. Usually have a cap as well.
I have an old scar on my forearm from a .45 acp casing that got caught in my shirt sleeve almost 15 years ago. I recently had two 5.56 casings go down the back of my shirt and I now have burn scars on my neck and middle back. They have healed but I can still feel the raised scar bumps when I reach back there.
checkmyswag
New member
Yes
sigcurious
New member
I too have been burned by .22 brass. Landed on my inner forearm and left an elongated T shaped burn. A few months later and the mark is still barely visible.
golfnutrlv
New member
Try catching a 30-06 out of a Garand sometime. OW.
Dangit...Stole my line!!! Garand brass is REALLY HOT!!!