Range safety is always everyone's responsibility. Glad everything turned out OK. I've actually had people walk out on a range during live fire on 2 separate occasions, one I saw the person and yelled the cease fire, second one of my students grabbed my arm and pointed. Had to re explain afterwards to my students that anyone can yell for cease fire when something goes unsafe.
If it is “everyone’s responsibility” as you have stated, then why is everyone not responsible for being trained because as we all know training leads itself to safety. Straight from my military instructor’s mouth. He said “excellent training leads itself to excellent safety”.
My Dad, ( and many of his friends ) belonged to our local volunteer FD back in the 60's and 70's. Many times they answered to call at 3am, 2pm, any time. They were hero's for sure !
I had a squib load once so far in my life. Amazingly, it happened only JUST after hearing about them several weeks prior. This was years ago, and I still keep a thought dedicated to its occurrence any time I shoot. (For those who are curious, I was testing my new Glock 42 using Blazer brass standard .380)
I've been a shooter for years and I've always tried to have safety first in mind. This talk has given me a lot to think about. Thank you for this video.
I lit my private range on fire. We were messing around with tannerite trying to blow up rotten trees on my ranch, after a couple misses we hit the target. The misses kicked up wood dust inside the hole we placed the boom boom. The resulting explosion lit the surrounding area on 🔥. We were able to get it put out after buckets of water and panic 😅
I remember when Matt from DemoRanch bought his own Firetruck I initially thought it was a vanity purchase because the truck was a former US Army truck. But with all the shooting he does at his range which is far from any main roads he has to be his own first responder if a fire happens.
When I was in the Army we had a range fire at the rifle range. That must’ve been a common thing because the Range Officer handed out these paddles I have never seen before. It was like a shovel handle with a large flap of rubber at the end that was used to whack the fire. We all went down range and put the fire out.
I set the us weapons range on fire at ft leonard wood back in 1999. We were doing the US weapons class. M60, at4 simulator, and claymore mine on that day. They were introducing the m249 to us but only had one so the crew served weapon that day was the m60. I collected my 120 rounds and waited my turn. The target was an old bmp shaped pile of rust, i aimed at a likely looking spot. Pinged some rounds off it, heard some echo around inside. Shot another burst or two of 6-10 rounds and suddenly a drill sgt broke off my belt as i was shooting. I was so locked in on the sights i did not notice that some of my tracers had set the berm on fire. We were on the very edge near the woodline as well. I never did get to finish off my remaining rounds.
Yup...on range days, a few of us at a time were to sit near a designated vehicle that had the water tank attached to it and buckets dangling around it as well. We also wore PT belts...we were told they made us fireproof 😆
Great video guys! Good coverage of critically important, but often overlooked topics. I've been shooting for over 40 years, but I always pay attention to safety refreshers, because there is no such thing as "safe enough."
Thank you! We welcome info and experiences. 40 yrs ago my 1st .44 Mag blew up in my hand. The round down the barrel never went off. Next one to left fires and was blocked by the front frame so cross fired and boom boom. Blew the whole side if the cylinder off, cracked the frame under rear sight and rear sight went flying. Cracked front frame on barrel threads and barrel fell out! My Wife was standing right next to me and gun swung over her head. Thank God neither of us were hurt except for a slight cut on the base of my thumb from truing to get the cylinder free to get the other 4 rounds out. Never found the pieces blown off. Have the gun still and it's a great conversation piece! Never figured the cause.
If the RH or relative humidity is 16% or below. You got a good chance of starting a fire in grass. Even if it's been raining the past few days. It takes one hour for grass or pine straw. To become equal to the RH.
I'm a goat producer that specializes in using my goats for brush, weed, and fire mitigation. With modern mobile fencing, It's pretty easy to put them on a specific area for a short amount of time to clear the vegetation. My local range had a berm fire last fall. I'll be approaching them shortly to propose clearing them with goats once a year.
In 1978 I was allowed by the range owner, to fire a cap & ball revolver on an indoor range and set the floor on fire. Luckily for me, there wasn't much powder on the floor and no one got hurt, but I was not allowed to fire black powder there after that. In my military career as a weapons instructor out west here, we had to pull tracers out of the belts in order to fire without setting fire to the range. I did learn that an M-60 with a 200 rd belt of ball ammo can be used as a long range fire extinguisher. Fire at the base of the fire and it throws dirt up and smothers the fire.
Neighbors trash fire spread into our field. Volunteer fire company saved the day for us also! Wow some of those tracers came back past the line! Yikes! Always follow the 4 rules. Wear eye and ear pro! Be freakin careful!
Nice video on safety. In February 1987 at Fort Dix during basic training, our company was on the range and one of us set the range on fire. The Fort Dix Fire Department responded. The Fire Captain(civilian) told our Captain to get all the men away from the guns which we did and the Fire Department put out the fire. Remember: 1. Safety First! 2. Fun Second!
Bi-metal bullets aren't required to generate sparks. One of the takeaways from Midnight Brutality was watching people blast sparks off of both steel and rocks with regular FMJ.
I have been a volunteer firefighter for 13 years and counting and I also drive the ambulance. I have started a fire before with bimetal bullets. I am hoping we get rain soon because dry weather and 50mph winds we are having is not good. 4 years ago next month we had a 56,000 acer grass fire that was driven by 70mph winds. It definitely sucked to fight and lost quite a few houses.
I started a fire at an indoor range before. Never brought steel or bimetal stuff in, and had the RSO's magnet my ammo everytime even though they didn't do it automatically for me anymore. Regular American Eagle 5.56 somehow sparked off the angled backstop at the end, caught some paper on fire that collected down in a trough. Quickly called it out and it was put out.
GREAT video, totally different than what others are doing and of great value. Well done. Unfortunately I will tell you I have had too many bad experiences at ranges with people who either don't understand what makes a range safe to go down range or don't want to follow the rules. Over 30 years this is multiple ranges in multiple states. I always try to be friendly but direct. Not comfortable with loaded guns around when other think you are overstepping but in fact you are just enforcing the rules of the range. Just last weekend at a rifle range, made safe, people went down range and then somebody picked up a gun to show it to someone. I stopped it with no incidents but happens WAY too often. I have too many similar stories.
Best grass fire rig to fight fire you can have on hand is a leaf blower. Hit the flame base and take fuel out the fires gone. 100x more efficient than water.
A great thing I saw and still see on ranges is a broom stick or dowel 6-7 feet long with a rubber mud flap from a truck or just rubber pad and you use it to slap the fire out it works pretty well!
About 15 years ago Dakotah Sport and Fitness in Shakopee MN was undergoing an expansion project. They had 6 bay 50ft indoor range in the basement. Well, a fire was started (fire marshall thought sparks from welding started the fire) in the back stop area. They never rebuilt the range the. Bummer. Burnsville (MN) Pistol Range had fire related to HVAC system problems. A range up in Forest Lake MN was a total loss back in 2018? I witnessed a small fire at Stock and Barrel in Chanhassen (MN) that was unburnt gun powder related, the RO was johnny on the spot and put the fire out quickly as it started.
..been hit with fragmentation more than once..USUALLY an errant AK round. Even when I’d thought I’d given it ample distance, some rounds impacted a ‘divot’ or crater sending it ricocheting wild and “backwards”..sometimes over UNBELIEVABLE distances! NEVER take it for granted, use the RIGHT steel for reactive targets..AND EXPECT Mr Murphyto make an appearance
This is precisely why Arizona has shooting restrictions during the hotter months. Unfortunately, most people ignore the fire/shooting restrictions put in place for the well-being of _everyone._ Side note - Big Sandy > Knob Creek but I digress. Stay classy my friends.
Had a number of range fires in the military under extremely dry weather conditions. Brush abatement wasn't always the best. On some ranges, dud munitions made abatement quite hazardous. On small arms ranges, a frequent method was masses of soldiers literally stomping and beating the fire out or putting a line out at a range road it was burning toward to prevent it from jumping the road. I remember the acrid odor vividly -- same as a wildfire or forest fire.
This video and John Wick 4 reminds me of the old FPS Russia Dragon's Breath video where he was firing at a hay bale with trees in the background. At the end, there was a fire starting.
Copper can spark on steel or rock. I didn't believe that, but have seen video of it happening. I had a big grass fire here a couple of weeks ago. Not fun. I found that the best technique for controlling grass fire is to stay in the black and rake the fire and fuel back toward you into the black. Two or three people working together like that can really knock it back. Wish I had known that a couple of weeks ago. The wildland firefighters used big sticks with mudflaps on them, like big flyswatters.
The Firing Pin Gun range in Bergen NY just had a major fire this past Friday that started in the firing range. Maybe it was caused by sparks from metal bullets.
I show range security camera footage in this video of someone (I think security officers training) fires a shotgun with burning powder coming out of the bore. It ignites the unburnt powder on the floor of the range and it combusts. So it could be a couple of things that can cause it. Thanks for watching.
Most people don't do this, but I travel two hours into the mountains to a gravel pit that has a mountain ledge behind it. To the hunters safety course i had taken back in the mid 2000's the instructor showed us a shotgun. the story was one person was holding both shells for two hunters. the one holding the shells slipped a 20 in a 12 gauge barrel, got distracted and slipped a 12 on top of it and blew the shotgun up. i dont know what happened to the hunter. PAY ATTENTION
It's funny that you mention indoor ranges, because I've actually started a tiny fire at an indoor range. I was shooting completely ordinary Winchester White Box FMJ at ten yards. My guess is the muzzle flash from my pistol ignited some unburned powder and scraps of the paper targets that landed in the track above. It went out after a moment, but had me searching for an extinguisher in the meantime.
So glad to hear that the FD came to extinguish it in time. Scary! Yeah I always heard the "Mild steel core and bimetal jacket bullets can't be used indoors, cuz backstop rating." The truth is, those projectiles hit concrete and the steel trap baffles and they spark. The floor is COVERED in a layer of unburned gunpowder and paper target dust. A spark can set the whole floor on fire and nitro burns slow and hot which will set the walls on fire easily. :(
I’ve seen a small fire at the range. Older lady shot the floor 15ft in front of her which wasn’t anywhere close to target and sparked the powder that had been collecting in the crack of concrete pad
I'm fairly new to shooting AR's and had my first squib this week. I knew it didn't sound right, and didn't cycle the next round. The guy next to me said to jack the next round and send it, but I'm glad I didn't.
The "something doesn't feel right" is no joke. Had one 7.62x39 round underpowered just enough to cycle but not leave the barrel. It was the "why did that just feel softer?" that prevented damage from being done.
Today went to a outdoor range and I was going to shoot some wolf 30 carbine. Only thought it was steel case. I was shocked the bullet was magnetic! Nothing on the box said steel core. I couldn't use the 30 carbine today but I was glad it was caught. No one wants to start a fire.
Great topic/PSA subject here 👍 If you have a creek nearby look into some of the Wildland Fire portable gas powered water pumps... 1.5" outlet with 7-10 GPM and 90-100 psi are pretty reasonable to move around steep terrain with two people (just look up a chart for max hose length, because you'll need some reduction as you stretch its reach... Or a 100 gallon pump/tank combo for a UTV (if you have something with forks to set it in/out as needed 😒) If you go with a tank sprayer you can get by with a cheaper low pressure high volume semi trash pump for quickly refilling out of your water source... Also for grass "fire swatters" can do alot of work quickly if the wind is low... Or just hook the local fire department with the brush truck up with a few gift cards or an annual gun raffle or something 😉 That's probably the easiest, safest, and cheapest route, all while showing some love to the local department (and hopefully avoiding the potential fines/bills that happen in some areas or states after even non neglect accidental grass/wild fires, even if they are rather small, and it's on your property 😒) The one advantage of having your own system is being able to soak areas that aren't really feasible to clear if you think an issue might arise. JUST MAKE SURE TO DRAIN EVERY DROP OF WATER FROM THE PUMP during freezing temperatures, or keep it above freezing temps in some sort of enclosed area nearby during late winter months (more for if you have a filled skid sitting around, or a portable pump that is a sub optimal design and doesn't like to prime up quickly/easily) 👍
This exact thing happened to me and my friend a few weeks ago. Same thing, ground was soaked but the grass was dead. We were shooting some 1944 production surplus 303 it wasn't tracer or incendiary just plain old FMJ
I had a bunch of loose ammo one range day, I wasnt paying attention and loaded 1-2 tracers. Needless to say, i caught the 200yd berm on fire at Jasper Pulaski. Thankfully It was very small and was immediately taken care of. The burn was no greater than a 2' diameter.
i was at a Bass Pro shooting range once and the guy shooting next to me was having a good time and while shooting like you said the unburnt powder in the firing lane caught on fire and range officer ran in with exstinguisher shut the range down for a few days
There is absolutely no excuse for being harmed by squibs! As long as you're not firing with your eyes totally closed, you will see the MUZZLE FLASH when each and every round goes off and exits the barrel. NO MUZZLE FLASH --- YOU'VE GOT A SQUIB!!!
I also set the range on fire at my property by shooting a tracer and it ricocheted off the steel and about 200 yards uphill into the woods. Would have been real bad but some people noticed and came and found me after hearing me shooting. Put out a pretty big forest fire just by stomping it out. Also the fire department took about 30 minutes to get there and wouldn't have done anything
It's interesting that anything can grow near your steel targets. It seems like anywhere I set up my targets everything dies after a few range sessions. The ground looks like potting soil after a few hundred rounds 😅
This is the reason that my range has a rule against any ammo that is magnetic. I asked them one day why they run a magnet over every box of ammo you bring with you, and they said that it was the fact that there is always unspent powder and steel cores can ignite the unspent powder.
First time I met my wife's family in MI her younger sister set 6 acres on fire... literally had burnt up everything in an hour. Fire dept came and had it out in no time with 2 jeep wranglers with hoses and misters
Must’ve been a super low humidity day like 10-15%. Sparks usually won’t ignite until it’s down around 10%. Bluebird skies when it starts out cold and gets really warm means low humidity. Rule of thumb to know for future to watch out for. Might be good to burn off an area around the targets for winter shooting. Spring/Summer greens up enough to stop any fire spread.
First time I shot my buddy's SKS at the range I got through about 3 rounds before the bolt hung up just before getting into battery. I tapped it home and as soon as it dropped into place it slam fired and sent that bolt handle into my palm at big ouch velocity. It gashed me good and immediately started bleeding everywhere but I did not want to cause a panic with other shooters and I was facing the muzzle downrange while dealing with the malfunction so no one even knew it happened. I calmly told my buddy that my hand was messed up and to pack up, went to the bathroom to clean the wound and the range owner helped me bandage it. Few weeks later I had a little scar reminder of why the AR15 is better. All in all I was lucky and my gun safety fundamentals kept everyone else safe in that situation as well, you live and you learn
I set some woods on fire with some Russian 7.62x39 FMJ, by shooting trash, one time. Luckily it went out on its own. Scared the crap out of me. It must have hit some metal in the trash and made a spark that set something flammable ablaze. Never imagined it happening, but it did.
Well done video, we had a high school student in a class at our range shoot him self in the leg reholstering his pistol few months ago, he was very lucky, missed arteries, you just can’t take time off from safety, as focused as I am on safety this video helps to remind me to never relax when it comes to safety
You guys should consider doing control burns periodically to help with the excess dead grass. Just call your fire department and they would probably help with it
My buddy’s unit set Camp Grayling on fire. Cant return ammo to the armory and all they had left were tracers. So they were commanded to load up and go full fun switch. Few minutes later all the dead elms had 50ft flames. Training was cancelled the entire weekend, fighting the forest fire.
I'm really glad you made this video. I've shot plenty of bimetal 7.62x54 at my home range and there are rocks everywhere. I don't have all the grass but I've got acres of bean fields and corn fields that can catch fire just as easy!
I set a small fire at my local indoor range. All the unburnt powder from the day had gotten pushed out with the fallen brass and had fallen into a joint line in the concrete (the powder, not the brass). I was the last shooter of the day on that range. Had a some slightly burning powder leave my gun and landed in that crevice and it flared up. Luckily the RSO ran over with the fire extinguisher promptly and put it out. They now clean that joint a bit more thoroughly now.
Telling us is one thing but the videos of the accidents make them real. As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words". So in a way the fire was a good thing as it led to this educational video for us all. You may have saved a life or two !
Can't even count the number of times my unit set the range on fire at Camp Pendleton, opposite the 11th Marines at Las Pulgas. Granted we were shooting 25mm high explosive rounds with tracers.
the (indoor) range I frequent has a 5 minute shutdown at the top of the hour to sweep the front of the firing line to remove built up powder. For some reason the sweep down didnt occur on time and about 45 minutes into the second hour there was a burn off of the excess powder on the floor, looked like one of those movies where they poured out black powder going to the powder kegs in a pirate movie...
Back when I was on tanks in Germany, I'd regularly fire tanks rounds at the wild hogs running around behind the target lifters during Tank Table 8 Bravo. They'd explode, pig guts would go flying, and inevitably one of the target legs on the lifter would get blown apart causing the German range meister to have to shut it all down and drive out there to fix it. He was always angry because the lifter would be covered in splattered hog. Good times, good times.
i got hit twice by a .22 LR round that got thrown into a bonfire back in high school. Hit my right hand knuckle and ricocheted off then hit my chin after that idk where it went.
Thankyou so much for this video! I think I will let my Grandson watch it. He is ten and we are taking him out to the range for his first time shooting next week.
getting my first SKS this month.. i heard about slamfires.. with my ar15 9mm conversion,, thats happen. scary.. i dont shoot it much now, been years actually
Only time I've been downrange of an AK was when a neighbor didn't understand rounds can skip off the ground if shot at a shallow angle. We had a pleasant conversation and that hasn't happened again.
Any modern round made of any material will cause a fire when impacting rocks or metal plate. Simply shooting at steel plates at night with NVG will show you that.
You need to shoot more pyrodex/black powder, that will keep the grass down! I shot some indoors, and the operators had to wash down the range ahead of time. Might be nice to have an old tank truck on hand to cart water to a remote area.
We had kindve the same thing happen to us two years ago. This time of year it happens fast. Same thing, fire wouldn't have hurt anything; cops said they wanted to join lol.
I lit our indoor range on fire. I was shooting a .22 of all things, and the gun failed to eject and just re-chambered the spent case. So I turned the gun to the side, gripped the slide, and snapped the case right out when the gun went click instead of bang. The case bounced into the pile of spent brass ahead of the firing line, and must have still had some embers burning. Next thing I know I'm watching the fire spread across the floor along the wall and having to call the rangemaster because this is not stopping. Fortunately the fire extinguisher was enough to stop it.
Wet blankets for grass fires gentlemen. I was a volunteer firefighter in rural Arkansas and a wet blanket is the tool you need. We had an M35 with 500 gallons of water and pumps but there are a lot of places a truck can't get to.
Who needs an expensive flamethrower when Wolf can get the job done for a few cents!
Where you getting your ammo? I guess you can call $1 a few cents technically. Haaa! 😂
@Josh Combe i havent bought wolf in years i face palmed when i saw it go over 30cents. For 223.
Range safety is always everyone's responsibility. Glad everything turned out OK. I've actually had people walk out on a range during live fire on 2 separate occasions, one I saw the person and yelled the cease fire, second one of my students grabbed my arm and pointed. Had to re explain afterwards to my students that anyone can yell for cease fire when something goes unsafe.
If it is “everyone’s responsibility” as you have stated, then why is everyone not responsible for being trained because as we all know training leads itself to safety. Straight from my military instructor’s mouth. He said “excellent training leads itself to excellent safety”.
My Dad, ( and many of his friends ) belonged to our local volunteer FD back in the 60's and 70's. Many times they answered to call at 3am, 2pm, any time. They were hero's for sure !
I had a squib load once so far in my life. Amazingly, it happened only JUST after hearing about them several weeks prior. This was years ago, and I still keep a thought dedicated to its occurrence any time I shoot. (For those who are curious, I was testing my new Glock 42 using Blazer brass standard .380)
Youd have likely been fine. I think Kentucky ballistics tested it and pistols like that didnt explode with a squib in the barrel
I've been a shooter for years and I've always tried to have safety first in mind. This talk has given me a lot to think about. Thank you for this video.
I lit my private range on fire. We were messing around with tannerite trying to blow up rotten trees on my ranch, after a couple misses we hit the target. The misses kicked up wood dust inside the hole we placed the boom boom. The resulting explosion lit the surrounding area on 🔥. We were able to get it put out after buckets of water and panic 😅
I remember when Matt from DemoRanch bought his own Firetruck I initially thought it was a vanity purchase because the truck was a former US Army truck. But with all the shooting he does at his range which is far from any main roads he has to be his own first responder if a fire happens.
When I was in the Army we had a range fire at the rifle range. That must’ve been a common thing because the Range Officer handed out these paddles I have never seen before. It was like a shovel handle with a large flap of rubber at the end that was used to whack the fire. We all went down range and put the fire out.
I set the us weapons range on fire at ft leonard wood back in 1999. We were doing the US weapons class. M60, at4 simulator, and claymore mine on that day. They were introducing the m249 to us but only had one so the crew served weapon that day was the m60. I collected my 120 rounds and waited my turn. The target was an old bmp shaped pile of rust, i aimed at a likely looking spot. Pinged some rounds off it, heard some echo around inside. Shot another burst or two of 6-10 rounds and suddenly a drill sgt broke off my belt as i was shooting. I was so locked in on the sights i did not notice that some of my tracers had set the berm on fire. We were on the very edge near the woodline as well. I never did get to finish off my remaining rounds.
Yup...on range days, a few of us at a time were to sit near a designated vehicle that had the water tank attached to it and buckets dangling around it as well. We also wore PT belts...we were told they made us fireproof 😆
I did a waste powder burn, from reloading, last 4th of July. I put it on the concrete retaining wall and taped down a cannon fuse to light the powder.
This video makes me realize how important it is that my local private range has volunteers that come out every week to sweep and mop the floor.
Very interesting conversation.
Good advices and suggestions.
P.D: Next new MAC gun: "Water Cannon!" 🙂
Thanks Tim & Jason.
Great video guys! Good coverage of critically important, but often overlooked topics. I've been shooting for over 40 years, but I always pay attention to safety refreshers, because there is no such thing as "safe enough."
Thank you! We welcome info and experiences. 40 yrs ago my 1st .44 Mag blew up in my hand. The round down the barrel never went off. Next one to left fires and was blocked by the front frame so cross fired and boom boom. Blew the whole side if the cylinder off, cracked the frame under rear sight and rear sight went flying. Cracked front frame on barrel threads and barrel fell out! My Wife was standing right next to me and gun swung over her head. Thank God neither of us were hurt except for a slight cut on the base of my thumb from truing to get the cylinder free to get the other 4 rounds out. Never found the pieces blown off. Have the gun still and it's a great conversation piece! Never figured the cause.
If the RH or relative humidity is 16% or below. You got a good chance of starting a fire in grass. Even if it's been raining the past few days. It takes one hour for grass or pine straw. To become equal to the RH.
One of the cheapest and easiest things you can do, Is to keep the weeds and grass cut very short, then it is much easier to put a fire out.
I'm a goat producer that specializes in using my goats for brush, weed, and fire mitigation. With modern mobile fencing, It's pretty easy to put them on a specific area for a short amount of time to clear the vegetation. My local range had a berm fire last fall. I'll be approaching them shortly to propose clearing them with goats once a year.
I enjoy when you guys get together. good informative content
Demo Ranch has a fire truck, you should talk to him about setting one up
Shooting metal targets hanging by a metal chain can cause a spark when shot at just the right angle.
This is great I have , I have been watching this channel for years
In 1978 I was allowed by the range owner, to fire a cap & ball revolver on an indoor range and set the floor on fire. Luckily for me, there wasn't much powder on the floor and no one got hurt, but I was not allowed to fire black powder there after that.
In my military career as a weapons instructor out west here, we had to pull tracers out of the belts in order to fire without setting fire to the range. I did learn that an M-60 with a 200 rd belt of ball ammo can be used as a long range fire extinguisher. Fire at the base of the fire and it throws dirt up and smothers the fire.
Neighbors trash fire spread into our field. Volunteer fire company saved the day for us also! Wow some of those tracers came back past the line! Yikes! Always follow the 4 rules. Wear eye and ear pro! Be freakin careful!
Damn I recon…one looked to whizzed right though firin line backwards
We shot .50 cal at Ft. McCoy, WI We set the range on fire all the time. We had a fire truck on site. The .50 cal rounds were not bimetallic.
Nice video on safety.
In February 1987 at Fort Dix during basic training, our company was on the range and one of us set the range on fire. The Fort Dix Fire Department responded. The Fire Captain(civilian) told our Captain to get all the men away from the guns which we did and the Fire Department put out the fire.
Remember:
1. Safety First!
2. Fun Second!
Bi-metal bullets aren't required to generate sparks. One of the takeaways from Midnight Brutality was watching people blast sparks off of both steel and rocks with regular FMJ.
Yep…white bx m80 sparks on my steel at 520yrds…I thought it was cool but not now…it’s in a perfect spot for my whole holler to burn down
Cheap guns challenge has to come back you against Jason was always fun to watch. Keep it up!
Just keep a burlap bag and a bucket handy! Soak the burlap bag in water and use it to slap out fires! I’ve put out a many of them this way!
Excellent video! thank you
I have been a volunteer firefighter for 13 years and counting and I also drive the ambulance. I have started a fire before with bimetal bullets.
I am hoping we get rain soon because dry weather and 50mph winds we are having is not good. 4 years ago next month we had a 56,000 acer grass fire that was driven by 70mph winds. It definitely sucked to fight and lost quite a few houses.
Never thought this scenario would have happened. Thanks for the video.
I started a fire at an indoor range before. Never brought steel or bimetal stuff in, and had the RSO's magnet my ammo everytime even though they didn't do it automatically for me anymore. Regular American Eagle 5.56 somehow sparked off the angled backstop at the end, caught some paper on fire that collected down in a trough. Quickly called it out and it was put out.
GREAT video, totally different than what others are doing and of great value. Well done. Unfortunately I will tell you I have had too many bad experiences at ranges with people who either don't understand what makes a range safe to go down range or don't want to follow the rules. Over 30 years this is multiple ranges in multiple states. I always try to be friendly but direct. Not comfortable with loaded guns around when other think you are overstepping but in fact you are just enforcing the rules of the range. Just last weekend at a rifle range, made safe, people went down range and then somebody picked up a gun to show it to someone. I stopped it with no incidents but happens WAY too often. I have too many similar stories.
Best grass fire rig to fight fire you can have on hand is a leaf blower. Hit the flame base and take fuel out the fires gone. 100x more efficient than water.
Thank you so much for this safety information and your good spirit toward good community. JH
A great thing I saw and still see on ranges is a broom stick or dowel 6-7 feet long with a rubber mud flap from a truck or just rubber pad and you use it to slap the fire out it works pretty well!
About 15 years ago Dakotah Sport and Fitness in Shakopee MN was undergoing an expansion project. They had 6 bay 50ft indoor range in the basement. Well, a fire was started (fire marshall thought sparks from welding started the fire) in the back stop area. They never rebuilt the range the. Bummer. Burnsville (MN) Pistol Range had fire related to HVAC system problems. A range up in Forest Lake MN was a total loss back in 2018? I witnessed a small fire at Stock and Barrel in Chanhassen (MN) that was unburnt gun powder related, the RO was johnny on the spot and put the fire out quickly as it started.
Ian from forgotten weapons had a piece of metal go into his chest. Not from carelessness, but because sometimes accidents happen.
..been hit with fragmentation more than once..USUALLY an errant AK round. Even when I’d thought I’d given it ample distance, some rounds impacted a ‘divot’ or crater sending it ricocheting wild and “backwards”..sometimes over UNBELIEVABLE distances! NEVER take it for granted, use the RIGHT steel for reactive targets..AND EXPECT Mr Murphyto make an appearance
This is precisely why Arizona has shooting restrictions during the hotter months.
Unfortunately, most people ignore the fire/shooting restrictions put in place for the well-being of _everyone._
Side note - Big Sandy > Knob Creek but I digress.
Stay classy my friends.
Had a number of range fires in the military under extremely dry weather conditions. Brush abatement wasn't always the best. On some ranges, dud munitions made abatement quite hazardous. On small arms ranges, a frequent method was masses of soldiers literally stomping and beating the fire out or putting a line out at a range road it was burning toward to prevent it from jumping the road. I remember the acrid odor vividly -- same as a wildfire or forest fire.
This video and John Wick 4 reminds me of the old FPS Russia Dragon's Breath video where he was firing at a hay bale with trees in the background. At the end, there was a fire starting.
Copper can spark on steel or rock. I didn't believe that, but have seen video of it happening.
I had a big grass fire here a couple of weeks ago. Not fun. I found that the best technique for controlling grass fire is to stay in the black and rake the fire and fuel back toward you into the black. Two or three people working together like that can really knock it back. Wish I had known that a couple of weeks ago.
The wildland firefighters used big sticks with mudflaps on them, like big flyswatters.
Does not matter what round you fire at a steel target. The steel from the target erodes, as it does it create sparks.
The Firing Pin Gun range in Bergen NY just had a major fire this past Friday that started in the firing range. Maybe it was caused by sparks from metal bullets.
I show range security camera footage in this video of someone (I think security officers training) fires a shotgun with burning powder coming out of the bore. It ignites the unburnt powder on the floor of the range and it combusts. So it could be a couple of things that can cause it. Thanks for watching.
Most people don't do this, but I travel two hours into the mountains to a gravel pit that has a mountain ledge behind it.
To the hunters safety course i had taken back in the mid 2000's the instructor showed us a shotgun. the story was one person was holding both shells for two hunters. the one holding the shells slipped a 20 in a 12 gauge barrel, got distracted and slipped a 12 on top of it and blew the shotgun up. i dont know what happened to the hunter. PAY ATTENTION
It's funny that you mention indoor ranges, because I've actually started a tiny fire at an indoor range. I was shooting completely ordinary Winchester White Box FMJ at ten yards. My guess is the muzzle flash from my pistol ignited some unburned powder and scraps of the paper targets that landed in the track above. It went out after a moment, but had me searching for an extinguisher in the meantime.
So glad to hear that the FD came to extinguish it in time. Scary! Yeah I always heard the "Mild steel core and bimetal jacket bullets can't be used indoors, cuz backstop rating." The truth is, those projectiles hit concrete and the steel trap baffles and they spark. The floor is COVERED in a layer of unburned gunpowder and paper target dust. A spark can set the whole floor on fire and nitro burns slow and hot which will set the walls on fire easily. :(
I’ve seen a small fire at the range. Older lady shot the floor 15ft in front of her which wasn’t anywhere close to target and sparked the powder that had been collecting in the crack of concrete pad
I'm fairly new to shooting AR's and had my first squib this week. I knew it didn't sound right, and didn't cycle the next round. The guy next to me said to jack the next round and send it, but I'm glad I didn't.
The "something doesn't feel right" is no joke. Had one 7.62x39 round underpowered just enough to cycle but not leave the barrel. It was the "why did that just feel softer?" that prevented damage from being done.
Today went to a outdoor range and I was going to shoot some wolf 30 carbine. Only thought it was steel case. I was shocked the bullet was magnetic! Nothing on the box said steel core. I couldn't use the 30 carbine today but I was glad it was caught. No one wants to start a fire.
Great topic/PSA subject here 👍 If you have a creek nearby look into some of the Wildland Fire portable gas powered water pumps... 1.5" outlet with 7-10 GPM and 90-100 psi are pretty reasonable to move around steep terrain with two people (just look up a chart for max hose length, because you'll need some reduction as you stretch its reach... Or a 100 gallon pump/tank combo for a UTV (if you have something with forks to set it in/out as needed 😒) If you go with a tank sprayer you can get by with a cheaper low pressure high volume semi trash pump for quickly refilling out of your water source... Also for grass "fire swatters" can do alot of work quickly if the wind is low... Or just hook the local fire department with the brush truck up with a few gift cards or an annual gun raffle or something 😉 That's probably the easiest, safest, and cheapest route, all while showing some love to the local department (and hopefully avoiding the potential fines/bills that happen in some areas or states after even non neglect accidental grass/wild fires, even if they are rather small, and it's on your property 😒) The one advantage of having your own system is being able to soak areas that aren't really feasible to clear if you think an issue might arise. JUST MAKE SURE TO DRAIN EVERY DROP OF WATER FROM THE PUMP during freezing temperatures, or keep it above freezing temps in some sort of enclosed area nearby during late winter months (more for if you have a filled skid sitting around, or a portable pump that is a sub optimal design and doesn't like to prime up quickly/easily) 👍
Good old Indian Fire Cans.
@@brianclassen5221 No gas required 😆 Other than food lol
Disc the perimeter. Do controlled burns during calm days.
This exact thing happened to me and my friend a few weeks ago. Same thing, ground was soaked but the grass was dead. We were shooting some 1944 production surplus 303 it wasn't tracer or incendiary just plain old FMJ
I had a bunch of loose ammo one range day, I wasnt paying attention and loaded 1-2 tracers. Needless to say, i caught the 200yd berm on fire at Jasper Pulaski. Thankfully It was very small and was immediately taken care of. The burn was no greater than a 2' diameter.
Wish I knew someone with their own range.
i was at a Bass Pro shooting range once and the guy shooting next to me was having a good time and while shooting like you said the unburnt powder in the firing lane caught on fire and range officer ran in with exstinguisher shut the range down for a few days
There is absolutely no excuse for being harmed by squibs! As long as you're not firing with your eyes totally closed, you will see the MUZZLE FLASH when each and every round goes off and exits the barrel.
NO MUZZLE FLASH --- YOU'VE GOT A SQUIB!!!
the zinc coated Wolf ammo sparks a lot. we set our local range on fire, I just don't shoot the crap any more
That's crazy we still have 3 foot of snow at our range!
Same here, the gate to get in the range is frozen in a drift.
@@ffarmchicken I'm starting to go batshit crazy....this winter has been the longest I've ever experienced here in SE Idaho.
I also set the range on fire at my property by shooting a tracer and it ricocheted off the steel and about 200 yards uphill into the woods. Would have been real bad but some people noticed and came and found me after hearing me shooting. Put out a pretty big forest fire just by stomping it out. Also the fire department took about 30 minutes to get there and wouldn't have done anything
It's interesting that anything can grow near your steel targets. It seems like anywhere I set up my targets everything dies after a few range sessions. The ground looks like potting soil after a few hundred rounds 😅
This is the reason that my range has a rule against any ammo that is magnetic. I asked them one day why they run a magnet over every box of ammo you bring with you, and they said that it was the fact that there is always unspent powder and steel cores can ignite the unspent powder.
First time I met my wife's family in MI her younger sister set 6 acres on fire... literally had burnt up everything in an hour.
Fire dept came and had it out in no time with 2 jeep wranglers with hoses and misters
Must’ve been a super low humidity day like 10-15%. Sparks usually won’t ignite until it’s down around 10%. Bluebird skies when it starts out cold and gets really warm means low humidity. Rule of thumb to know for future to watch out for. Might be good to burn off an area around the targets for winter shooting. Spring/Summer greens up enough to stop any fire spread.
First time I shot my buddy's SKS at the range I got through about 3 rounds before the bolt hung up just before getting into battery. I tapped it home and as soon as it dropped into place it slam fired and sent that bolt handle into my palm at big ouch velocity. It gashed me good and immediately started bleeding everywhere but I did not want to cause a panic with other shooters and I was facing the muzzle downrange while dealing with the malfunction so no one even knew it happened. I calmly told my buddy that my hand was messed up and to pack up, went to the bathroom to clean the wound and the range owner helped me bandage it. Few weeks later I had a little scar reminder of why the AR15 is better. All in all I was lucky and my gun safety fundamentals kept everyone else safe in that situation as well, you live and you learn
I set some woods on fire with some Russian 7.62x39 FMJ, by shooting trash, one time. Luckily it went out on its own. Scared the crap out of me. It must have hit some metal in the trash and made a spark that set something flammable ablaze. Never imagined it happening, but it did.
Well done video, we had a high school student in a class at our range shoot him self in the leg reholstering his pistol few months ago, he was very lucky, missed arteries, you just can’t take time off from safety, as focused as I am on safety this video helps to remind me to never relax when it comes to safety
You guys should consider doing control burns periodically to help with the excess dead grass. Just call your fire department and they would probably help with it
Good video, Tim. I'm going to bring this up at our club.
My buddy’s unit set Camp Grayling on fire. Cant return ammo to the armory and all they had left were tracers. So they were commanded to load up and go full fun switch. Few minutes later all the dead elms had 50ft flames. Training was cancelled the entire weekend, fighting the forest fire.
I'm really glad you made this video. I've shot plenty of bimetal 7.62x54 at my home range and there are rocks everywhere. I don't have all the grass but I've got acres of bean fields and corn fields that can catch fire just as easy!
I set a small fire at my local indoor range. All the unburnt powder from the day had gotten pushed out with the fallen brass and had fallen into a joint line in the concrete (the powder, not the brass). I was the last shooter of the day on that range. Had a some slightly burning powder leave my gun and landed in that crevice and it flared up. Luckily the RSO ran over with the fire extinguisher promptly and put it out. They now clean that joint a bit more thoroughly now.
Telling us is one thing but the videos of the accidents make them real. As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words". So in a way the fire was a good thing as it led to this educational video for us all. You may have saved a life or two !
🔥 FIRE WHEN I WAS in the academy we spent 4 days on land fires with shovels and broom handles with a rubber thick mat. Back then . What a worm out
Can't even count the number of times my unit set the range on fire at Camp Pendleton, opposite the 11th Marines at Las Pulgas. Granted we were shooting 25mm high explosive rounds with tracers.
the (indoor) range I frequent has a 5 minute shutdown at the top of the hour to sweep the front of the firing line to remove built up powder. For some reason the sweep down didnt occur on time and about 45 minutes into the second hour there was a burn off of the excess powder on the floor, looked like one of those movies where they poured out black powder going to the powder kegs in a pirate movie...
Back when I was on tanks in Germany, I'd regularly fire tanks rounds at the wild hogs running around behind the target lifters during Tank Table 8 Bravo.
They'd explode, pig guts would go flying, and inevitably one of the target legs on the lifter would get blown apart causing the German range meister to have to shut it all down and drive out there to fix it. He was always angry because the lifter would be covered in splattered hog. Good times, good times.
i got hit twice by a .22 LR round that got thrown into a bonfire back in high school. Hit my right hand knuckle and ricocheted off then hit my chin after that idk where it went.
Shoot any metal plate at night with a standard FMJ and it will shoot sparks. Bi-metal bullet even more.
Subbed to 2nd Legacy. I think I'm going to experiment with Wolf now😁
Honestly, MAJOR PROPS to Smith and Wesson for making a revolver that can take 8 SQUIBS and still be intact. Holy cow
I know the indoor range close to me uses ground up rubber on the berm to prevent bounce back. If a fire got in that it would be ugly.
Having put out a small range fire with my size 11 extinguishers I can agree it can be a butt puckeringmoment.
Thankyou so much for this video! I think I will let my Grandson watch it. He is ten and we are taking him out to the range for his first time shooting next week.
Volunteer Firefighter here. Leaf blowers can put out a lot of fires.
This is surprising. I'd be worried about feeding and spreading it.
My grandpa an ex firefighter always had us wet the range down.
I have seen Wolf ammo generate sparks when they strike steel.
That's why I shoot full cans of beer for exploding targets in Kansas so I won't start a fire
Love you guys!!!!
Thank you!
@@Militaryarmschannel No, THANK YOU GUYS!!!!
getting my first SKS this month.. i heard about slamfires.. with my ar15 9mm conversion,, thats happen. scary.. i dont shoot it much now, been years actually
great video MAC!
Only time I've been downrange of an AK was when a neighbor didn't understand rounds can skip off the ground if shot at a shallow angle. We had a pleasant conversation and that hasn't happened again.
Any modern round made of any material will cause a fire when impacting rocks or metal plate. Simply shooting at steel plates at night with NVG will show you that.
We burn off the area behind the steel targets at the farm, the fire department has unfortunately been there for range fire.
You need to shoot more pyrodex/black powder, that will keep the grass down! I shot some indoors, and the operators had to wash down the range ahead of time. Might be nice to have an old tank truck on hand to cart water to a remote area.
We had kindve the same thing happen to us two years ago. This time of year it happens fast. Same thing, fire wouldn't have hurt anything; cops said they wanted to join lol.
twice every year we stop my club range and volunteer members come and clear out all the dead brush and grass from the range and behind.
I lit our indoor range on fire. I was shooting a .22 of all things, and the gun failed to eject and just re-chambered the spent case. So I turned the gun to the side, gripped the slide, and snapped the case right out when the gun went click instead of bang. The case bounced into the pile of spent brass ahead of the firing line, and must have still had some embers burning. Next thing I know I'm watching the fire spread across the floor along the wall and having to call the rangemaster because this is not stopping. Fortunately the fire extinguisher was enough to stop it.
If you drive a vehicle 1 simple must have is a fire extinguisher inside each vehicle.
Wet blankets for grass fires gentlemen. I was a volunteer firefighter in rural Arkansas and a wet blanket is the tool you need. We had an M35 with 500 gallons of water and pumps but there are a lot of places a truck can't get to.