If a box of powder went up in your safe

[banoob]

I read steel gun safes can ignite tubs of powder due to static?

What happens if half a kg of powder goes off inside the confined spaces of an ammo compartment?

Could it pop the ammo door off?

(just the ammo door, I don't mean blow the safe apart)

[Klem]

I read steel gun safes can ignite tubs of powder due to static?

So they say.

I believe if you're a dealer or demo place storing big volumes of the stuff there are storage requires like using wood surfaces, no carpet etc.

Just half a kg in the ammo section of a steel safe would just burn up. It wouldn't "explode".

[1290]

A static discharge from the steel safe may possibly, but not probably ignite the powder.... if in the original package, and the safe does not have a sealed door, hermetic/o-ring... it wont explode. Smokeless needs a sealed space to develop pressure very quickly once ignited. If not sealed, the powder will just burn... quickly.

Why would you keep it in the safe anyway?? You shouldnt keep it in there, thats why DG laws specifically say not to keep in steel. Keep in wooden or similar cabinets...

[pracshooter]

Threw a kilo of rifle powder in a can into a bonfire a few years back. No big bang, just a whoosh of flame. It would depend if the safe had a way to vent or not.

[FuzzyM]

You could have the safe earthed to prevent static buildup if it is really a problem.
All fixed wiring in Victoria legally must be done by an electrician,
but it would be very simple to run an earth wire to an existing earth point somewhere ......

[Westy]

I'd have to say it would burn all the oxygen in the safe before it would explode, can't have a fire with out the right amount of oxygen!!!I wouldn't stress it hasn't happened to me in the last 35 yrs!!!!LOL

[1290]

I'd have to say it would burn all the oxygen in the safe before it would explode, can't have a fire with out the right amount of oxygen!!!I wouldn't stress it hasn't happened to me in the last 35 yrs!!!!LOL

Don't worry about the oxygen level inside. . It doesn't need any of it to burn. That the inherent quality of propellant and explosives; the fuel is built in.

[Westy]

I'd have to say it would burn all the oxygen in the safe before it would explode, can't have a fire with out the right amount of oxygen!!!I wouldn't stress it hasn't happened to me in the last 35 yrs!!!!LOL

Are you sure?

[1290]

Yup

[Oldbloke]

Correct, additional O2 is not required, oxidents are part of the formula. In a full case there is buggerall O2. Lol. Regarding an earth, If you are worried. Its best to provide a seperate earth, better to use a copper bar driven into the ground to a depth where it is reliably damp, eg 3 feet. If you use an earth in an existing electrical circuit it is possible to get "feed back" sending a current to the powder storage igniting the powder. Wooden or lightly built metal contaier with some venting should be fine. Static shouldnt be a problem normally as wood is not effected and static will slowely discharge from metal containers unless the humidity is very low. Also the conditions to create static should not normally occur, eg rubbing the contianer with a substance that has a high level of electrical resistance. P.S. concrete floors are unreliable/poor earths due to fairly high resistance and variations in moisture.
Hope this helps.

[salate]

Are you sure?

If you think about it there is no oxygen in the barrel between the brass and the bullet and the burning power pushes it down the barrel.

I didn't think of it before, but interesting to know now