Field shooting in hot, dry weather

[CoachChris]

Although I have never personally witnessed it I do know there have been fires reported to have been started by shooting.

I'm hesitant to go into the mountains to train right now.
I'm feeling a bit behind on my wind calling

Thoughts? Experiences? Concerns?

 

[ShtrRdy]

That is true. It can happen.

 

[Barrelnut]

It happened a few years ago here in Oregon. Guys were shooting in a quarry too but was a bunch of brush on the hill side. They were using steel core ammo. Steel core ammo can cause sparks. Never hear of lead/copper ammo starting a fire. Not saying it couldn't happen, but it doesn't spark.

 

[LVJ76]

3 years ago we had a big forest fire caused by an off duty border patrol agent target shooting in a really small make shift range in the Santa Rita mountains southeast of Tucson. One spark and the tall dry grass lit up and couldn't be stopped. 47,000 acres were lost.

I'd say wait a little longer if you can.

 

[BrentM]

You can be mindful of where you shoot too. If you decide to use a steel target you can place it on a granite slope etc with no grass around it. I still train in the mountains but I just try and pick areas with lowest possible potential for fire. No grass, no heavy brush etc.

 

[AZProtonDog]

I am not a metalurgist, however, I have been shooting in the Arizona deserts since '68. Never ever have I seen a fire started by a ricochet of a non-military round. EVER. Reason, you can't start a fire without a spark. Steel core ammo was not widely available back then. Lead does not spark, nor does copper. The round is not hot enough long enough to support combustion. Ask mid-westerners who use bails of hay as back drop if they catch fire. It never hurts to be extra cautious, however, don't over due the fear of a fire from a copper/lead round.

 

[mrjashu]

3 years ago we had a big forest fire caused by an off duty border patrol agent target shooting in a really small make shift range in the Santa Rita mountains southeast of Tucson. One spark and the tall dry grass lit up and couldn't be stopped. 47,000 acres were lost.

I'd say wait a little longer if you can.

FWIW he shot tannerite, not a good idea

 

[Will D]

Eastern Washington is dry as a bone. My range is totally safe, but I'm spending my time cleaning guns and reloading rather than worrying neighbors by shooting.

 

[FrogFire7]

I've seen powder burning in the grass as well, believe that specific time was H1000 out of a 300 RUM. Happened on more than one shot- buddy would shoot and smoke would be coming up from the grass a couple feet ahead of the muzzle.

 

[Okanogan]

Depending on where you live, field shooting on most public land may be illegal during fire season. That is the case in Washington state. Washington has a bunch of rules for target shooting on DNR managed lands, including a recent change that requires a 8ft tall earthen back stop with-in 8ft of the target.

During the summer I confine my target practice to the range and figure it is better safe and legal than sorry.

 

[LRNut]

When I first moved to AZ I could shoot year round in the Natl Forest. Some years ago they suddenly started to prohibit shooting. I contacted someone from Tonto Natl Forest. I pointed out that industrial workers performing maintenance in high combustion areas had to use spark-less tools composed of copper and brass. After a few exchanges, I was given this document:

https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_rp104.pdf

If you read it, you will see they started fires using lead/copper bullets. It is the heat of the bullet disintegrating that starts fires, not sparks.

Two years ago I was shooting in the desert about a mile from a popular spot - I could hear shooting going on, and then suddenly saw flames and smoke. Burned about 200 acres from my guess.

 

[73driver]

I am not a metalurgist, however, I have been shooting in the Arizona deserts since '68. Never ever have I seen a fire started by a ricochet of a non-military round. EVER. Reason, you can't start a fire without a spark. Steel core ammo was not widely available back then. Lead does not spark, nor does copper. The round is not hot enough long enough to support combustion. Ask mid-westerners who use bails of hay as back drop if they catch fire. It never hurts to be extra cautious, however, don't over due the fear of a fire from a copper/lead round.

Copper ammo is about the worst at starting fires. See the research report in post #11.

 

[crashlanding]

Up by Basalt Colorado a few years ago, a couple was using tracers, they started one heck of a fire there. Here at our public range I helped to put a grass fire out that was started by steel core ammo. I'm very mindful this time of year about anything that could start a fire

 

[AZProtonDog]

When I first moved to AZ I could shoot year round in the Natl Forest. Some years ago they suddenly started to prohibit shooting. I contacted someone from Tonto Natl Forest. I pointed out that industrial workers performing maintenance in high combustion areas had to use spark-less tools composed of copper and brass. After a few exchanges, I was given this document:

https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_rp104.pdf

If you read it, you will see they started fires using lead/copper bullets. It is the heat of the bullet disintegrating that starts fires, not sparks.

Two years ago I was shooting in the desert about a mile from a popular spot - I could hear shooting going on, and then suddenly saw flames and smoke. Burned about 200 acres from my guess.

Wow, very good article and test reports. Never suspected that the fragments would remain hot enough to cause ignition. Thanks for the info.