rifle shot - propane tank - DANGER

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A friend and I did this as well when we were younger (minus the flame). Only to find out that the result isn't as cool as we had thought it would be. we were hidden behind a log pile though, knowing that the canister could come flying back at us.
 
That is just flat out WRONG!...

Don't they know...

1) FIRST somebody HAS to say "Hold mah beer a minute Bubba"

2) there should have been SIX propane tanks stacked up or ONE BBQ sized tank...bigger boom=bigger fun!

3) There wuz no lost limbs eyes and nobody on fire in this video...these guys are just half-arsin around on that stuff...TRY HARDER!!


Now that said...I would NEVER do anything like that! ...but in all fairness in the South you can easily find someone willing to do that for a cold beer on a bet...you'll lose less fingers that way ;):evil::evil::evil::D
 
I can see the draw to shooting at explosive things, but I have always been to afraid to do it myself.
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At first I was reluctant to do this. But the guys I was shooting with have much more experience than I do, and seemed comfortable with the idea.

I was shooting with six guys that have a combined total of over 80 years of military service. The guy who brought the propane is an ex-fighter pilot. Two of the others were each in the infantry for 25 years.

Maybe these guys are just used to blowing things-up.
 
You can't see nearly enough from the video to determine if the open flame near the propane tank was actually heating the tank to any significant degree or not. Also, the non-shooter in that clip looks to be a good 10-15 feet to the side... maybe a few degrees forward of the sacred "180 degree line", but not in any dangerous position as far as I'm concerned relative to the shot.

They hit on every shot, so I don't think there is any basis to say they are poor shooters, or don't care about developing as shooters... there is nowhere near enough information there to make any sort of pronouncement as far as that goes.

Other than backing off another hundred yards or so, I don't see what the big deal is... no innocent bystanders around, they don't appear to be near anything particularly flammable, etc. Is it the quintisential picture of what some of us like to think of as "responsible gun ownership"? I guess not, but I still think some of you guys need to lighten up. They aren't hurting anyone except themselves if they screw up, and its a free country.

I've shot completely empty propane tanks before... handgun rounds (9mm and .40 fmj) did not even come close to penetrating... they just rolled off, barely even making a dent. .223 penetrated both sides of the tank. Whether this is indicative of the sort of penetration you would get against a full or partially full tank, I don't know. I'd also like to see if you really need a nearby open flame ignition source to light the contents of a just-shot propane tank.
 
Stuff like this gives every shooter a bad name. Kids like this, and the old men who help them, are the reason why California has banns on SKS, 50BMg.... and gives people who don't like guns further reason to ban them.
 
TheGunGuru:

Are you possibly confusing reason for doing something essentially stupid with an excuse for the same stupidity? Some people find it necessary to blame inanamite objects for human stupidity, I don't know why, but that seems to be the case.
 
Totally agree. Except it could have been a multi-billion dollar fire.

Reactive targets? What about golf balls and clay pidgeons?

Besides, shooting at compressed gas tanks, at that distance, is begging for something bad to happen. Every see small medical O2 tanks go through a bulkhead? I have. Lots of power in those things, and those kids didn't treat it with enough respect, IMO.
 
I'm all for shooting crazy things like cars and tannerite, but i draw the line in two places.

1: no GLASS.

2: no hazaradous chemicals that would screw witht he environment and animals (antifreeze, transmission fluid, gasoline, etc)

3: nothing flammable - my only exception to this is if the guy takes it ouit all the way to the real desert, where there is nothing but sand. and then not even in that case, because most deserts in the US are national parks and people are hiking through them.

i think if you really want to have fun shooting target, set up balloons and hostage targets. also a "fire house".
 
I have been able to participate in some shoots with some "reactive targets" of this and other natures....very fun, and in a controlled shoot, fine in my opinion. With the absence of an ignition source, a pierced propane tank will usually spin around until depressurized.

As for these guys...they were to close, the gun handling leaves a lot to be desired and the weather and surrounding area needs to be taken into consideration.

small medical O2 tanks
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O2 tanks are usually at >1000 psi....Pressure in a propane tank at 80 F is 128 psi. Pressure varies with temp. Still dangerous, considering you are dealing with a flammable gas.
 
Kids like this, and the old men who help them, are the reason why California has banns on SKS
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You can do this with many other guns other than an sks and a 50 bmg by the way. And im afraid Cali has bans on SKS and other weaponry because that state (I shudder to call it that) is full of gun grabbing liberals that whenever they see something scary or something that wreaks great destruction they must automatically "ban" it. The fact that these politicians can't see that a gun is a double edged sword also contributes to why they ban guns. If this is too political of a post then i suggest you respond in a PM.
 
Steel shot works great for blowing up smaller propane tanks.

Boys will be boys, at least they aren't beating up old ladies.

They shoot propane tanks every year at Knob Creek. Everyone got a problem with that too?

/Reactive targets are what make shooting fun.
//I shoot glass bottles all day long at my gun range and no one cares. I toss them up into the air and blow them away. Spectators love it.
 
I belong to 2 clubs and have shot at a few more. None of them allow shooting glass. Shooting in the air with anything other then a shotgun and fine shot (usually 71/2 or smaller) is also verboten. Doing any of the above will get you tossed and likely banned.
Shooting anything that explodes at close range is foolish, whether you`ve done it and lived or not. You can toss lite matches in a puddle of gas and get away with it too, but I don`t recommend that either.
 
My dad and another guy were fooling around at an abandoned campground when they found some propane tanks, this was maybe 1964 I was a little kid, someone shot the first tank with a M1. little hole and about 3 seconds of hissing. Second shot second tank, Much longer hissing, then a third shot only this was a tracer, The resultant boom knocked the windows out of a travel trailer, flattened long grass for about 5o yards in all directions, Mushroom cloud in the air. And made all of us giggle like idiots. luckily that was all the propane tanks we found.
 
They hit on every shot, so I don't think there is any basis to say they are poor shooters, or don't care about developing as shooters... there is nowhere near enough information there to make any sort of pronouncement as far as that goes.
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I am not sure that the ability to shoot a propane tank 50-60yds away with a scoped, free floated AR on a bipod is a basis to say they are good shooters either.

I wouldn't go so far as to say no one should ever shoot a propane tank, but it is dangerous. They are obviously too close (or the tank should be secured like a precious poster mentioned). The tank flies by them and their car, they were lucky they weren't hit.

It would have been amusing to see the tank inbed itself in their windshield or car door.
 
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