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Originally Posted by surg_res
I don't think that a taser, or other electrical source, could detonate a rifle or pistol round unless it is specifically designed to do so. I would guess that to generate a spark there would have to be capacitance generated between two surfaces not in direct contact with one another.
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There are four ways that immediately come to mind to set of a round electrically.
One: Spark, as you suggest, but which, as you also suggest, is unlikely. The metal in a cartridge is in close contact and highly unlikely to allow any capacitance/voltage differential to generate a spark inside. The current will simply flow through the metal, bypassing the priming compound and powder entirely.
Two: Heat. I heard about a guy who happened to have a few 22 rimfire catridges occupying the same pocket as a nine-volt battery. When contact was made, current flowed through the metallic cartridge casing(s) generating enough heat to ignite the priming compound. That was hearsay, of course. But the science is sound. I witnessed a guy get second degree burns when his metallic wristwatch band contacted two wires (12 volts) under a dashboard while working on his car radio. The burns were very small in area, but it only took a fraction of a second. The watch was unaffected. His wrist healed in a week or so. The watchband had some discoloration it took a magnifying glass to see.
The Taser does not generate very much amperage, so I am not sure how much heat could be generated by one and getting it to flow through a cartridge inside a gun would be problematic (the actual heat-generating electrons tend to flow across the surface of a conductor, all other things being equal), but it would be easy to arrange an experiment. Take a primer or a live round, put it inside a box sufficient to contain a small explosion (a plywood box or a fish cooler should do) and hook up one of the hand-held electrical "stun gun" devices to it through wires. Typically, they deliver 20,000 to 50,000 volts, depending on what model you have. If you can't cook off a naked round in that situation, I am pretty sure you won't be able to set off one contained inside a gun, holstered or not.
DO NOT TRY THIS WITH A ROUND IN A GUN!!!. The uncontained round that cooks off inside a box will just send pieces of itself inside the box at relatively low velocities. A round that cooks of inside a chamber will be just like firing the gun, and if the box does not contain the bullet, you have a negligent discharge of a firearm with probable damage and possible injuries or death. A round that cooks off inside a magazine will probably damage the mag, the grips and maybe the gun. Caveat emptor.
Three: If the contacts of the leads to the stun gun are not in intimate contact with the cartridge, you will get arcing and sparking between the contact and the cartridge. If that generates enough heat in the air to heat the priming compound, maybe the round will go off,
Four: Magnetically induced eddy currents could produce heat or spark inside the priming compound. This is a REAL STRETCH. Vanishingly unlikely.
So, protected by the metal shell of the cartridge casing,
I think it would be impossible to set off a cartridge with a Taser. Furthur protected by the metal shell of the gun, I would not worry about it. As in all things firearms related, I hesitate to say impossible (hence my subject line), but highly, highly unlikely.
Or you could run the experiment.
Lost Sheep