I recently bought an RV. (1992) it hasn’t been driven in three years (since 2014). It was AS IS WHERE IS with all the inventory in the tool boxes and cubbies. In the back “bedroom” on the bare wood floor are two ammunition boxes that are STUCK to the floor.
Its old and dirty in there and I am cleaning it out. So I cannot tell if the boxes are stuck to the floor with an outside spill of some sort or if whatever is inside the boxes has glued them down.
In my fantastic imagination it MUST (not really) be full of old AK 47 rounds that have sweated and glued the box down with nitro glycerin and I’m gonna blow up if I open the boxes.
Fight my ignorance!!! Do I need to call the local bomb squad or can I spray down the box with vinegar and open them safely?
Yes it has been in extreme weather. Yes it has been vibrated harshly in the ride home from south Florida to Georgia. No I doubt that the ammo (if that is whats in there) has been cared for properly.
Any suggestions will be both appreciated and highly scrutinized before being taken seriously.
At face value. it sounds most likely that the previous owner glued them to the floor for whatever reason.
Are they arranged in a position that looks ‘neat’? Are they somewhere that they could have been deliberately glued down? (i.e. in a corner or otherwise square with bulkheads etc)?
Can you see inside? Are they also screwed or bolted through the bottom?
AFAIK, Nitroglycerin isn’t effective as an adhesive, so it seems a little unlikely to be that.
Old US Army surplus ammo boxes have been used a LOT to store things that weren’t ammo.
If it were me, I’d look around and decide how likely it is there is actually ammo in there, rather than files, or sandpaper or something.
Are the boxes anything other than beat-up Army surplus?
Is there any other evidence that guns or ammo were ever present in the R.V.?
Is everything in the R.V. used for its original purpose (as opposed to a pack-rat, re-use what I can philosophy)?
If all those are "No"s, I’d be pretty comfortable guessing it’s not actually ammo.
And even if it is old ammo, I don’t think just opening the boxes while leaving them in place can’t do much worse that driving the rig the length of Florida. Actual small-arms ammunition isn’t going to get that unstable.
Do the ammo boxes look of Western making? … I thinking the only source of nitro would be the primers, and those don’t often leak … you ought to be fine just opening the boxes and looking inside … if there is ammo in them, look to see if they’re leaking … just leave your hammer in your tool belt …
This, and especially if the ammo boxes are for weapons that are not available to civilians (e.g., surplus boxes for mortar shells are popular for storing stuff.)
Like other people have pointed out, surplus ammo boxes get used a lot for storage, they’re cheap, sturdy, and watertight. Odds are they’re glued or bolted to the floor. 7.62×39mm rounds (Ak-47 rounds) or any likely ammunition in the box isn’t really anything to worry about - you don’t want to set fire to the box or hit the back of the round with a hammer, but other than that nothing is going to blow up if the boxes do have ammunition. Primers don’t melt under ordinary conditions AFAIK, and I’m pretty sure if you manage to melt one it will either stop being an explosive or go off from the heat of melting.
I’m not sure why you want to spray the boxes with vinegar, but I can’t see it making anything worse other than the smell.
If they don’t trust it, and they want to blow it up, well, given that it’s not easily moved, I wonder if they won’t blow it up inside the brand-new-to-you motor home.
Unless it’s booby-trapped, or it’s old dynamite, I can’t imagine anything blowing up by opening a box.
It’s an RV. They move, hence the “V” part. Things are known to slide around and relocate willy-nilly at those times, so they probably secured these boxes so that they, and their contents, will stay put.
