# What happens if you drop a grenade down a tanks gun barrel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335 "2014-01-09T04:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/21 "2014-01-09T23:57:42Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Does that mean I should toss 2 grenades down? Rule Two: Double tap. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/22 "2014-01-10T18:23:24Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > The **beech** would be open when loading a round to be fired or removing the casing from a fired round. Beech = breech Stupid auto-correct. Hey it only took me a day to notice! ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/23 "2014-01-11T00:56:50Z")
> [@Toledo\_Jim](#): > > Well, I can see three cases: > > 1. Breech closed, not loaded. > 2. Breech open > Case 1, the grenade would go off, bunch of bits of grenade out the muzzle, might scratch up the bore a bit (The M1A2 has a smoothbore cannon, not a rifled gun.). The overpressure of a normal firing is much greater than what a hand grenade would generate. > Case 2, if the grenade made it to the inside of the tank, it would pretty much shred the crew, but would not get out of the tank (penetrate the armor). From the outside of the tank you would not be able to see anything amiss > … Looks like you were ‘spot on’ with ‘Case 1’, that first grenade didn’t seem to do diddly squat. 😉 That second grenade? Whoo boy, I sure wouldn’t have wanted to be inside of, or even close to, that turret. > [@AK84](#): > > The crew would have shot the attacker with the secondary armament long before he got anyway near them. One would think that this is true, but apparently the tank commander (the only crew member with the ability to see 360 degrees?) wasn’t paying close enough attention to the surrounding battlefield. > [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Here is a video from Syria that shows the results of the OP in real life. > Possibly NSFW due to violence > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrNIByobzcI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrNIByobzcI) > I am taking this one at face value because it seems to be what it says it is. > **Capt** Didn’t see _ **that** _ one coming! :eek: Man, that guy had some balls! ---
**Author:** ![Toledo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Toledo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toledo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/24 "2014-01-11T02:02:20Z")
Hmm, I was more or less thinking about M1, which, as pointed out, has the ammo behind armoured blast doors, with blow-off panels to direct any cook-off away from the crew. If there were a live round in the crew compartment (would be briefly while loading, with the breech open) it could certainly be set off by a grenade. I think a T-72 (in the video) has a three man crew with auto-loader. It allows for a smaller turret (smaller target), but does have issues. The russians (Soviets) have tried several variations on the auto-loader idea over the years. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/25 "2014-01-11T03:05:46Z")
It looks to me as if the breech was closed when the first grenade was dropped in the barrel. My WAG is, after the first grenade went off, the breech was opened to clear out the remains of the first grenade, just about the time that the second one was dropped in. :eek: One would’ve thought the tank commander would be searching the surrounding area at that point, for whoever put that first grenade in. I know _ **I** _ would have been doing that. My thoughts would’ve been “He can’t have run very far away. Maybe I can light his ass up with the machine gun.” :mad: Looks like that tank commander and I don’t think alike, though. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/26 "2014-01-11T04:38:51Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > One would think that this is true, but apparently the tank commander (the only crew member with the ability to see 360 degrees?) wasn’t paying close enough attention to the surrounding battlefield. The video is not entirely clear but I think you have to assume that for the duration of the video, the tank crew or the tank were incapacitated or near so. The tank just sits stock still, the whole time. There is no attempt to use the secondary, there is no attempt to move, there is no attempt to fire the primary, all while a bunch of enemy guys stand around a few dozen yards away, standing up and not even bothering to seek cover. And after the first grenade was dropped down the barrel, the tank crew (if alive) _must_ have known they were under close quarters attack from infantry. Yet they just sat there. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/27 "2014-01-11T05:10:25Z")
I agree that _something_ wasn’t right. The tank didn’t react in any way that you would have expected, and as you’ve noted, it didn’t show _ **any** _ reaction. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/28 "2014-01-12T12:13:28Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > I agree that _something_ wasn’t right. > The tank didn’t react in any way that you would have expected, and as you’ve noted, it didn’t show _ **any** _ reaction. 😕 Maybe if the first grenade went off in the barrel they didn’t even realise they were under attack? A grenade explosion isn’t that large. If the tank was disabled they may not have had much situational awareness. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/29 "2014-01-12T13:19:02Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > In the TV show mentioned in the OP, the tank is shown driving and firing the main gun (no secondary armament is fired)… so a minimum of 3 people? Absolute minimum, probably two. I think the gunner, commander and loader would all be in the same compartment so the gunner could leave his station to load another main gun round if he had to. Here’s another version of the video without edits: https://www.youtube.com/embed/rxLeekbUxTo?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque What it looks like is that the guy tries twice to lob a grenade down the barrel. The first time, either the grenade blast is vented out the barrel or the main gun fires. Then he runs back, lobs in another one and a few seconds later the tank explodes from the inside. At the end of the video, another guy with a rocket launcher is seen. A HEAT round from a rocket would also cause the tank to explode like that if it hit the ammo store, but we don’t seem to see any sort of external explosion or rocket hit. I’m thinking another possibility is that the grenade cases an obstruction in the barrel and firing the main gun afterwards would cause it to explode. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/30 "2014-01-12T18:35:33Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > In response to the statement, > > “… between the Bradley in season 1 and the M60 here, the zombie apocalypse has not been kind to the idea that tons of mobile armor protect you.” > > I haven’t (and probably won’t) watched the show alluded to in the OP, BUT… one would think that a ~50 ton - ~70 ton tank would effectively grind a zombie into a paste! 😉 > > That’s ‘Hokeywoo…’, I mean Hollywood, for you… 😛 This is exactly why I couldn’t finish reading World War Z. Max Brooks goes into a long explanation about why the Army couldn’t stop the zombies, noting among other things that tank shells are mostly sabot rounds designed to destroy other tanks and would only (over)kill you one zombie. What he neglected to consider is that the Abrams also carries 900 rounds of 12.7mm and 8,800 rounds of 7.62mm for its three machine guns, and far, far more importantly the obvious use of a tank that you mention. You’re in a 70 ton fully sealed tracked armored vehicle with a 1,200hp engine. If you can’t figure out how to kill zombies with your tank from that sentence you deserve to be eaten. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/31 "2014-01-12T19:51:13Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > This is exactly why I couldn’t finish reading World War Z. Max Brooks goes into a long explanation about why the Army couldn’t stop the zombies, noting among other things that tank shells are mostly sabot rounds designed to destroy other tanks and would only (over)kill you one zombie. What he neglected to consider is that the Abrams also carries 900 rounds of 12.7mm and 8,800 rounds of 7.62mm for its three machine guns, and far, far more importantly the obvious use of a tank that you mention. You’re in a 70 ton fully sealed tracked armored vehicle with a 1,200hp engine. If you can’t figure out how to kill zombies with your tank from that sentence you deserve to be eaten. I understood how even a tank could be overrun a lot better after watching the WWZ movie, especially in a built-up environment. Despite all that firepower it is limited and if you didn’t retreat quickly enough you could find yourself in tank covered by zombies and if you can’t see where your going you could easily get immobilised on something. Sure the zombies can’t get in but you can’t get out, and they aren’t going to just give up and go away. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/32 "2014-01-12T21:02:01Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > One would think that this is true, but apparently the tank commander (the only crew member with the ability to see 360 degrees?) wasn’t paying close enough attention to the surrounding battlefield. Tanks that are ‘buttoned up’ tend to have a lot of trouble seeing their immediate area. That is why Tanks generally need infantry support to keep enemy infantry off them. At long and medium ranges to the enemy infantry they tend to do well, but at close range or urban conditions tanks get in trouble real fast without friendly infantry nearby. When tanks are unbuttoned they see a lot more but snipers can take out the commanders. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/33 "2014-01-12T21:03:16Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > This is exactly why I couldn’t finish reading World War Z. Max Brooks goes into a long explanation about why the Army couldn’t stop the zombies, noting among other things that tank shells are mostly sabot rounds designed to destroy other tanks and would only (over)kill you one zombie. What he neglected to consider is that the Abrams also carries 900 rounds of 12.7mm and 8,800 rounds of 7.62mm for its three machine guns, and far, far more importantly the obvious use of a tank that you mention. You’re in a 70 ton fully sealed tracked armored vehicle with a 1,200hp engine. If you can’t figure out how to kill zombies with your tank from that sentence you deserve to be eaten. Running over large numbers of bodies can be a good way to throw a tread…then you have serious problems. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/34 "2014-01-12T21:09:52Z")
I can’t believe nobody commented on the video I linked to, which contains SOMEBODY THROWING A GRENADE DOWN THE BARREL OF A TANK! ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/35 "2014-01-12T21:25:14Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > I understood how even a tank could be overrun a lot better after watching the WWZ movie, especially in a built-up environment. Despite all that firepower it is limited and if you didn’t retreat quickly enough you could find yourself in tank covered by zombies and if you can’t see where your going you could easily get immobilised on something. Sure the zombies can’t get in but you can’t get out, and they aren’t going to just give up and go away. I’ll repeat: 70 tons of tracked, armored vehicle with a 1,500hp engine (I typo’d it as 1,200hp in the last post). Forget all about the main gun and the machine guns. The tank **is** a weapon; 70 tons of zombie grinding weapon that can go from 0 to 20mph in 7.2 seconds. The only way you’re going to get covered in zombies is if you let it happen, and it really isn’t that big of a deal if you somehow do. In the book the Army chooses the ground of battle at Yonkers, NY and somehow loses because in Max Brook’s view modern weapons are ineffective at stopping zombies because they have no survival instinct. His choosing to go into such detail in such a patently false idea made it impossible for me to suspend disbelief any longer; all I could do was face-palm. Human wave attacks don’t work in the face of modern firepower, and haven’t for a century. Lack of sufficient bravery isn’t why they fail, and that zombie’s lack the intelligence to seek cover just makes them that much more easily killed (or put down – or whatever it is you do to something that’s already dead). Infantry moving in the open is an ideal artillery target, all the more so when none of them are going to even go to ground to try to avoid being obliterated. Time on Target was developed as an artillery technique to allow shells fired from numerous artillery batteries in different locations to all arrive on a target area at the same time because most casualties in an artillery barrage occur in the first few seconds. After those first few seconds anyone not dead has taken whatever cover they can find, even if it’s just lying prone and praying. Lack of the sense of self preservation to do this isn’t going to be an advantage. > [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Running over large numbers of bodies can be a good way to throw a tread…then you have serious problems. Only if you consider boredom a serious problem. The crew is in absolutely no danger. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/36 "2014-01-12T21:34:16Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > I’ll repeat: 70 tons of tracked, armored vehicle with a 1,500hp engine (I typo’d it as 1,200hp in the last post). Forget all about the main gun and the machine guns. The tank **is** a weapon; 70 tons of zombie grinding weapon that can go from 0 to 20mph in 7.2 seconds. The only way you’re going to get covered in zombies is if you let it happen, and it really isn’t that big of a deal if you somehow do. In the book the Army chooses the ground of battle at Yonkers, NY and somehow loses because in Max Brook’s view modern weapons are ineffective at stopping zombies because they have no survival instinct. His choosing to go into such detail in such a patently false idea made it impossible for me to suspend disbelief any longer; all I could do was face-palm. Human wave attacks don’t work in the face of modern firepower, and haven’t for a century. Lack of sufficient bravery isn’t why they fail, and that zombie’s lack the intelligence to seek cover just makes them that much more easily killed (or put down – or whatever it is you do to something that’s already dead). Infantry moving in the open is an ideal artillery target, all the more so when none of them are going to even go to ground to try to avoid being obliterated. Time on Target was developed as an artillery technique to allow shells fired from numerous artillery batteries in different locations to all arrive on a target area at the same time because most casualties in an artillery barrage occur in the first few seconds. After those first few seconds anyone not dead has taken whatever cover they can find, even if it’s just lying prone and praying. Lack of the sense of self preservation to do this isn’t going to be an advantage. > > Only if you consider boredom a serious problem. The crew is in absolutely no danger. And I respond again, a tank may be proof against slow zombies but you could find yourself in trouble against a sea of fast zombies. So you’ve found yourself beached and utterly surrounded and covered by zombies I think boredom is the least of your worries, how long are your supplies going to last for? And we were talking about tanks not a plethora of other weapon systems. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/37 "2014-01-12T21:58:46Z")
At the end of Saving Private Ryan, I thought that was exactly what Tom Hanks’ character was trying to do: aim his Colt 45 down the barrel of the tank and try to hit the live round within. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/38 "2014-01-12T22:16:11Z")
The comic Nth Man is hard to describe. It’s like a Viet Nam veteran, Rod Serling, and a fan of Jack Kirby worked together. The result is several orders of magnitude better than it sounds. I can’t over stress this. Nth Man sounds cliched and stupid when I describe it. It was actually extremely good. Anyhow, in one issue John is being menaced by some Soviet spies in a stolen American tank\*. John is familiar with this model of tank and knows just when the breech will open. He is able to dodge their weapons and throw a grenade into the barrel at the right time. - “How’d they get a tank, John?” ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/39 "2014-01-13T00:58:18Z")
I hope you will accept the following reply: **What happens if you drop a grenade down a tank’s gun barrel?** Bad things happen! Very bad things! Almost certainly nothing good can happen if you drop a grenade down a tank’s gun barrel. But, thanks for asking. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335/40 "2014-01-13T02:58:36Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > And I respond again, a tank may be proof against slow zombies but you could find yourself in trouble against a sea of fast zombies. So you’ve found yourself beached and utterly surrounded and covered by zombies I think boredom is the least of your worries, how long are your supplies going to last for? And we were talking about tanks not a plethora of other weapon systems. 1. You’re talking about the Army. Trying to ignore absolutely everything else and separate out a single tank is quite silly, and Max Brooks absurdly contended that all of the firepower of a modern army would be impotent against zombies because they have no survival instinct. In fact this would just make them easier to dispose of. 2. Being beached and utterly surrounded and covered in zombies presents absolutely zero danger. They are not getting in, period. Hoping someone has a deck of cards is going to be the most pressing worry. 3. Your supplies are going to last a hell of a lot longer than the time it is going to take to radio that you’ve thrown a track and have another tank in your platoon drive up and hose down the exterior of your immobilized tank with its coax machine gun. The other tank will again be doing this in complete and utter safety from a zombie getting inside. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-drop-a-grenade-down-a-tanks-gun-barrel/678335.md?page=3)