 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. (March 2024) |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2008) |
Cooking off (or thermally induced firing) is unfired weapon ammunition exploding prematurely due to heat in the surrounding environment.[1][2] The term is used both for detonation of ammunition not loaded into a weapon, and unintended firing of a loaded weapon due to heating.
A fast cook-off is a cook-off caused by fire. A slow cook-off is caused by a sustained thermal event less intense than fire.
A cooked-off round may cause a sympathetic detonation of adjacent rounds. Insensitive munitions are designed to be less vulnerable to accidental firing induced by external heat.
- ^ "to cook off". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) (verb, search for "to cook off")
- ^ "cook-off". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) (noun, 2)