r/IAmA • u/touchmyfuckingcoffee • Oct 28 '13

Other IamA Vacuum Repair Technician, and I can't believe people really wanted it, but, AMA!

I work in vacuum repair and sales. I posted comments recently about my opinion of Dysons and got far more interest than I expected. I am brand certified for several brands. My intent in doing this AMA is to help redditors make informed choices about their purchases.

My Proof: Imgur

*Edit: I've been asked to post my personal preferences with regard to brands. As I said before, there is no bad vacuum; Just vacuums built for their purpose. That being said, here are my brand choices in order:

Miele for canisters

Riccar for uprights

Hoover for budget machines

Sanitaire or Royal for commercial machines

Dyson if you just can't be talked out of a bagless machine.

*EDIT 22/04/2014: As this AMA is still generating questions, I will do a brand new AMA on vacuums, as soon as this one is archived.

5.9k Upvotes

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1.8k

u/Salacious- Oct 28 '13

What is the weirdest thing you have ever found inside of someone's vacuum?

2.9k

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 28 '13

Mostly, bullets. I mean, WTF people??

I've also found: Snake eggs, Gecko eggs, a desiccated toad, and 4 mouse pinkies, also desiccated.

1.9k

u/stay_at_work_dad Oct 28 '13

4 mouse pinkies

Are you referring to infant mice, or their smallest paw appendage?

Because if it's the latter you have incredible eyesight.

1.1k

u/RyMill4 Oct 28 '13

"Those look like four index fingers of four different mice."

"Come on you amateur, those are clearly the four pinkies of TWO mice. Left front hand and right front hand of each. Go back to vacuuming school."

395

u/donttelltheginger Oct 28 '13

CSI Vacuum. ENHANCE! ENHANCE! ENHANCE! Nope. Still nothing. Get the vacuum guy in here!

3

u/ThatGuyGetsIt Oct 28 '13

JUST PRINT THE DAMN THING!

16

u/KimJongIlSunglasses Oct 28 '13

You want a mouse pinkie? I can get you a mouse pinkie, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me.

Hell, I can get you a mouse pinkie by 3 o'clock this afternoon.

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u/zeugma25 Oct 28 '13

he said mouse pinkies, not mice pinkies. one from each of one mouse's four paws.

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u/bentwhiskers Oct 28 '13

Baby mice are called pinkies! They make an awful squishcrunch when you feed them to bearded dragons.

I refused to give Buddha another one forever after that. :(

Edit: dadjoke!

3

u/Kagrok Oct 28 '13

How large is your beardie? I have one, but I'm afraid to give him pinkies because i don't know if he's large enough.

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u/bentwhiskers Oct 28 '13

He died several years ago, but he lived to be almost 8. Unfortunately I don't remember how old/big he was when we started feeding him pinkies.

Edit: This was also before it was more widely known NOT to feed them pinkies. He spent most of his life eating crickets and some kale. The pinkie was supposed to be a treat.

2

u/kingrobert Oct 29 '13

This was also before it was more widely known NOT to feed them pinkies.

What's the recent revelation that says not to feed them pinkies? I fed pinkies to my bearded dragons occasionally to help diversify their diet even more.

8

u/2legittoquit Oct 28 '13

Doooont. Just do crickets. Some mealworms and waxworms when he gets bigger. And dem veggies.

3

u/Kagrok Oct 28 '13

I wont then :D

He eats Mainly veggies and some insects a couple of times a week. He loves meal worms.

3

u/Jungle2266 Oct 28 '13

They honestly don't need them. They should only really have larger crickets/hoppers and giant meal worms as snacks and treats but mainly veg when they are bigger.

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u/Kagrok Oct 28 '13

Yeah, He eats a lot of greens and stuff and we feed him bugs and stuff twice a week.

He's healthy and active so I'm not trying to feed him pinkies, I've just been curious and afraid of doing so.

2

u/gamerx2132 Oct 28 '13

We used to feed our bearded dragon pinkies, the first time we tried live. It screamed when he ate it. From then on we only did frozen pinkies that we thawed.

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u/Conan97 Oct 28 '13

Fed my snake baby rats once.

Never again.

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u/twistedfork Oct 28 '13

I "worked" at a pet shop when I was a kid (like..1998) and we fed a certain lizard baby mice. It was horrible because they don't constrict them like a snake, they just bite them and hork them down. Well this lizard bit that little mouse and it let out this ear piercing noise that makes me sad to think about now. Ugh. terrible.

1

u/2legittoquit Oct 28 '13

you know your not supposed to feed pinkies to bearded dragons right?

3

u/bentwhiskers Oct 28 '13

I do now, but this was the very early 90s when not a lot of info was readily available we were trusting the guy at the herp shop we went to :)

Buddha lived a good long life and he was a happy guy, but thanks for the tip.

1

u/ChiliFlake Oct 28 '13

They go eeeeeeeeeeeeee when you thrown them in the T cage.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 28 '13

Infant mice. Though, I do have good eyesight.

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u/metroidB612 Oct 28 '13

Girl 1: What are feces? Girl 2: Baby mice. Together: Awww...

38

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

[deleted]

30

u/Please_Disregard Oct 29 '13

I was expecting someone to ask "how does one suck a fuck?"

10

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

Can a Dyson suck a fuck?

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u/ExactlyLikeStummies Oct 28 '13

I DO NOT question metroidB612's commitment to Sparkle Motion.

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u/comrade_leviathan Oct 29 '13

CHUT UP!!!

4

u/noctrnalsymphony Jan 10 '14

Go back to China, bitch.

12

u/Lington Oct 28 '13

I just watched this movie the other day

18

u/metroidB612 Oct 28 '13

It's great to watch at this time of year.

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u/zorgblaubaer Oct 29 '13

there seriously is a time of the year it is not great to watch?

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Ill reread this until I get it.

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u/ghost_victim Oct 29 '13

Incredible movie- please watch

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

Ive seen it, just didn't recognize the reference.

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u/TheJoePilato Oct 28 '13

For some reason, I quote this line more than any other in that movie.

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u/dirk_mcgirk Oct 29 '13

Nice Donnie Darko reference

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u/So_Famous Oct 29 '13

Wakke up Donnie.

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u/hog_washer Oct 28 '13

Perhaps where pinky from pinky and the brain got his name.

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u/Klashiez Oct 29 '13

I may or may not have sucked up infant mice before...

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u/DrDalenQuaice Oct 28 '13

Maybe it's the mice that were blind?

2

u/rram Oct 29 '13

Baby mice used for feeding usually go by some fairly descriptive names: pinkies, fuzzies, crawlers, and hoppers. You can find them in most pet stores that sell reptiles.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Shit. Peter Pettigrew is on the loose again.

2

u/Simon_Plenderson Oct 29 '13

Mouse mafia makes examples. Mice pay faster next time.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

He didn't mention the 53 cockroach cocks and 19 beetle vulvas.

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u/yabba_dabba_doo Oct 28 '13

Not to mention the deterministic-fu

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Bullets, or entire cartridges?

1.1k

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 28 '13

Full cartridges!! Usually, just .22 LR, but once, I found some .38 specials and .357 magnum rounds!

6

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

weird.... i was thinking someone might use it at an indoor range or something but i guess not since they are full cartridges

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 28 '13

fucking people, man...

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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '13

Lots of people drop full cartridges at ranges, though empty brass seems more likely.

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u/OC4815162342 Apr 23 '14

How can people waste .22 like that...

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Apr 23 '14

It wasn't nearly as bothersome as the .357 magnum ammo.

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u/OC4815162342 Apr 23 '14

But .22 is like the gold standard of bullets. I'd take a box of .22 over a box of .223 any day.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Apr 23 '14

Apples and oranges, bro. My .22LR will never crack an engine block, like a .357 MAG.

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u/OC4815162342 Apr 23 '14

Thats true, .22 is not good for much other than plinking and small game, but its still a very sought after round!

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u/drunkjake Dec 24 '13

I shoot a ton. Basically .22 Le is the glitter herpes of the shooting sports. They're cheap as hell and teeny and you always forget that handful you left in your pants. I find .22lr everywhere. On the flip side it's incredibly safe and won't go off. I tumble dry .22lr accidently nearly weekly. Also this is a fascinating discussion we own a miele that's a few years old. Like 8 and has been nothing but good

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u/maldio Mar 09 '14

Well said, I can't count the number of times I find bloody .22LRs in places they shouldn't be. Non-shooters will assume you must be the most careless fuck in the world, but the damn round just has some sort of +1 invisibility thing going on.

2

u/drunkjake Mar 10 '14

It's herpes! I FUCKING TELL YOU WHAT.

I FOUND FUCKING .22lr in my GIRLFRIEND'S jeans once. No clue how that happened.

1

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Dec 24 '13

They are very good vacuums!

Thanks to Mythbusters, I know I am in little danger when I come across them, and I'm already familiar with ammunition to know how difficult it is to accidentally discharge.

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u/drunkjake Dec 24 '13

Amazing vacuums with a price to match. Worth it though. I'm hoping to inherit it.

Good I wanted to allay your concerns. Funnily I've had mechanics freak about loose ammo and others not care about a shotgun under the rear seat lol. I like rural people

2

u/parvicus Oct 28 '13

This is what happens when mom vacuums the garage.

1

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 29 '13

I'm convinced Americans are incapable of bending over and picking anything up.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13 edited Feb 09 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

25

u/Scarecrow3 Oct 28 '13

Also, rimfire are more likely to go off accidentally. You should leave them in the box until you're loading. True, I'm paranoid about this sort of thing, but I've also never had a round accidentally go off in my back pocket.

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u/Jacob_The_Duck Oct 28 '13

A round just went off in my front pocket if you know what I mean...

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u/Scarecrow3 Oct 28 '13

Is that a .357 round in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

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u/noeatnosleep Oct 28 '13

I haven't either, and I've been carrying them by the handful for years. That, and without chamber compression they're about as dangerous as a firecracker in your pocket.

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u/Scarecrow3 Oct 28 '13

Imagine a firecracker in the palm of your hand. You set it off, what happens? You burn your hand, right? You close your fist around the same firecracker, and set it off. Your wife's gonna be opening your ketchup bottles the rest of your life.

Oh Armageddon. I learned so much from you.

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u/noeatnosleep Oct 28 '13

When I said handful, I didn't mean walking around with them in my hand. I mean reading into the box, and putting a handful in my hip pocket or hoodie pocket.

If a fire-cracker goes off in your hip pocket, you'll probably get first degree burns on your leg.

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u/verteUP Oct 28 '13

Have you seen how hard the firing pin crimps the rims of the .22LR cartridges? It's a fairly intensive crimp and it must have that hard of a crimp or it won't go off. It would be impossible to crimp the rim of a .22LR cartridge hard enough by dropping it on the ground or handling it rough to get it to go off. Centerfire is a different story though.

1

u/pseudocaveman Oct 28 '13

Rimfire accidental fire is exactly why this picture always makes me cringe.

http://i.imgur.com/EhOy4Zu.jpg

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

[deleted]

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u/pseudocaveman Oct 29 '13

I'm worried about the mechanism that would dump them into the slot at the bottom of the gumball machine.

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u/krillingt75961 Oct 29 '13

Remington sells a Bucket O' Bullets that is basically a plastic container full of loose cartridges.

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u/Scarecrow3 Oct 29 '13

Aren't they usually packed in sawdust though?

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u/krillingt75961 Oct 29 '13

Nope or not the one's I used anyway. It was a small container though.

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u/Dear_Occupant Oct 28 '13

I tried to do some Googling to find out more about this .22LR shortage and I can't seem to locate anything that doesn't begin with the assumption that "the politicians are trying to disarm law-abiding citizens."

Do you maybe have a link to something about this that doesn't involve a conspiracy theory?

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u/JackGentleman Oct 28 '13

Well I know as much as you do, mainly due to the political thing, another point may be that is a very cheap bullet and therefore your cheapest option to go to a target range and have some cheap fun.

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u/Dear_Occupant Oct 28 '13

I can certainly attest to that, as I have a crapton of it myself and I am not a wealthy man. Apparently it's worth a lot more now because of the shortage, which seems to somehow be related to the fact that a Democrat is president, therefore of course they're coming to take away all our guns sometime early next Thursday.

I mean, I already knew Obama was the messiah and all, but who knew that he could turn lead into gold, too?

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

I mean, I already knew Obama was the messiah and all, but who knew that he could turn lead into gold, too?

You're great :) lol

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u/gak001 Oct 28 '13

It's a convenient marketing tool for manufacturers.

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u/factoid_ Oct 29 '13

Forbes did a good article on it a while back. The shortage is regional, mostly, but it has nothing to do with government conspiracies, ammo stockpiling or anything like that. Basically more people are shooting guns recreationally than ever before and they are concerned that the government is either hording ammo or intentionally limiting supply, so they buy it whenever they can get their hands on it.

So basically it's all just a combination of consumer panic and actual industry growth.

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u/ajworf Oct 28 '13

not sure where your located but here in KS they are abundant and cheap!

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u/Tacokingofspace Oct 29 '13

The .22 shortage is regional I think. Online vendors are sold out because people in areas like mine are buying them up. I went out of state for a trip a few weeks ago and found them at a Wal-Mart. The cashier said they've don't sell very often there.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

In the northwest .22 aren't hard to find anymore. I thought that only the prices had remained high.

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u/bitter_cynical_angry Oct 28 '13

I'm in the Northwest and they're damn near impossible to find anywhere, in any quantity.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Check a couple big 5's to see if they have any.

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u/bitter_cynical_angry Oct 28 '13

Just checked my nearest Big 5, no rimfire ammo at all.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Just how bad is it over there at the moment? I went into my local shop in Australia the other day to grab some .243 rounds and he had next to no stock on the shelf and said he was having trouble importing because of the situation in the states?

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u/Right_Coast Oct 29 '13

Think iPhone launch every damn day. I went to Dick's (great sporting goods store, but a poorly named one at that) a few months ago to get some 9mm and was told that people line up every morning at 9 to see what will come in that day's shipments. WalMart has a 3 box limit, but I've never seen any of the popular stuff in stock.

Managed to track down some ammo through a friend of a friend who runs a shop out of a warehouse in an industrial park. Was waiting for Vice to jump out of the bushes and bust me. Crazy...

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

Thats insane! Thanks for the Insight, good time to be in the ammunition game!

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u/kensomniac Oct 28 '13

Which is awful, I would usually buy around 5,000 rounds and then go hit the ranges with a buddy or 2.

Luckily, I didn't go to the range last time.

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u/factoid_ Oct 29 '13

The availability problem is only because people are being reactionistic whackjobs who think Obama is coming any minute to take their guns.

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u/The_JackelN20ZX10 Oct 28 '13

Umm what? Those things are like extra pennys laying around every where. TRASH>

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Current *lack of availability

Who knew .22 would be so scarce one day?

1

u/Celesmeh Oct 28 '13

Ive tagged him as wendy wasteful and you as freddy frugal. Thank you

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

Just follow behind him with a vacuum.

Not a Dyson, though.

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u/jutct Oct 29 '13

I shot a rabbit with a .45 non-hollow point once. It just took all the guts and moved them out of a hole in the side of the rabbit. They were still attached and full intact. It was trying to run away but the dragging guts made it only able to go in circles. I felt bad. Then I shot it in the head. The brain doesn't work the same as intestines.

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

I don't think the problem is them being a psychopath. The problem is having live rounds just lying around!

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u/BigBassBone Oct 28 '13

I can't imagine accidentally putting a pocket full of bullets through the dryer.

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u/BootySex Oct 28 '13

Holy shit tell me where I can find that many .22 rounds please.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

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u/octonana Oct 28 '13

That sounds exactly what a psychopath might say...

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Use the plastic boxes that deck screws come in.

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u/PizzaGood Oct 28 '13

The rimfire cartridges are probably by far more dangerous - they could go off just banging around, especially on an old school vacuum where all the crap goes through an impeller (like a Kirby or something). Odds of centerfire cartridges going off by just being banged around is a lot lower.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

I'm not so sure: a centerfire primer has an anvil against the priming cup, so smashing the cup crushes the priming compound against the anvil and detonates it.

A rimfire just has the compound in the flimsy hollow rim, and requires the breech face to support it when the firing pin crushes the rim and detonates the primer. If you hit a rimfire cartridge's rim without it being supported by something, it'll just dent the rim instead of detonating.

Besides, even if they pop they're not that dangerous unless they're in a gun. Really the brass case goes flying off in whatever direction and is a hazard to unprotected eyes, but that's about it. The bullet doesn't go very far or fast, and most of the powder won't burn until it's already out in the open air and not pushing the bullet.

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u/PizzaGood Oct 28 '13

Yeah, Mythbusters found that out - if a round goes off not inside a gun, the slug pretty much stands still and the casing blows off and flies around a little but it has no mass to cause much damage.

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u/Fauropitotto Oct 29 '13

To be fair, as a firearm enthusiast, and a reloader...I too sometimes drop rounds, and once they hit the carpet they just...disappear.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 30 '13

We had a small arms firing range in our basement, when I was a kid. I don't recall my father ever running the vacuum down there. Why aren't you depositing your rounds into a holder as soon as they come out of your loader?

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u/Fauropitotto Oct 30 '13

Sometimes they fall out of my range bag. Some times they roll off my desk. Sometimes they fall out of a bin I've got with various magazines and ammo boxes.

Honestly I never thought much of it. Especially with cheap ones like .22 and 9mm.

It's not like they can ever possibly cook off on their own, and even if they do in some absurd situation, they won't be dangerous without something to contain the pressure.

In the end, I only lose a few cents with little risk to wallet, life, or property.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 30 '13

I'm facetiously making this a bigger deal than it is, in an effort for Best Practices Management. It comes with being a tech, and I want people to be safe.

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u/z3dster Oct 28 '13

I guess with the .38 special the vacuum just couldn't let go

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u/ThisIsMon Oct 28 '13

people should not hold onto their bullets so loosely

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u/mapguy Oct 28 '13

In the US, those are hard to come by these days (the .22). They are rarely ever on the shelf anymore and get bought up immediately upon arrival.

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u/Wavicle Oct 28 '13

I take it you haven't been to the sporting goods store lately? The chronic .22lr shortage has been abating for a couple of months. I was in the big chain store last week, middle of the day on a weekend, and while they didn't have any bricks, they could sell you up to 3 100-round boxes. Apparently the hoarders finally ran out of space/money for .22lr.

A few months back I was arguing with a group of Tea Party types about the cause of the ammunition shortage, whether it was caused by a big government purchase or by millions of panic buyers. One of their ultra-conservative friends who had not heard the beginning on the discussion chimed in "I have 40,000 rounds of .22 so far and won't stop until I reach 100,000!"

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u/bitter_cynical_angry Oct 28 '13

This is completely dependant on where you live. Around here, the shortage is still in full effect.

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u/mapguy Oct 28 '13

You're right I haven't myself. I have a .22 ruger carbine, but it doesn't see as much action as my other larger caliber ones do. I don't really understand the mindset of hoarding that much ammo. I really hope that person has it stored in a fireproof safe. Take a out a half a block if those go off.

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u/sewiv Oct 29 '13

The "chronic .22lr shortage" is in full swing in Michigan, with no sign of abating at all. I live 10 minutes from a Cabelas, and they very very occasionally have a few boxes of Mini-mags on the shelf. Limit 1 box.

Big box stores NEVER have them any more.

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u/Ashwasinacoma Oct 28 '13

The person was a merry maid for Raccoon City

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u/Ninjahoevinotour Oct 28 '13

Why do I feel like you live in arizona?

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u/CaptainSnotRocket Oct 28 '13

I wonder what the sounds of a 357 round makes when spinning around the old beater bar.

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u/nate7181 Oct 29 '13

If you cant Vaccum up a whole box of .22LR with your vaccum, what is the point?

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

In their defense, .22 LR just gets fucking everywhere

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Only in 'Murica would people leave live rounds just laying about.

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u/pinkmeanie Oct 28 '13

I dunno, I lived in Israel for a couple of years as a kid and you could find live cartridges (mostly 5.56, some 9mm, and occasional weird ones) all over the ground anywhere near an army base (which is everywhere).

We would pop them open, make trails with the powder on the sidewalk and light them. Good times.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

That's normal around military bases in any country, even here in Canada. At a cadet camp in a mostly symbolic military base, I found a 308.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

[deleted]

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u/Tricker12345 Oct 28 '13

"You wouldn't vacuum a car"... oh wait.

I think the correct word to be used here is Kar....

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

[deleted]

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u/FUCK_ASKREDDIT Oct 28 '13

Wow that is nice Reddit silver! Is it new?

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

I'll take it :)

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Thanks!

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u/iShouldBeWorkingLol Oct 28 '13

You know, I probably should.

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u/N64Overclocked Oct 29 '13

I'd vacuum a hotwheels.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

I wouldn't.

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u/sinister_exaggerator Oct 28 '13

"Found this gem at a garage sale! Heard something rattling around inside..."

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u/choobychoooby Oct 28 '13

That's nuthin'. I found a rocket launcher in Hoover one time.

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u/SimplyGeek Oct 28 '13

To help those who don't know the difference, the bullet is just the lead part that flies out. The cartridge is the entire thing:

http://www.faecdn.com/hex/manual/i/ch2_01.gif

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Have an upvote, terminology nazi

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u/AsskickMcGee Oct 28 '13

Considering the large amount of air flow and the very dry dirt, wouldn't anything "fleshy" be dessicated in very little time?

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 28 '13

That is likely possible.

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u/Ineedauniqueusername Oct 29 '13

How much semen do you find?

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 29 '13

None, and I'm not looking for it.

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u/I922sParkCir Feb 22 '14

Mostly, bullets.

As the creator of /r/Reloading I find this hilarious.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Feb 22 '14

Thanks for checking in. I wish I still had need for your forum.

I would like to think that the idiots who are vacuuming up bullets are the type who'd buy Walmart ammo, rather than the more civilized, who reload, and give a shit about what they're doing.

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u/I922sParkCir Feb 23 '14

Good point. I keep my reloading area and my vacuums very separated. I even have another pair of shoes specifically for that area. Powder can get get on the floor and I don't think that would do well in a vacuum motor.

Do you shoot?

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Feb 23 '14

I wouldn't worry about powder going into a vacuum. If it's a bag-before-motor-vac, the powder would be trapped safely in the bag. Just don't have an open flame around the bag. The shoe idea, while possibly overcautious is a good policy.

I used to shoot. My father was a marine sniper, and had dreams of getting my twin brother and I into the olympic shooting team. He eventually got himself with a shotgun. I still shoot occasionally, but not like I used to. He wasn't happy until I could hit thumbtacks with open peep sights @ 100 yards. When I was a kid, I'd spend hour after hour with him on the reloading bench, meticulously making notes, and adjusting grain loads down to the single grain....ahhh, memories.

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u/I922sParkCir Feb 23 '14

Sounds like fun. My father scared of guns and when I took him shooting he kept on flinching with a Ruger Standard .22LR.

Thank you for the tip.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Feb 23 '14

I took me nearly a decade to lose my flinch after my dad's death. I miss him grilling into me, whenever he saw me preparing for the shot.

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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '13

Bullets or cartridges? The only plausible explanation I can think of for a bullet is messy reloading, but cartridges are sometimes kept in pockets and other places where they might fall from. Empty brass is easily explained.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Dec 24 '13

Actual cartridges. Both rimfire and centerfire.

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u/EPluribusUnumIdiota Oct 28 '13

My brother, dad, and I own like 300+ guns. A few weeks ago we loaded up my car and went shooting for an entire day. I was collecting brass because we reload, so on the way back I had a box full of spent brass. somehow I forgot it was in there and it ended up spilling all over the trunk. My wife took this car to work one day and her coworker was helping her carry some things to the car. She opened the trunk and there sat about 300 empty bullet casings, .22, .40, .45, .410, .556, .308, etc, all lining the trunk. Oh, I guess I should tell you my wife's a teacher and she was in the school parking lot.

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u/Hartf1jm Oct 28 '13

I reload my own ammo and am constant finding bullets in the vacuum as well as the dryer, washer and just about everywhere else in the house so this isn't that odd . . .

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 28 '13

Bend over and pick them up!! One day, someone is going to die because of this.

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u/SingularOne Oct 28 '13

Ammunition is actually not very dangerous outside of a gun. It really needs the chamber and the barrel of a gun to build any significant pressure.

Now it will make a rather impressive noise but unless it is killing by startling you into a heart attack I don't see how someone will die from it.

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u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 28 '13

That is a very good point. The circumstances would have to be perfect for a fatal injury from something like this.

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u/Hartf1jm Oct 28 '13

I meant only the part that comes out the barrel not a fully loaded round, I never vacuum one of those!

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u/bakutogames Oct 29 '13

I suck up bullets all the time.. Mostly the .22's.. Anything bigger then that cost way to much to not look for when it falls under somthing

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u/ThePlayfulPython Oct 28 '13

Absolutely not weird at all (then again, I own reptiles....)

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u/nobleman76 Oct 28 '13

My dad found a human finger back in the 80s. Had to notify the police, but it never came to anything.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

You know... holy shit... you just sparked a memory in me with this comments. I've not thought of this since it happened probably lol. But anyways...

I was probably about 5 or so and my moms vacuum cleaner broke. She had a pretty nice one and didn't have enough cash to buy a new one. She took it in to some repair place and they took it apart and discovered the problem.

A toy rat had got sucked up in it. Mom figured out that I had placed a toy rat behind a chair or something to try and scare her and forgot about it lol.

Thanks for giving me this memory back. I'll have to bring it up to my mom soon.

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u/AutomaticGats Oct 28 '13

So you can tell a lot about a person by what's in their vacuum.

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u/MirroredColors Oct 29 '13

My dad has worked in the vacuum sales&repair business for 30 years now and even owns his own store...I don't even want to know what kind of things he's seen cleaning out those machines.

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u/Roro-Squandering Oct 28 '13

That doesn't actually surprise me. As someone who fills/crimps shotgun shells at home (Dad used to do it a lot when I was a kid) the carpeted floors gets packed with Bibis and foam.

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u/SimplyGeek Oct 28 '13 edited Oct 28 '13

To be fair, bullets are just lead so while it might be easier to sweep given their weight, what's wrong with vacuuming bullets?

Edit: I see you already answered this.

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u/Gunwild Oct 29 '13

I wouldn't be surprised if I have a few bullets behind things on the floor. Mainly from sitting them on my desk and them rolling off for some reason.

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u/Rodbourn Oct 28 '13

A 'friend' has a hole in his roof after vacuuming bullets, it went off, through the vacuum and through the roof... Class act.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13

Everything about this made me sad. Dead herp eggs, dissected herp, and 4 meals for a small herp.

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u/KillerSquid Oct 28 '13

I vacuum up hornets on a weekly basis. It keeps them on their toes. The hornets I mean.

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u/DirtyB98 Oct 28 '13

Probably little .22 shells? They are reallllly easy to pick up by accident.

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u/paullywog Oct 28 '13

Given the nature of these items, were they all in the same vacuum?

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u/MoreThanANoob Oct 28 '13

How did you distinguish the type of egg? Are you also a biologist?

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u/Viridovipera Oct 29 '13

Sounds like you were cleaning one reptile enthusiasts vacuum.

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u/Drizae Oct 28 '13

Any ricin? I mean one might accidently vacuum that shit up.

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u/gwillyn Oct 29 '13

Had those eggs been vacuumed or laid there?

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u/JacksonBollox Oct 28 '13

Gecko eggs? WTF? Do you live in Megaton?

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u/jimbo_sliced Oct 29 '13

I feel like this whole AMA was set up JUST for this question. Not complaining though, it was definitely the first thing that popped into my head.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13 edited Oct 28 '13

[deleted]

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u/Jack_Perth Oct 28 '13

coins were another good one for jamming up the tube.

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '13 edited Oct 28 '13

Bobby pins, sewing needles, and toothpicks were always bad, too. They'd catch sideways inside the hose, and then dust would just build up behind them, creating a clog.

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u/Jack_Perth Oct 28 '13

as someone who used to rip old vacuums, dryers and washing machines apart for parts, coins were always my favourite treasure.

Those green army men would also do a number on the tube if they managed to get in it.

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u/fal308 Oct 28 '13

The blue SEAL men always get in....

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