What is a primary safety concern with linked ammunition?

The primary safety concern with linked ammunition revolves around preventing physical injuries during handling. This type of ammunition often consists of rounds that are connected to one another by a link, making them easier to feed into automatic weapons. However, their design introduces risks due to the potential for accidental discharge when improperly handled or during loading and unloading processes. If an individual mishandles linked ammunition, the linked nature can lead to them unintentionally triggering the release of multiple rounds at once, resulting in serious injuries.

While options such as overheating, possible contamination, and ensuring proper storage conditions are valid safety concerns that can occur in ammunition handling and storage, they are not specific to linked ammunition as primary issues. Overheating usually pertains to long usage periods in a weapon without sufficient cooling, while contamination focuses on how ammunition is affected by external environmental factors, and storage conditions relate to location and method rather than the inherent risks of the ammunition’s linking itself. Hence, the aspect of preventing physical injuries during handling takes precedence as the key concern related to linked ammunition.