C-4 stability?
So I'm watching this movie>>>> I know.... ; and whatever the situation was someone shoots a block of C-4 with a handgun and it explodes.
Possible , or horse pookey?
Possible , or horse pookey?
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I heard a first hand story from a guy who claims he set some off with gunfire but he was using a rifle round that was around 3000 fps. I think that is the key issue. Someone once told me that C4 required something over 2000 fps impacting or expanding against it in order to detonate. Sounds plausible. Any explosives engineers out there who can chime in?
From the comments below, it appears as if I was told an old windy. Maybe he saw too many reruns of "Two Mules for Sister Sara" where Clint was able to set off explosives on a railroad bridge with his Winchester. Of course, Clint can do anything and it was dynamite, not C4. [:D]0 -
In Vietnam we used an electrical detonator to set the
C4 off. I do not believe gunfire will do a thing to C4
except put a hole in it.0 -
Yeah. so happens I am. Hold a Master's license in several states, and an instructor's rating in one.
Composition C-4 is one of the LEAST sensitive explosives around. It will not RELIABLY shoot with a single standard #8 blasting cap. Takes a higher energy cap. It is about 91% RDX, the rest is plasticizer, binders, usually some DMDNB as a taggant, and a little bit of motor oil.
It does not shoot when struck by bullets, when dropped, kicked, punched. Do not cut it with scissors. If it is burning (and it burns quite hot) it does become shock sensitive. Great for cutting steel because of the VERY high speed of detonation, it is a poor choice for breaking rock.
Of course, HollyWeird cannot be bothered by reality....
The depth of knowledge in this forum never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for your expertise.0 -
quote:Originally posted by 11b6r
Yeah. so happens I am. Hold a Master's license in several states, and an instructor's rating in one.
Composition C-4 is one of the LEAST sensitive explosives around. It will not RELIABLY shoot with a single standard #8 blasting cap. Takes a higher energy cap. It is about 91% RDX, the rest is plasticizer, binders, usually some DMDNB as a taggant, and a little bit of motor oil.
It does not shoot when struck by bullets, when dropped, kicked, punched. Do not cut it with scissors. If it is burning (and it burns quite hot) it does become shock sensitive. Great for cutting steel because of the VERY high speed of detonation, it is a poor choice for breaking rock.
Of course, HollyWeird cannot be bothered by reality....
The depth of knowledge in this forum never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for your expertise.
Why can't you cut it with scissors?0 -
With ANY explosive- even very insensitive ones- the force in the first micron of length where the blades meet COULD be high enough to make the explosive shoot. Really a matter of leverage/pressure. "No scissors" is a standard practice in the Atlas Rock Blaster's Handbook (sort of the Bible for Powder Monkeys) and you last a lot longer paying attention to the book. Knife cutting against wood- OK. Scissors- no.
Oh- it won't do it every time. It may happen once in a million times. But it only takes once- don't make St. Barbara work overtime![:)]0 -
Mythbusters just tested this myth the other night. They used regular, tracer and incendiary bullets and the C-4 would not explode without using a blasting cap. 0 -
Think it through.
Sending your military personnel into battle equipped with any explosive which will detonate due to a bullet impact would be a very bad idea. [;)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by Txs
Think it through.
Sending your military personnel into battle equipped with any explosive which will detonate due to a bullet impact would be a very bad idea. [;)]
+1
The Military applies a bullet impact test ('BIT') to all explosives which are intended for use in combat.
We used to destroy deteriorated or damaged stocks of explosives by detonation or burning (but HE loaded ammunition was always destroyed by detonation). When burning, HE would sometimes start 'torching', that is, shooting out inordinate tongues of flame which was a warning that the stuff was transitioning to more dangerous rates.0 -
I used it in golf ball size chunks to heat my C rations in Vietnam. It burned like a little stove. We just made sure we didn't step on it while it was burning. 0 -
Much easier to make something go bang, than to make it go bang only when you want it to.
And, yes, the one and only time I was told to get rid of a fired 155 round was when I packed C-4 around the nose, strung some claymore wire, and fused it, then set it off with the claymore trigger.
As I said, that was the one and only time I was ever required to 'get rid of' unexploded ordnance. Joe0 -
We had a "getting-to-know-you" class in the academy back in '72 and we shot it with pistols and shotguns - just made a mess. We did get reliable detonations by stringing baseball size chunks on det-cord, spent a lot of time trying to see if the eye could see the difference in when the chunks went off to judge the burn speed of the det-cord, couldn't do it. 0 -
My Dad was a great one for "playing" with dynamite. He wanted to deepen the creek bed, here on the farm, so he got some "ditching" dynamite and set it into the creek bed for 100 feet or so. It seemed to all go at once but, in the picture I snapped, it was stair-steps. 0 -
Det cord (aka Primacord) actually does not burn- while it might LOOK like safety fuse, it is an explosive (usually PETN) in a linear form. It actually detonates- at about 24,000 feet per second for 50 grain cord. We used to cut trees by wrapping them- will also cut 55 gallon drums in half.
Ditching Dynamite was touchy stuff- usually double the nitroglycerin level of standard dynamites- was used to make drainage ditches in wet ground. Only the first stick of powder in the ditch line needed a cap- shock wave would set off stick in the next hole- and the next and the next, etc. Have not seen that stuff in years (which suits me just fine, thanks!)0
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