Nitromethane Explosives

[Rbick]

Alexires: Good ideas. That sounds like it would make the most sense. It isn't even the most difficult thing to figure out but, my interest was sparked due to never having seen something like that happened. The addition of ETN was probably crucial in achieving the detonation, I'm assuming.

Emil: I know for US customs, they check your shit throughly. Last year I ordered some Potassium Perchlorate from the UK right after the US put further restrictions on its sale. I ordered 2lbs (.9kg) and at the time didn't realize that the US only allowed 1lb per shipment. BTW I ordered the KCLO4 to make firecrackers for the 4th. When my package arrived some 3 weeks later, I found the package had been ripped open and 1lb of KCLO4 had been STOLEN. Yes, it was stolen from me. I was never compensated and the company that I ordered from told me "tough luck".

Probably the most amusing thing about the entire ordeal was how the package finally arrived to me. It had been shipped in a soft, plastic envelop type package. The package was ripped at a obscure angle across the middle and then bound back up with yellow tape that said "US Customs" on it. It was apparent that they didn't even try to make it look nice, as it looked like a big ball of crumbled packing material and yellow tape. So unless I got really unlucky, I'm assuming they check most of the shipments through customs. Those assholes, I want my KCLO4 back!

So anyway, NM explosives rock :D

[inquiringmind]

This is the only thread I could find that roughly comes close to my question. On 11/1/04, me234 wrote:

Has anyone here had any experience with useing NC gelled Nm in a PNNM mix?
If I'm not mistaken, NC/NM/AN is a bit better (read 'more powerful') than straight ANNM mixes.
Any quantitative info on NC's effect on ANNM's brisance?
NC/NM/PN sounds kinda fun. Maybe more so than PNNM by itself.
I'm thinking that the potassium nitrate might hold less NC gelled NM than NM.
Any thoughts.

I don't know about PN but what about Potassium Perchlorate? Take note of the following formulation:

Part One: 1 tablespoon of Bullseye(NC) is mixed with 50ml NM intermittently until a uniform gel forms.

Part Two: Separately, 160 grams PP in a ziploc is mixed with about 2 - 5% AL dust.

Part 1 and Part 2 are mixed and rolled together until a uniform plastic gray mass emerges.

Very small amounts (less than an eraser head) detonates with a sharp blow of a hammer on an anvil surface but not so readily on a concrete floor. The whole mass is detonated w/o confinement (in a Ziploc) with just 2 grams of HMTD. The explosive force appears to be much greater than ANNM.

My question is in regards to the compatibility of this mixture. Is it a relatively safe mix?

In the interest of saving money, amounts of PP could be replaced by AN as this would cut cost significantly.

Take note of these three scenarios as it pertains to the 160 grams (roughly 10 TBS) of oxidizer:
Scenario 1: 160 grams or 10 TBS of PP as described above.
Scenario 2: 3 TBS of PP mixed with 7 TBS of AN (all else the same as described above).
Scenario 3: 160 grams or 10 TBS of AN (all else the same as described above). All of the above set off with about 2 gr HMTD.


In scenario 1, as I explained, was found to be sensitive to shock but only to a sharp blow on a very hard surface. Prolonged exposure to flame causes it to burn with a bright light. Upon det. Very strong blast when compared to regular ANNM
In scenario 2, striking it with a hammer produced no affect; even on an anvil surface. Prolonged exp. to flame eventually causes it to burn slowly w/o much force. Upon det. Very strong blast equal to and perhaps greater than scenario 1.
In scenario 3, striking it with a hammer produced no affect as in scenario 2. Will not burn readily. It was found to be somewhat difficult to detonate unless perhaps greater amounts of HMTD are used. Det. was not achieved as of yet.

I apologize for the length of this message but I was hoping you could give me your thoughts on:
1. The safety in the combo of these mixtures particular as it pertains to mixing two oxidizers such as PP and AN.
2. Your experience in combos that include a NC/NM colloidens combined with PPAN and 2 – 5% AL.

[Rbick]

Welcome to the forum inquringmind. Its good to see you did some experiments with these mixtures.

Firstly, NEVER USE TBS measurements! I almost ripped my hair out when reading it. Please only use mass units of the metric system which we all love.

There are already a few posts on using Potassium Perchlorate with NM and SP with NM. Personally, it [PP] creates a more sensitive mixture, especially when mixed with Al, than I care to deal with. It is also quite expensive and hard to find in large quantities these days. However, I will not argue with you that PP is a powerful oxidizer and can be used in conjunction with NM. As for power of the PP mixture, simple observation of a blast is not sufficient to determine if it has more power/brisance than an AN mixture. You need to perform a VoD test with a chrono or with steel plates to make an accurate determination that would be of any value. You also need to log densities and approximate diameters of the charges used.

[inquiringmind]

I knew better. Sorry bout the TBS (last time you'll see it). I need to dig back into the archives and learn about measuring VoD using those two methods. Due to the magnitude of the archives, could you point me in the right direction? Much appreciated.

[Alexires]

UTSFE - http://www.roguesci.org/theforum/showthread.php?t=4027&highlight=velocity+detonation