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I decided that I could make the fulminate recipe, and asked my grandfather —- who had taught me to make cap gun material —- to get the stuff I would need. He as
by TheRealDunkirk 4y ago
I decided that I could make the fulminate recipe, and asked my grandfather —- who had taught me to make cap gun material —- to get the stuff I would need. He asked me again, to make sure he heard me right, and then flatly told me no. He said he loaded shells for WWII, and that’s what they put in the detonating tip. He said it was so sensitive, they tested it by shooting shells through PAPER. I gave up on my dreams of making anything from the book after that.
- kstrauser 4y agoCould you explain the “through paper” bit? I can’t picture this.
- tempay 4y agoI suspect it’s that the tips of the shell are intended to be pressure sensitive and trigger an explosion that then detonated the main payload. The explosive in the tip was so sensitive that tearing through paper was enough to detonate it.
- phkahler 4y agoYeah, and foam at several hundred kph was also enough the damage the wing of a space shuttle. Not sure the paper thing is terribly relevant. The shells were fired after all.
- bronson 4y agoNeither the foam or the shuttle wing detonated. It's about testing volatility, not doing damage.
- nine_k 4y agoI wonder how the stress of shooting the munition from the gun did not set it off. Must have something to do with the direction of acceleration, but I can't see how exactly.
- esquivalience 4y agoIf the ammunition touches paper when shot, it detonated
- kstrauser 4y agoOh, got it. Thanks!