Jump to content
APC Forum

Binary Impact Sensitive Explosives


Recommended Posts

Posted

how much land are you shooting these on?

Posted (edited)

shooting on public land up in a rock quarry like 20 miles from my house. I might take video we'll see.

Edited by maliveline
Posted

couldn't even get it to go off with an ar-15 lol

Posted
It should have. Good chlorate and aluminum flash will pop from a .22 LR.
Posted

It should have. Good chlorate and aluminum flash will pop from a .22 LR.

Emphasis on the word "good"

Posted

well it wasn't that great but it burns ok so I figured it would go off. I'm trying something different next time.

Posted

Sounds like a particle size issue. But I am not condoning a large 1/2 kilo + flash target.

Posted

ya its definitely a particle size issue. I guess my new plan is to bite the bullet and try to do KClO4 / Al / sulfur composition.

I'm not really looking to do some ultra fine flash powder for exploding targets. I suppose when I get to that point I will probably start off with smaller targets. I was hoping to avoid sulfur all together but now I'm considering it.

Posted
If you want to use a .22 then you will need good flash. The .22 is basically just lighting the flash with heat and friction and not causing a detonation like with AN based targets. If the flash won't light and boom with a fuse, it definitely won't do anything by shooting it.
Posted (edited)

ya i dont know I'm going to start making perchlorate and experiment with that. My flash wasn't all that bad but I don't know. I will figure it out and when I do i will post some vids. I think I need to add more charcoal to my aluminum because I kind of thinned it out and it wasn't very dark this time. Also I'm not really sure I want to use sulfur because When i get my perchlorate I'm pretty sure its going to have chlorate contamination.

Edited by maliveline
Posted

Ah, solved the mystery, and it goes back to the good flash.

 

You seem to be making your own aluminum. This will never allow anything construed as remotely good flash to be made in most instances. Typically you're going to max out around 30-50 micron particle size, which is about an order of magnitude too large. Also you seem to think that adding charcoal to it in some way improves it. Not the case. The charcoal present in the blackhead varieties is not simply added during milling or afterwards.

Posted

well if you can't mill your own aluminum fine enough how do they do it industrially. Also I suppose your right about adding the charcoal afterwards but I thought if you added it before milling it makes it more reactive because it helps keep the oxide layer off the aluminum which makes it more reactive.

Posted

Just because you and I can do it effectively, doesn't mean that industry suffers from the same problems. In some preparations, it's coated onto paper, shredded and stamp milled. The paper keeps the Al from fusing back together, which is the biggest issue we tend to be limited by. From there the paper is burned off (where the charcoal comes from). This mostly arrived as a way to process scrap aluminized paper such as used to coat sticks of gum or cigarette packs.

Posted

I just want to weight in....

 

How is producing flash based targets any different than making "M-80"?

 

What I'm asking is, is it even legal to be shooting flash targets?

Posted

How is detonating a high explosive legal? Supposedly because it is a binary mixture that is mixed and used on site, just like the flash based ones. M80s would need to be transported usually and the big thing that is illegal is selling them. Most people don't make their own but buy them and then transport them. That is illegal.

 

If you go to a convention and make a bunch of M80s on site, string them together, and light them I doubt that is illegal either and would be treated like any other hand made fireworks.

Posted

I just want to weight in....

 

How is producing flash based targets any different than making "M-80"?

 

What I'm asking is, is it even legal to be shooting flash targets?

 

 

If its legal or not, is going to depend on where he is shooting them- I seem to recall a ban on explosive targets on BLM land, but I could be wrong.

Posted (edited)

 

 

Just because you and I can do it effectively, doesn't mean that industry suffers from the same problems. In some preparations, it's coated onto paper, shredded and stamp milled. The paper keeps the Al from fusing back together, which is the biggest issue we tend to be limited by. From there the paper is burned off (where the charcoal comes from). This mostly arrived as a way to process scrap aluminized paper such as used to coat sticks of gum or cigarette packs.

 

Now that you mention it, I did notice that when I was hammering on small piles it was almost like the aluminum was clumping up

and I could see it "fuse" back together. Its almost like its kind of gummy. however I was able to get it to pop a few times with a hammer so i dont know. I'm going to try potassium perchlorate I have a hunch I can make it work with that better.

 

I read somewhere in the potassium perchlorate post that its safe to use sulfur in KClO3 compositions as long as you use it soon and dont store it which is what I have to do to be legal anyway. Is this true? Also would adding boric acid help or is that only for aluminum/NO3 comps?

Edited by maliveline
Posted

The only sulfur you want to be adding to a flash comp is rubbermakers sulfur It is much lower in acidic values. Even that I wouldn't feel safe mixing.

Problems with adding flowers of sulfur to any chlorate comps comes from moisture, it forms tiny droplets of week sulfuric acid and we know how that ends..The addition of sulfur also raises the sensitivity of the comp. through the roof.

Posted

I dont know I guess I'm probably going to stay away from sulfur

Posted

Agreed, it's sensitive enough by itself, I don't see what is gained by making it more sensitive unless you want it to be airsoft sensitive.

Posted

Sounds like you could save yourself a headache Mali by just purchasing some good dark flake Al.

Posted

I could the only problem is people on ebay rape you for prices on Aluminum.

Posted (edited)

Don't buy on eBay?

 

Edit: why is my font size so much smaller?

 

Edit 2: It appears to have grown with time

Edited by FlaMtnBkr
Posted

where do you guys buy yours at

 

PGI, from pyro buddies, eBay isn't that bad once you know how much work goes into bagging up 110# of dark aluminum and shipping it one pound at a time. Pre order a drum for PGI and you can get it for a couple bucks a pound on a good year.

×
×
  • Create New...