Subject: Acetone Peroxide - sulfuric acid primary explosive Date: 29 Aug 93 06:44:40 GMT Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for your actions! (Taking responsibility for my own is enough trouble.) Acetone Peroxide from the BlackBook vol. 3 sec. I no. 26 The BlackBook is a book which our government was nice enough to print for our Special Forces in Vietnam. It describes in detail how to wreak havoc with ordinary materials. You need: acetone (hardware, paint store) hydrogen peroxide (hair bleach type - 15 volume or higher - hair/cosmetics store) sulfuric acid (concentrated; if you use battery acid, boil until white fumes appear to remove all of the water) You also need a thermometer, ice, salt, and containers. Procedure: Mix 30 milliliters of acetone and 50 millileters of hydrogen peroxide into a glass container and mix thoroughly. The container must now be put into ice/salt water and cooled to below 5 degrees Celsius. The easiest way to do this: take a coffee can, put in water and salt to about half full, put container (empty) into can, put plastic lid on can to keep container from floating, put can in freezer, when water is frozen, take out, remove lid, proceed. This will provide excellent cooling and also keep container from floating. Now, put a thermometer in the mixture. When it is below 5 degrees Celsius, start putting in the sulfuric acid, one drop at a time. Keep stirring and watching the thermometer. Adding the acid produces heat; if it gets up to 10 degrees, stop adding acid and wait for it to cool. You need to add a total of 2.5 milliliters of sulfuric acid, one drop at a time. What happens if the temp gets significantly higher than 10 degrees? I don't know, because I never let it happen. The BlackBook usually warns you if you are in danger, and there is no warning here, but still, don't try it! Keep the temperature down. Also watch the acid, as it tends to splatter. Keep stirring for a couple minutes after adding all the acid. Put the container in the fridge (not freezer) and let it sit overnight. When you get it out the next morning, there will be a white precipitate on the bottom. Pour the solution through a coffee filter, paper towel, or other filtering paper. This will collect the precipitate. Pour a couple of spoonfuls of ice-cold water through the towel to remove acid. Now set the paper out to dry. The resulting powder/crystals are a very powerful primary explosive. According to the book, "Keep away from shock, friction, and flame." This material can be loaded into a 2.5 inch length of brass or copper tubing and pressed down to make blasting caps. The pressing may be hazardous - the book details the manufacture of a loading press which includes a shield to protect the user. The book says this type of blasting cap will detonate most homemade explosives without a booster explosive: "Acetone peroxide is a very powerful initiator and can be used by itself as the main filler when making homemade detonators." My own experience with this material is as follows: When I ignited a _small_ pile of the loose powder, it produced an instantaneous red fireball and a slight whump. If the powder is packed into a length of drinking straw, however, it explodes with a very sharp crack. I made a strong paper casing out of several sheets of paper folded and rolled tightly. About a two-inch piece of a straw, packed with powder, blew it to confetti-sized pieces with a loud bang. I caved in a piece of sheet metal with the rest of the straw. I'm not sure how toxic this is, so I would be careful with it. Is it particularly sensitive/poisonous/carcinogenic or otherwise likely to kill you? I've hit small pellets with a hammer and they go bang, but I've never had an accident with it. The crack is very sharp and loud; protect your ears. Note that the formula seems to leave acetone left over. I've added extra hydrogen peroxide, put it back in the fridge, and got quite a bit more powder the next day. If you make a larger batch, do not put it all on the same filter paper! It will cake up like chalk, and I'll be damned if I'm going to break up an explosive. If you are careful, you can make as much as you want.