bomb44.txt INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING .44 REMINGTON MAGNUM-SIZED BOMBS The following instructions will lead you through the steps necessary to manufacture small pyrotechnic devices. These devices are NOT TOYS, and are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to manufacture and use. Furthermore, there are many laws on the books at both the Federal and State levels which make the manufacture of such devices a FELONY, and many laws also cover the INTENT to manufacture these devices, making that a FELONY as well. Therefore, this material is presented only to show you what is possible with a few simple materials and a little bit of time. DO NOT ACTUALLY MAKE ANY OF THESE DEVICES! That being said, let's get down to the brass tacks of what's involved here. First a few lists: Tools/Containers: hot glue gun (around $10-$15 at any hardware store) powder measure (calibrated for black powder by volume) powder funnel (to load the powder measure) wire cutters or scissors (wire cutters work best) machine shop goggles (wrap-around type) ceramic coffee cup (very clean, and very dry) Materials/Supplies: .44 Remington Magnum brass (spent primer still in place) Pyrodex P powder (black powder is NOT recommended!) hot glue sticks green cannon hobby fuze 3x5 index card (for hot glue testing) paint or spray paint (optional) SETUP AND PREPARATION Put your safety glasses on. Never handle any explosives or explosive components without first protecting your eyes. Modern machine-shop- quality goggles have amazing protective capabilities when used properly, and I would not be able to read this screen today had I not regularly worn these things while messing with explosives. It's also nice to have fresh, clean, clear (unsmoked) goggles. It lets you really see what you are doing easily. Extinguish any cigarettes or other open flames (candles, stove) before proceeding any further. This is REALLY important! Lay out a clean work area, covered with sheets of newspaper or something else (such as an old sheet) to protect the surface you're working on. Plug in the hot glue gun, and place it somewhere safe while it warms up. If the brass casings you have do NOT have primers installed, it will be necessary for you to first squirt a small droplet of hot glue into the hole where the primer normally seats. Make sure the primer hole is completely sealed so that no powder can spill out, and so that the devices remain water-tight. The brass cases should be reasonably clean. Leftover powder residue (from their normal firing in a gun) is usually not a problem, but excessive contaminants such as gun grease or dirt may adversely affect the quality of the product you are making. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of gun powder into the coffee cup [this is enough to make a lot of these little devices!], and put away the rest of the powder, closing the cap and storing it away from your work area. Keep the amount of exposed powder you have lying around as small as possible, in case of any kind of accidental ignition. INITIAL TESTING AND ADJUSTMENT (VERY IMPORTANT!) To ensure that your hot glue gun is not too hot for the powder you are using, take a small amount of powder (about a pinch of it or so) and put it in a small pile on an index card in the middle of your work area. Temporarily put away the coffee cup of extra powder, just in case the glue gun sets off the small pile of powder. When the glue gun has reached full operating temperature (approximately 10-15 minutes), place the hot nozzle against the powder and hold it for a full minute or two. If nothing happens, carefully squirt a blob of the hot glue onto the small pile of powder. Using the back of a metal spoon, press the melted hot glue firmly into the powder until you hear individual grains of powder crunching and mixing with the glue. As long as there is no ignition (I have never seen Pyrodex ignite like this, but black powder might be prone to such detonation), then the glue gun is safe to use. Wait until the glue on the spoon cools, then just scrape the blob off with a knife, flushing it down the toilet or otherwise wetting it before disposal. To adjust your powder load, set the powder measure to approximately 20-22 grains (by volume in a CVA powder measure), and load a single casing with powder. The case should be approximately 65-70% full. Any more powder than this causes the explosive force DECREASE, as you cannot seal the casing as effectively. Adjust the setting on the powder measure to obtain this approximate 65-70% fill capacity for the cases you are using. I find that the dotted crimp around the case that marks the seating point for the bullet is a good level to fill to. When you have adjusted your measure to the desired fill level, lock down the measure set screw, and pour all the powder back into the coffee cup. When you have your powder setting adjusted properly, the glue gun is warm, and your work area is clean and neat, it's time to begin production. PRODUCTION Lay out five (5) brass cases, base down, open end up. Using the wire cutters, snip off five (5) sections of fuze wire approximately 4" long. I work on five cases at a time, because it gives me the best rate of speed and keeps the clutter to a minimum on my work area. If you feel unsure or unhandy with any of this, start with working on a single casing at a time first, then work up to "mass production." Load each of the cases with the measured powder charge, setting them carefully back down so as not to spill powder. Set the cases down far enough apart that you can pick each one up individually without fear of knocking the others over. One at a time you will now fuze and seal the casings. This is the most critical and technique-oriented part of the procedure. You want to have a good solid glue plug installed, plus the fuze must reach all the way through the glue plug and make solid contact with the charge. Experiment with your technique, and come out with whatever method results in the most consistent loads for you. This is how I do it: Put one end of a section of fuze firmly into the powder. Press it into the powder at least 1/4 of an inch, or even all the way through the powder until it bumps against the base of the casing. Put the nozzle of the glue gun into the open end of the case, pushing the fuze aside gently. Slowly squirt molten glue into the casing, and begin slowly turning the case in your fingers, pushing the fuze around as you spread the glue evenly onto the loose powder around the fuze. Do not twirl the case so fast that you drag a glue blob around, because this will disturb the powder charge. As the case fills with molten glue, retract the nozzle and continue rotating the case and filling it until it is slightly more than full. The amount of extra glue can be experimented with, and will typically be sucked back into the case as you do the next step. Put the glue gun down. Holding the case in one hand and the fuze in the other, slowly twist the fuze in circles, swirling the still-melted glue around and allowing it to settle down against the powder. Do not pull on the fuze! Keep the fuze pressed firmly into the powder as you twist it. This procedure also "burps" the case, bringing any extra air that might have got trapped between the glue and the powder up to the surface. Within a few twists you may see a bubble appear. Keep twisting and pressing in the fuze until this bubble surfaces and pops. This is where the extra glue comes in. You may need to add another tiny blob of glue to bring the top of the glue to the level of the case rim. As each case is completed, set it aside to cool. Placing the cases in front of a desk fan (don't put a fan anywhere near where you're handling loose powder!) helps the cooling process significantly. FINAL PRODUCTION When you have made all the devices and they have had a chance to COOL COMPLETELY, you may proceed to the painting stage, or skip over it entirely, at your discretion. Painting the devices only makes them look a lot cooler, not to mention giving them a less sinister appearance than a bunch of brass cases with fuzes sticking out of them! My preferred method of painting is to dip each device into thick one-coat enamel paint, usually white or light gray, and then set them out on a foil-covered plastic fast-food tray. Wait for one hour for the paint to get slightly tacky and the excess to run off and pool up around each device. After an hour or so, transfer each device to another foil-coated tray, where they will finish their drying. At this point, I like to take various colored spraypaints and spatter the devices randomly with colors. The more brighter and cheerier the colors, the less threatening the devices will appear to a casual bystander. But on the other hand, you might take it in mind to paint them all bright firecracker red, just so you know exactly what they are! Have fun with it. CLEANUP Put away unused powder from the coffee cup only. Mop up any spilled powder with a wet paper towel -- DO NOT USE A VACUUM CLEANER! THEY HAVE ELECTRIC MOTORS WHICH MAKE SPARKS! IGNITION AND USE These little devices (and they really are quite small when you see what they end up being able to do!) are a load of fun to have around on camping trips, 4th of July and New Years holidays, boating trips, and for general pranking around. HOWEVER, REMEMBER THAT SINCE THE CASES ARE MADE OF METAL (BRASS), THEY WILL FLY OFF AT SPEEDS SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE BODILY INJURY OR DEATH. DON'T TRY AND HOLD ONE OF THESE THINGS IN YOUR HAND WHEN YOU LIGHT IT! ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU ARE CLEAR OF THE AREA AND HIDING BEHIND SOMETHING SOLID BEFORE THE DEVICE GOES OFF! An interesting feature of these devices [if they are made properly and you employ good-quality waterproof green fuze wire] is that they may be tossed into water after they have been lit. You can try this out in your swimming pool, or even in the ocean. Just make sure the core of the fuze is properly burning [you can tell this by the sparkling that happens when the core burns], and fling the device into the water. It makes a very impressive "THUMP!" sound. If the water is shallow enough (just a few inches), you may even get a plume of water spraying into the air. Throwing these devices into a deep swimming pool and then standing next to it and watching them go off is probably the SAFEST way to set them off and actually watch them in action. SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS Know that you are working here with METAL-CASED explosives, and when metal cases fragment and fly off, even small particles can do considerable harm. The entire base of the .44 Remington Magnum cartridge is almost guaranteed to remain intact, and upon detonation will eject "backwards" with velocities approaching that of some handgun rounds. It can break glass, go through pieces of wood, go through clothing, rip open skin, etc. It can also ricochet off of hard surfaces and continue with a redirected path of destruction. For safe noisemaking fun (like around the 4th of July), these devices are best if the entire case is buried, so that the top of the case is just a little ways under the ground. If you grip the upper part of the case (where the fuze comes out) and press it firmly into soft soil, or bury it in sand, this tends to contain the shrapnel. No guarantees, however, since sometimes, depending on how good the glue seal was, the top part of the device (the brass and the glue plug) blows off and flies off very rapidly. DO NOT get in the way of this sort of thing! While this is not a particularly RECOMMENDED practice as far as safety goes, one can also launch these devices from a slingshot. Put the device into the pouch, then either light it yourself (difficult), or ask a friend to light it. As soon as the fuze catches, fire the slingshot and send it flying. If you wait and time the fuze just right, you can have it burst high up in the air, which causes a far more significant sound "footprint" (i.e., more people hear it).