BUYING EXPLOSIVES AND PROPELLANTS
BUYING EXPLOSIVES AND PROPELLANTS
Almost any city or town of reasonable size has a gun store and one or
more pharmacies.
These are two of the places that potential terrorists visit
in order to purchase explosive
material. All that one has to do is know
something about the non- explosive uses of the
materials. Black powder, for
example, is used in blackpowder firearms. It comes in varying
"grades", with
each different grade being a slightly different size. The grade of
black
powder depends on what the calibre of the gun that it is used in; a fine grade
of
powder could burn too fast in the wrong caliber weapon. The rule is: the
smaller the grade,
the faster the burn rate of the powder.
BLACK POWDER
Black powder
is generally available in three grades. As stated before, the
smaller the grade, the faster
the powder burns. Burn rate is extremely
important in bombs. Since an explosion is a rapid
increase of gas volume in a
confined environment, to make an explosion, a quick-burning powder
is desirable.
The three common grades of black powder are listed below, along with the
usual
bore width (calibre) of what they are used in. Generally, the fastest burning
powder, the FFF grade is desirable. However, the other grades and uses are
listed below:
GRADE BORE WIDTH EXAMPLE OF GUN
ÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
F .50 or greater model cannon; some rifles
FF .36 – .50
large pistols; small rifles
FFF .36 or smaller pistols; derringers
The FFF grade
is the fastest burning, because the smaller grade has more
surface area or burning surface
exposed to the flame front. The larger grades
also have uses which will be discussed later.
The price range of black
powder, per pound, is about $8.50 – $9.00. The price is not affected
by the
grade, and so one saves oneself time and work if one buys the finer grade of
powder. The major problems with black powder are that it can be ignited
accidentally by static
electricity, and that it has a tendency to absorb
moisture from the air. To safely crush it, a
one would use a plastic spoon and
a wooden salad bowl. Taking a small pile at a time, he or
she would apply
pressure to the powder through the spoon and rub it in a series of strokes
or
circles, but not too hard. It is fine enough to use when it is about as fine
as
flour. The fineness, however, is dependant on what type of device one
wishes to make;
obviously, it would be impracticle to crush enough powder to
fill a 1 foot by 4 inch radius
pipe. Any adult can purchase black powder,
since anyone can own black powder firearms in the
United States.
PYRODEX
Pyrodex is a synthetic powder that is used
like black powder. It comes
in the same grades, but it is more expensive per pound. However, a
one pound
container of pyrodex contains more material by volume than a pound of black
powder. It is much easier to crush to a very fine powder than black powder,
and it is
considerably safer and more reliable. This is because it will not
be set off by static
electricity, as black can be, and it is less inclined to
absorb moisture. It costs about
$10.00 per pound. It can be crushed in the
same manner as black powder, or it can be dissolved
in boiling water and
dried.
ROCKET ENGINE POWDER
One of the
most exciting hobbies nowadays is model rocketry. Estes is
the largest producer of model
rocket kits and engines. Rocket engines are
composed of a single large grain of propellant.
This grain is surrounded by a
fairly heavy cardboard tubing. One gets the propellant by
slitting the tube
length- wise, and unwrapping it like a paper towel roll. When this is
done,
the gray fire clay at either end of the propellant grain must be removed.
This is
usually done gently with a plastic or brass knife. The material is
exceptionally hard, and
must be crushed to be used. By gripping the grain in
the widest setting on a set of pliers,
and putting the grain and powder in a
plastic bag, the powder will not break apart and shatter
all over. This
should be done to all the large chunks of powder, and then it should be
crushed like black powder. Rocket engines come in various sizes, ranging from
1/4 A – 2T to
the incredibly powerful D engines. The larger the engine, the
more expensive. D engines come
in packages of three, and cost about $5.00 per
package. Rocket engines are perhaps the single
most useful item sold in
stores to a terrorist, since they can be used as is, or can be
cannibalized
for their explosive powder.
RIFLE/SHOTGUN POWDER
Rifle powder and shotgun powder are really the same from a practicle
standpoint. They are both
nitrocellulose based propellants. They will be
referred to as gunpowder in all future
references. Smokeless gunpowder is made
by the action of concentrated nitric and sulfuric acid
upon cotton or some
other cellulose material. This material is then dissolved by solvents and
then
reformed in the desired grain size. When dealing with smokeless gunpowder,
the
grain size is not nearly as important as that of black powder. Both large
and small grained
smokeless powder burn fairly slowly compared to black powder
when unconfined, but when it is
confined, gunpowder burns both hotter and with
more gaseous expansion, producing more
pressure. Therefore, the grinding
process that is often necessary for other propellants is not
necessary for
smokeless powder. owder costs about $9.00 per pound. In most states any
citizen with a valid driver’s license can buy it, since there are currently
few restrictions
on rifles or shotguns in the U.S. There are now ID checks in
many states when purchasing
powder at a retail outlet. Mail-orders aren’t
subject to such checks. Rifle powder and pyrodex
may be purchased by mail
order, but UPS charges will be high, due to DOT regulations on
packaging.
-= Exodus =-