Blasting Limestone w/soda straws, Bullseye & 9-volt battery

[Hobie]

I had an interesting conversation with a customer who came into the gun shop the other day. He wanted to buy 2 pounds of Bullseye. He was not a gun person at all. He was using the Bullseye to blast limestone to clear a driveway on his property. To do this he filled a soda straw with Bullseye, and initiated it with a couple of wires and a 9-volt battery. He said this technique would only crack limestone due to its structure. He didn't say but implied that he used a masonry drill to make the hole for the straw.

I know somebody here has probably done this and I'd like to hear more.

He couldn't understand why there was suddenly no Bullseye to be had but that is another issue.

[Borregos]

That is interesting, I would like to hear more too

[alnitak]

Why only Bullseye. Wouldn't other powders work as well (although some better than others I would suspect)? Cool idea though.

[Hobie]

Why only Bullseye. Wouldn't other powders work as well (although some better than others I would suspect)? Cool idea though.

Fast burner.

We had a LONG conversation. He said he had to have a pistol powder/fast burner. Fast burner makes sense, I know you can't explode IMR4350 in this way. I showed him the burn rate chart and the next fastest powder, TiteWad IIRC, but he would have none of that. He wanted to stick with what he knows. Probably a smart move there.

I'd like to know what kind of wire he uses and how far back he sits. Says it will blow a pretty big rock!

[milton]

One way to shoot this stuff is to mix 4f black with a white glue and paint it on the end of a U shaped piece of nichrome wire.This wire is easy to find, just find an old toaster or electric heater and pull the wire that heats up when electrical current passes through it.Connect the battery up to this "U" and place it in the bottom of the hole and then fill the hole with powder.IF you set it up correctly you don't have to get too far from the "shot".You will have to experiment using two holes to find out the best burden and spacing of the holes as this will vary somewhat depending on rock type.BE CAREFUL.!!!!!

[2ndovc]

Sounds like an afternoon that really get me in trouble

I'll have to wait for the 4th of July in my neighborhood.

jb

[alnitak]

Why only Bullseye. Wouldn't other powders work as well (although some better than others I would suspect)? Cool idea though.

Fast burner.

Figured that. I can also see staying with what he knows, but I suspect other fast powders would work as well. Wonder if there's a difference between ball, flake, etc.?

[alnitak]

Sounds like an afternoon that really get me in trouble

I'll have to wait for the 4th of July in my neighborhood.

jb

I'd say find a field and experiment, but then we'd have even more regulations on powder as explosives!!

[Hagler]

One way to shoot this stuff is to mix 4f black with a white glue and paint it on the end of a U shaped piece of nichrome wire.This wire is easy to find, just find an old toaster or electric heater and pull the wire that heats up when electrical current passes through it.Connect the battery up to this "U" and place it in the bottom of the hole and then fill the hole with powder.IF you set it up correctly you don't have to get too far from the "shot".You will have to experiment using two holes to find out the best burden and spacing of the holes as this will vary somewhat depending on rock type.BE CAREFUL.!!!!!

Why, milton, you have invented model rocket igniters!

Shawn

[Hobie]

BTW, Estes just got out from under some Federal reg on their rockets as destructive devices. I don't remember all the details but I was thinking how darn stupid those people had to be.

[madman4570]

OH NO!!
This is how bomb crazzed people start out!!
Did someone say I hear a knock at your door???
Its Big Brother ???

[BwanaDave]

I would be very interested in this subject since I have some property in New Mexico that I want to dig a tank for water capture to provide water to wild life. I have a spot in mind that receives a lot of drainage but when I tried to dig it with my backhoe I hit rock. I have been thinking about doing the same thing. I have been hesitant to research the subject on line because I really don't want to get on any more gov lists. I am already a registered Republican and a life member of the NRA. I can only imagine what would happen if I start doing web searches on such a subject.

dave

[Modoc ED]

You can get all the information you need from the "Improvised Munitions Handbook" TM 31-210. Here's a link to it:

http://www.libertyreferences.com/improv ... book.shtml

You can order it from www.amazon.com

[mescalero1]

Dave,
A few years ago the last 14 miles into the small village where I live, had the road paved.
The road crew was out of Oregon or Wash. now building roads is thier vocation and they commented that New Mexico rock was the hardest, most difficult rock thay had ever encountered.
And yes, I would like to know more as well, because I have to deal with it at my commercial property.

[milton]

I met a fellow many years ago that "blasted" granite slabs with water and wood.He and some help would drill holes with a star bit and hammer in a line so as to size the stone.He then drove a hardwood peg into each hole and built a clay basin around all the holes.The basin was filled with water and as the wood soaked up water more water was added for several hours.After a few hours you would hear a loud breaking sound and the slab drawn out by the line of holes would be ready to pick up and sell.A little slow but effective !
By the way,I wish I could say I had invented model rocket igniters but I can remember these things being used a LONG time ago .Besides if you do not have blasting caps and I do not have any ,you need something to initiate the shot!

[El Chivo]

I like the water idea.

Can't you also buy kits for blowing up stumps?

[Modoc ED]

The water idea will only work on non-porus rock/material.

If you have a legitamate purpose, you can; hire a blaster or get a blasting permit and buy a limited amount of explosive to do the job you need done.

[Nath]

4f BP!

Nath.

[new pig hunter]

just another idea ..... a large charge of Tannerite will certainly do the job ..... kinda noisy to set it off since you need a high-powered rifle to do so, unless you have a suppressor on the rifle ..... oh, and make certain everything is safe downrange from bullets.
I've watched the video of tannerite and the guy demonstrates the destruction of a large boulder, very effective.

http://www.tannerite.com/she_exploding_targets.html

Cheers,

Carl

[Nath]

Sodium Chlorate (weedkiller) and equal amounts of sugar.

N.

[slimster]

You can get all the information you need from the "Improvised Munitions Handbook" TM 31-210. Here's a link to it:

http://www.libertyreferences.com/improv ... book.shtml

You can order it from http://www.amazon.com

That is an excellent manual Modoc, but there's no sense having to buy a copy off of Amazon when yo can access a copy online at http://onlinebooks.110mb.com/tm%2031-21 ... ntents.htm. After all, if you're an American citizen, you have already paid for it through taxes. It's public domain.

[Bullard4075]

I hate to rain on every ones parade but isn't making explosive devices (with BP, smokeless powder, etc) frowned upon by BATF ?

[BwanaDave]

Does the ATF have something against quail and dove? All I want to do is create a water source for quail and dove that would also support some food for them too.

The rock is actually rather sandy thus I don't think it is too hard. If I could fracture it a bit the backhoe would be able to do the job.

Dave

[Don McDowell]

Dave contact your local conservation district/nrcs office. There's some cost share money , and technical assistance available for what you're wanting to do.

[mescalero1]

Dave,
Why don't you see about renting a hammer drill for the backhoe, it attaches where the bucket is now.
I believe you have to charge the cylinder with nitrogen though.

[Bear 45/70]

You can get all the information you need from the "Improvised Munitions Handbook" TM 31-210. Here's a link to it:

http://www.libertyreferences.com/improv ... book.shtml

You can order it from http://www.amazon.com

Had it for years, way before Y2K.

[AJMD429]

When I was a kid (40 years ago), I remember even high school kids (maybe over 18, dunno) would just sign a log sheet at the farm store and walk out with a couple sticks of dynamite for stumps. Twenty years ago I knew a surgeon who said he still liked to blow up stumps on his farm on weekends (I said I thought surgeons needed to protect their hands, and he just said '...If you [mess] up with dynamite, it messes more up than just your hands... ).

Sooo... there may be a way to purchase it if you pay enough fees, fill out enough forms, and so forth.

[rhead]

A 22 rimfire will be set off if a wire is taped to each end ant tickled with a charge from a lawnmower battery. This will set off the main powder charge. He was wanting bullseye for the higher nitroglyceryne content and lack of inhibitors.

[Bullard4075]

"I hate to rain on every ones parade but isn't making explosive devices (with BP, smokeless powder, etc) frowned upon by BATF ?"

Dave,
I wasn't blasting (pardon the pun) you or anyone else, I was just asking the question. Ya know kinda
like us looking out for each other.

[BwanaDave]

I know that, I just can't resist poking fun of the gov. I find it hard to believe that a transitor radio battery hooked up to a piece of nycrome wire will actually get hot enough to set off the powder. Granted it will get hot enough when plugged into household power but a 9v battery?

Dave

[Hobie]

One can burn 0000 steel wool with a 9-volt battery. I don't know about the science of it but how hot does the wire have to get to set off the charge? I would think it would work. What I wonder is what wire he would have gotten and how long a stand off he gets. I mean, I would not want to be standing right over it when it goes off.

[jeepnik]

Brother, out here, you can get arrested for putting dry ice and water in a two liter pop bottle. It makes a pretty good noise. Cops arrested one young fellow for having an "explosive device". If they knew what we did as kids, we'd all be doing life, for having a good time.

[Don McDowell]

It would have to be good low resistance wire or the amperage from the battery would be to low to do much of anything.
The guy blowin rocks with the soda straw full of bullseye is probably getting a report that's similar to a 38.
When you're blowing small stuff like the the "boom" don't amount to much. When you blow something like a face wall in a pit mine it can get a little more noisy, but none of it is quite as spectacular as tv/howllyweird puts out.

[mescalero1]

Jeepnik,
How true that is!

[BwanaDave]

Jeepnik, you must be in California. A buddy of mine out there told me that a police officer came to his kid's class to talk about drugs. During his talk he told the kids if they ever saw a gun anywhere they were to call to police immediately. The Brown Shirts have definitely arrived. When I lived in California years ago I took one of my kids to the doctor and the doctor asked about guns in the home. I politely told him it was none of his business. A week later we were told to find another practice.

Back to the topic. My place is pretty out of the way so I don't think anyone would care if I made a little noise. In regards to ignition I was thinking about something that would create a spark. Perhaps using a car battery for the power source. When we were kids we used to ignite hydrogen that we collected by placing a bottle upside down over a charging battery. My recollection is that we used a spark plug but I can't remember if we used a coil.

Since the rock isn't super hard I think I could drive a steel rod into it a couple of feet and then wiggle it until I could pull it out with the backhoe. I would place the charge it the hole and cover it with a couple of sand bags and then boom. The idea being that it would break things up enough to make some real progress with the backhoe. Then repeat until I have a nice pond.

Dave

[Thunder50]

Don't know if I remember correctly, but if the charge is less than 1/4 oz. (bout 108gr), the isn't that legal?