On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 01:23:03 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:40:05 GMT, Gunner Asch
wrote:


Actually..Steve is wrong. A primer DOES have the ability to detonate
c4 , RDX and others. We salted caches all over southeast Asia with
such doctored rounds. I actually saw the results of such a round being
fired. Not pretty, not pretty at all.

Gunner

Blasting caps and cartridge primers are similar in nature though caps
have considerably more "stuff". A blasting cap will send a steel
pot (military helmet) 100 feet up, and when it lands it will have many
little holes in it.

Indeed. Historically, most primers are a lead azide fulminate. Early
ones were mercury fulminate. Lots of various compounds in between.

Smokeless powder propellant is a monomolecular compound like HE,
just has much lower detonation velocity. It still must be
initated like HE, unlike oxy-fuel mixes like black powder and
some IED's which need only be ignited.


Actually, inhibited nitrocellulose gun powder is still considered a
"propellent" as its chemistry is designed to NOT detonate.

Brisance is the term.

Cartridge primers can be smaller than blasting caps because they
operate in a confined space -- a cartridge confined by a chamber. A
small initiating charge produces high pressure, shock and
temperature in such a situation.

A cartridge primer embedded in unconfined HE, C4 or whatever, may
or may not work. I'd suspect not, but I'd neither bet against it or
on it.

It would be damned hard to detonate an embedded primer G

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner