6 Million Pounds of powder???

[ShooterAZ]

I just read an article about 6 millions pounds of illegally stored "explosives" being found stored hap-hazardously in Louisiana. How big of a boom would this make? :shock:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20584013

[smokemjoe]

I could use some of it in my bowling ball mortar.

[Bad Water Bill]

Has anyone seen or heard from JUNIOR lately?

Sounds like someone found his STASH.:bigsmyl2:

[km101]

Man, I better call Uncle Boudreaux and see it he got raided!!! :)

[MT Gianni]

In the gas business we always used the suffix M for thousands. It shows m here in a British newspaper article. I do not know if it is several thousand lbs or million lbs. It also could be fertilizer.

[Thumbcocker]

Just like the guvamint to go pokin around in a mans business.

[starmac]

The US article I read claimed 6 million pounds ESTIMATED by police.

Wasn't there an underground explosion in this same area a month or two ago.

[x101airborne]

Yep, it was on our news today at 1200. 6 million pounds estimated. It is not that they had that much powder, but that it was stored improperly. M-6 propellant powder is what they called it, but I did not research it to see what it was. I would "dispose" of 100,000 pounds or so if they wanted.

If it was truly a propellant I dont see how it was an explosion hazard. Now a really good fire.... I could see that. But and explosion? Eh.... It would have to be contained and pressurized during burning... etc.

[MtGun44]

Idiots. Apparently that is propellant powder which is NOT an explosive. It will burn vigorously
if ignited, but not explode.

At least 75% of what you read in the media is wrong, largely because the reporters are both
stupid and lazy.

Bill

[Goatwhiskers]

According to what I read, M-6 is cannon powder, howitzers and such. There was an explosion in a bunker back in October. The problem with this stuff was that it wasn't even stored in bunkers, it was stacked in various buildings, even some stored outside on pallets. GW

[blackthorn]

Years ago my brother-in-law ran a huge chenical warehouse. They had gun cotten (which, if I read correctly is the case here) and it was in 45 gallon drums suspended in alcohol (IIRC). He told me as long as the gun cotten remained wet (with the alcohol) you could drop the drums off the pallet from as high as the fork lift would go and nothing would happen. I don't see anything about how this lot was packaged so I question just how dangeruos it really was! Illegal---probably---dangerous---????

[bob208]

if it is powder for reloading. it should be sold off to reloaders in the country. then the money applied to national debt. got to get it down one way or another.

[Harter66]

Didn't see the news. Was it in Minden?

If so it probably is D O D canned 155 m m and maybe 8 " howie propellant. I haven't actually seen any of those 65'-78' Iowa army ammo plant tubes.

The kernels are by eyeball. .2 dia by. 625+-.125 w/7-9 longatudial perforations . I saw some test/proof sheets from White Sands lab several yr ago that stated w/the nominal projectile of 135# a lot produced nominal muzzle velocities of 2700 fps and nominal chamber/breach pressures of 35,690 psi w/90# charges. It might be OK in your big ol' bowling ball cannon. There's probably some low/no flash powder there too. Just a guess.

[smokeywolf]

Six million pounds of powder. Certainly there must be some constructive use that can be found for this.

I agree with you MtGun44, except for the part of reporters being stupid. Unethical, immoral, dishonest, deceptive, underhanded, shady, void of compassion for anyone but themselves? Mostly! Stupid? Probably not.

smokeywolf

[Hardcast416taylor]

Anybody remember reading Pat McManus books of humor about growing up? In 1 story he relates about getting some surplus cannon powder and grinding it finer in a meat grinder so he could reload cartridges with it. Funny reading about the outcome.

The media considers anything related to the name "gunpowder" to be an explosive, irregardless of what it may actually be. Akin to any firearm being an "Assault Weapon".Robert

[Harter66]

After some quick research I will confirm my previous post as true and correct info.

It ships 39,000 lbs per truck including pallets and cans,as 1.3, mass fire hazard. 27 trucks won't scratch the surface.

Too bad really the cans have these cute lil' tamper seals on them........... 1-20 tin lead.

[Crawdaddy]

Man, I better call Uncle Boudreaux and see it he got raided!!! :)

Boudreaux is ok, but Thibodeaux is under the jail!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Goatwhiskers]

Guy on the news a while ago referred to the stuff as "smokeless black powder". Huh? I sent an e-mail to educate him knowing it won't do any good, my info is not sensational enough. GW

[quilbilly]

That is 3000 tons. That is almost 100 semis worth. Hmmmm

[Bad Water Bill]

Boudreaux is ok, but Thibodeaux is under the jail!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I am not worried about those two.

Junior1942 was last seen heading for his favorite bayou mumbling about his BIG stash and going to list more things "Junior sells".

Anybody seen or heard from him or do we have to start a collection to GET JUNIOR OUT OF THE JUG?[smilie=s:

[kbstenberg]

How meany loads for the 223 would that be? 6 tons divided by

[MtGun44]

Cannon powder is not going to even FIT into small arms cases as a general
rule, and lets not even think about the burn rate difference. I think maybe
it could be dissolved and reblended and then extruded or flaked into appropriate
powder at a much lower cost than making new powder, but I am right on
the verge (probably over the edge) of telling more than I know. I think
this recycling possibility may be something that a salvager might be thinking
about trying to work a deal on.

I agree with smokywolf's additions to the reporter adjectives, but stand by my
"stupid". Based on actual interaction several different times with print and
TV reporters. Stupid as a general rule, no doubt there are likely to be
exceptions.

Bill

[oldred]

Guy on the news a while ago referred to the stuff as "smokeless black powder". Huh? I sent an e-mail to educate him knowing it won't do any good, my info is not sensational enough. GW



Some reporters are just plain stupid! Don't know any other way of putting it but I just get sick of the sensationalism by using nonsense descriptions to make things seem much worse than they really are. A couple of examples, more than once I have heard these dummies refer to "high octane jet fuel" after an airplane accident! First of all jet fuel does not have an octane rating and octane has absolutely nothing to do with how it would react in an accident anyway! I guess a plane loaded with highly flammable high octane jet fuel sounds better than loaded with kerosene! Another one was a few years ago when there was a fire at an industrial site here in Tn, the reporter was talking to a fireman (yes a fireman of all people should have known better and likely did) about a huge tank of liquid Nitrogen that was close to the fire, both he and the fireman agreed that if the fire had of reached that tank of liquid nitrogen the resulting fireball would have been catastrophic- this was NITROGEN they were talking about and it was clearly visible painted on the tank in the background!

[MtGun44]

A friend once told me a major truism that I occasionally think of. After a particularly frustrating
run in via phone with "customer service" staffed by some total fool, I slammed the phone down
and yelled out "Idiots!" or something similar. My friend's cheerful voice wafted over the cubicle
wall - "Bill, Bill, calm down, you can't change that." Laughing now, but still a bit cranked up, I walked around the cube wall and
confronted my grinning friend. After a brief recap of the phone conversation he said -
"There are not enough smart people to go around and for a lot of jobs we have to use stupid
people and that isn't going to change."

Blindingly obvious, really, but I had never actually thought of it in those terms.

He is right. Too few people with a brain, not fixable.

My person comment on this - REMEMBER --- Half the people have an IQ below 100.

Scary.

Bill

[Bad Water Bill]

My person comment on this - REMEMBER --- Half the people have an IQ below 100.

Bill

And even there it only takes a couple 100s to cover up a lot of those 20s that are answering their phones.[smilie=s: