The Foolish Things I've Seen And Done

[MBTcustom]

When I say its a miracle I still have use of my hands and eyes I mean an honest to God miracle. My brother and I found some of my dads shot-shell reloads and like dumb kids do, we started prying open the tips of them and dumping the shot into a bowl (dont ask me why it was so entertaining to destroy perfectly good shot-shells, but I honestly didn't know what they were at the time.) Well, we demilled about ten of them and at that point I came across one that was different. I know now that it was a remington high brass 3 inch no. 8 express. Well, I tried to open up the petals like we did the previous ones, but remington melted them together on those shells so I decided to go in from the back. I turned the shell nose down on the concrete floor, wrapped both hands around it, and told my brother to pound the small screwdriver in with a hammer so we could pry that brass thingy out. The shell went off leaving a 4inch black spot, and a crack in the concrete, my brother says he remembers seeing sparks flying every where and I remember my hands feeling numb and a ringing in my ears. Let me say again that I had my hands wrapped around that shot-shell! I was facing my brother with the shot-shell in between us when it went off but neither of us got a scratch. I still wonder how that could happen but I have come to know Jesus as my personal savior and I figure he wanted me to have my hands.
So that's my story of adolescent stupidity. You can bet money that I am going to keep better track of my stuff/teach my kids about gun safety, earlier than my dad did me!!!!

[man.electric]

Arrows in the air, check. Lawn darts, check. BB gun wars, check. Cherry bombs inside of any rotting animal I found, check. The worst was when I discovered how to make blasting caps at twelve years old.

1. Take a shotgun shell and pry open the top
2. Remove all of the innards
3. Take small drill bit and drill hole through primer and insert model rocket igniter(epoxy in place).
4. Fill hull to top with the black powder, crimp shell and epoxy shut.
5. BOOM!

Shortly after learning the art of blasting caps I was taught how to thread pipe down in our shop and the BOOMs got BIG. I somehow survived all of this without ending up in prison and am better for it I am sure.

[Canuck Bob]

In a more domestic setting I once whispered a very foul curse word toward my mother as a big for my britches 15 year old. I didn't know my father was standing right behind me. I found out Dad was much better with his fists than I ever imagined. He gave me fair warning and a fair fight behind the barn but kicked my butt with some serious intent. He learned to fight at 15 building the Alaska Highway during the war I later found out. I deserved worse.

To this day I can't abide children who disrespect their Mother.

My arrow landed in my tent and it rained all that night.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I did the arrow thing also. What fun that was! I can't believe someone else wondered what would happen if you took a punch and hit the primer on a 12 ga. shell. (no powder). Couldn't hear beans for awhile and as it went off, I heard all kinds of stuff buzzing by my head. It sure sent that punch flying. Bottle rocket wars were about the most dangerous thing we did.

[WILCO]

bb-gun wars...

Yep. Done that.

[nanuk]

somewhere, about 25 -30 MPH north of 120, I drove over an intersection on the old paved road that was about 15 feet higher than the main road (can you say Ramp?)

the guy I was racing said he saw me go well above the farm lights in the distance. It was dark and he believe I was at least 30 feet above the road surface.

I came down square with a Gawdawful bang, but didn't lose control. we stopped. I had to shake the **** out of my pants and his girlfriend, a friend of mine was crying pretty much uncontrollably. She thought I had died when the car went out of sight ahead of them as I came down beyond the Ramp.

[3006guns]

I found out that a 12 gauge shell would slip fit in a 3/4" steel pipe nipple. I put a shell in a nipple I stole from Dad's stuff in the garage and taped it on the end of my BB gun. Boy, I didn't expect it to do THAT!!

Jim........you're scaring me....

Had a high school classmate back in the sixties that was constantly messing with shotgun powders, cartridges, etc...I avoided him and still have all my fingers as a result.

So, one fine day he decides to go duck hunting......out of season, on a preserve and no license. He tossed a 12 ga. pump in his dad's new Buick and drives out on a levee, gets out and creeps up on some birds in the water. Just then, he notices the game warden's truck approaching about 1/2 mile away. In a panic he runs back to the car and tosses the shotgun in, muzzle first. Gun discharges. The game warden pulled up to find him with the hood open, distributor and most of the carburetor gone...not to mention a large hole in the firewall. When he explains that it's his dad's car, the warden busted out laughing and drove off yelling back "No citation......you've got enough problems!"

[Lizard333]

This has got to be one of the best posts to laugh your butt off in a long time!! Twice now I have burst into tears from laughing so hard. Keep em up!! They are great!

[BruceB]

At a time when I was old enough, and SHOULD have known better....

Took a single-engine Otter (BIG bush-plane) on floats to bring a generator out of a closed-down diamond-drill camp. Had two pals along to supply some muscle.

On arrival, we found thirteen cases of "weeping" nitro dynamite, meaning: we ain't gonna put THIS stuff on that airplane! Liquid nitroglycerin was soaking the cases.

I scattered a box of blasting caps inside one case, and piled the other cases around it. Then we tried to touch off the whole pile by firing into the capped case, first with a .30-06 and then with a .44 Ruger pistol (from a hundred yards 'distance). No go, but you want to see a flinch? Expecting six hundred pounds of 'powder' to detonate on every shot....THAT will give anyone a flinch!

I gave up on shooting the stuff, and put a fused cap in one case. We lowered it into six feet of water at the pot-hole's edge, and then placed the other cases on and around it. Lighting the 10-foot fuse, we retired to watch the results.

A column of water and "loonsh--" went about four hundred feet in the air, and then came down ALL OVER THE AIRPLANE. We then had to wash the Otter with a bucket and broom, because dirty wings don't lift worth a damn. The pilot was not amused....

[evan price]

I got my old 73 Chevy Cheyenne Super pickup stuck in a little muddy low spot coming from my friend's barn to his driveway. Couldn't get it out. So my friend's brother gets their Kubota tractor to pull me out. I hooked the chain up to the truck and then noticed that the tow-hook would fit between two pins in the drawbar but when I put the pins back in the hook would not pull between the pins. Cool! So we are trying to jerk the truck out and my friend gets in the back of the truck and starts bouncing up and down to get some traction on the rear wheels while the brother starts yanking and slamming on that tow chain with the tractor. Suddenly with a loud BANG! the tow hook (still attached to the chain) is embedded in the side of the truck a mere couple inches from my friend in the back of the truck, who has fallen down. Seems the tow hook was hard, the tractor pins were soft, and the hook carved divots out of the pins and then snapped backwards with enough force that the free end of the chain lashed my friend in the truck bed across the shoulder (and his right arm went numb) and then embedded itself into the steel truck bed barely missing his head.

We were MUCH more careful about how we hooked up the chain to pull it out.


A former job, we had an old Leach rear-load trash truck that I kept running because the owner was too cheap to replace it. One morning after replacing a hydraulic hose I was testing the packer when my cell phone fell out of my shirt pocket into the rear tailgate of the truck (where you put the trash....it was empty). The packer was cycling, starting to come down. I started reaching for it- because there's a safety interlock, when the packer blade hits a certain part of its travel it automatically shuts itself off and stops moving until you throw the handle the other way. I knew it would stop with lots of room before hitting me and crushing me to death.

Well, for some reason (I like to think wisdom and sanity) I pulled my arm back and did not lean into the trash packer and just decided to wait until the packer stopped and then reverse it back up. Well, the blade just kept going and the limit arm hopped over the detent on the lever shaft and the packer blade never stopped. It was the one and only time I ever saw that happen with that packer unit. It taught me a very valuable lesson right there. And my cell phone survived.

[Bullwolf]

I guess I fit right in here too, because I also would do the shoot an arrow straight up in the air thing when I was a kid. I would often find arrows in the strangest places years later.

Same with the BB gun wars, and as an added bonus we would press 12 gauge shells into the dirt and then would try to shoot the primer to get it to pop.

I remember Lawn Darts, it was practically Mumblety-peg for kids! That probably helps explains why that particular game was so popular with us in our teen years using a pocket knife.

I guess I had too much time on my hands when I was a kid because I would also tape model rocket engines to sticks to make my own redneck home made bottle rockets. Although the scale was a tad bit larger.

One of the dumbest things I ever did was to attach a model rocket engine, a short bit of twine, and a small rock all together.

I am not quite sure just exactly what I was expecting to happen at the time, but I had ran out of conveniently sized sticks. I guess that I sort of expected the rock tied to the model rocket engine to somehow magically stabilize itself while in flight, sort of dragging along the rock behind the rocket engine. Much like the rocket engine taped to a stick would do.

Instead, it made an incredibly dangerous and insanely fast cycling set of loop the loops (around head height) and closely resembled a Bolo on nitrous oxide. Somehow I managed to survive it intact, but the memory, and a little bit of the terror, still remains.

M-80's, Silver Salutes, Cherry Bombs with the fuses lit from a cigarette hanging out of your mouth, and shot out of slingshots or wrist rockets. Also placed in metal cans, or toilets, and all the other fun stuff done. Anything that would go "bang". The 4th of July was my all time favorite holiday as a child. I still love the smell of burning powder to this day. Is it really any wonder that I enjoy shooting and reloading?

There is still nothing like that first whiff of burning powder when you get to the range.

Looking back, it's somewhat surprising that I managed to make it to a healthy adulthood with all my fingers and toes intact.

I am a lot more careful these days, now that I am all grown up and have learned that I am not invulnerable. But I wouldn't trade most of those memories for anything.


- Bullwolf

[nicholst55]

Arrows fired straight up - check; BB guns - check; model rockets - check; cherry bombs stuck inside bricks - check; dismantling shotshells for the powder - check; homemade firecrackers - check (try that with powder salvaged from grenade simulators sometime - that's great fun!); fire - check (burned down part of a neighbor's fence once); using CO2 capsules to launch pointed arc welding elecrodes - check; tennis ball cannons - check; homemade cannons - check.

And then I joined the Army at 17 and things got really dangerous! However, I survived and still have all my digits and both eyes; probably not my fault when you look back on it.

[Longwood]

I guess I fit right in here too, because I also would do the shoot an arrow straight up in the air thing when I was a kid. I would often find arrows in the strangest places years later.

Same with the BB gun wars, and as an added bonus we would press 12 gauge shells into the dirt and then would try to shoot the primer to get it to pop.

I remember Lawn Darts, it was practically Mumblety-peg for kids! That probably helps explains why that particular game was so popular with us in our teen years using a pocket knife.

I guess I had too much time on my hands when I was a kid because I would also tape model rocket engines to sticks to make my own redneck home made bottle rockets. Although the scale was a tad bit larger.

One of the dumbest things I ever did was to attach a model rocket engine, a short bit of twine, and a small rock all together.

I am not quite sure just exactly what I was expecting to happen at the time, but I had ran out of conveniently sized sticks. I guess that I sort of expected the rock tied to the model rocket engine to somehow magically stabilize itself while in flight, sort of dragging along the rock behind the rocket engine. Much like the rocket engine taped to a stick would do.

Instead, it made an incredibly dangerous and insanely fast cycling set of loop the loops (around head height) and closely resembled a Bolo on nitrous oxide. Somehow I managed to survive it intact, but the memory, and a little bit of the terror, still remains.

M-80's, Silver Salutes, Cherry Bombs with the fuses lit from a cigarette hanging out of your mouth, and shot out of slingshots or wrist rockets. Also placed in metal cans, or toilets, and all the other fun stuff done. Anything that would go "bang". The 4th of July was my all time favorite holiday as a child. I still love the smell of burning powder to this day. Is it really any wonder that I enjoy shooting and reloading?

There is still nothing like that first whiff of burning powder when you get to the range.

Looking back, it's somewhat surprising that I managed to make it to a healthy adulthood with all my fingers and toes intact.

I am a lot more careful these days, now that I am all grown up and have learned that I am not invulnerable. But I wouldn't trade most of those memories for anything.


- Bullwolf

I did all of that and worse. Fireworks were illegal and unavailable soooo,,, match head rockets, home made black powder, shotgun I found in a burned out cabin. YeeGads! Should I go on?
Last summer we put a bit, OK,,, a lot, of powder in the finger hole of a bowling ball and stuck in a cut off shotgun shell, then it was 22 time. Never again,,, a big chunk landed behind us, narrowly missing my buddies truck.
I get rid of my old powder by poking a little bit of baggie down into a soda or other strong plastic bottle then poke a hole in the lid for some firecracker fuse.
Loud and much fun! As fun as the dry ice bombs that the kids now do but much quicker.
I am 69 now and plan on growing up,,,, someday.

[Longwood]

I did the arrow thing also. What fun that was! I can't believe someone else wondered what would happen if you took a punch and hit the primer on a 12 ga. shell. (no powder). .

I got the biggest blood blisters I ever had doing the exact same thing.
Them shotshell primers are powerful ain't they.

[3006guns]

O.K........one more, then I'll shut up.

Anyone ever fool with calcium carbide? You know, those lovely magical little gray "rocks" that produce acetyline when they contact water? We had some in the original Union tin can, a left over from my grandfather's cap lamp.

One of my not so bright but enthusiastic friends excitedly told me that if I punched a small hole in a steel coffee can, added some water, tossed in a few "rocks", replaced the lid.....then waited a few seconds, it could be ignited with a match near the hole and make a nice "boom". Of course, you had to place one foot on the can to keep it from rolling around.......

It made a "boom" all right. There was enough oxygen mixed with that gas for excellent results......windows rattled, dogs ran and I was standing there with ringing ears and a flattened can under my foot.

I avoided that kid from then on.

[Longwood]

O.K........one more, then I'll shut up.

Anyone ever fool with calcium carbide? You know, those lovely magical little gray "rocks" that produce acetyline when they contact water? We had some in the original Union tin can, a left over from my grandfather's cap lamp.

One of my not so bright but enthusiastic friends excitedly told me that if I punched a small hole in a steel coffee can, added some water, tossed in a few "rocks", replaced the lid.....then waited a few seconds, it could be ignited with a match near the hole and make a nice "boom". Of course, you had to place one foot on the can to keep it from rolling around.......

It made a "boom" all right. There was enough oxygen mixed with that gas for excellent results......windows rattled, dogs ran and I was standing there with ringing ears and a flattened can under my foot.

I avoided that kid from then on.

Oh yeah, and later in life Acetylene in baggies or balloons.
We also did the natural gas in a dry cleaner bag but stopped it soon after we upgraded to a acetylene bomb at the end.
A friends mom owned a dry cleaners and he could make the bags any length he wanted. We would make them up to 20 feet long, tie the ends into knots then light the tail. They were best at night. They would reach altitude while flickering and burning - which of course attracted attention - then suddenly do a big flash with a loud bang that soon got the cops called.
Exploding UFO's ????
We made the San Bernardino, CA newspaper.


If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room!

[Wayne Smith]

We were dumb enough to be disappointed that we couldn't seem to fire an arrow straight up! Made my own black powder - not granulated - at 13 years old. Blew up cinder blocks with firecrackers (bombs) made with used shotgun hulls and strapping tape. Cannon fuse in one primer hole. Gutter downspout, M-80's and empty beer cans = mortar. Awful glad I grew up on farms!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Wholly krap,
I hope the BATFE isn't reading this.
I have never done anything like this,
I have never been around anyone doing anything like this.
that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Good bye,
Jon

[bearcove]

6th grade found out if you shoot 22lr shells out of a sling shot at brick wall, about half of them go bang.

[OutHuntn84]

Ya know I was never foolish enough to shoot an arrow straight up in the air in the day time, cant see em. So I waited until it got dark snuck down to the pond and tied an alcohol soaked rag to it so I could see it coming. I had a lot of explaining to do when my dad noticed little balls of fire shooting up from the pond.

When I was little every kid on the street had a bike as their primary means of transportation. So every year on the 4th we would turn our inocent bikes into assault vehicles by taping roman candles, satarn missles, bottle rockets and any other type of projectile to our bikes and have wars. We were smart enough to wear 2 pairs of pants and gloves to avoid being burnt by fuses.

When I was about ten I had a stroke of genius. I had a wrist rocket and a good sharp pocket knife. Great tools seperatley so combining them was a no brainer! I took my time to get the knife in the sling just right. Then pulled the thing back as far as I could....boy this was going to be cool. I still have the scar on the knuckle of my thumb where the knife lodged into bone.

When I first learned to read I noticed my dad's desposible lighter was out of fluid and I had found some lighter fluid. 1+1=2 right! So Im on the front pourch squirting lighter fluid all over this lighter and I think I got some in there! So flick flick and what do ya know I got a flame. Problem was it was my hand! Momma was not amused to see her baby boy running around the yard playing with fire.

A few years later I learned rubbing alcohol really got a fire going. So one day as I was getting the grill ready for dad to cook up some burgers and was getting it good and ready with some alcohol when the flame shot up into the bottle and shot off like a rocket. I stood there for a minute scared to look at my now numb hand fearing it had been blown off.

Lord knows how I survived myself