rcromwell29 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I need help so I am turning here. I have all the ingredients and the recipe (AL/AN) for exploding targets already. However, my AR15 (223) shooting reloads will not set them off but my friends AR10 (308) will. I just want to make the targets sensitive enough to detonate with a smaller caliber round like a 22lr. With that said I know that the AN is the Oxidizer and the AL is the sensitizing agent. So my educated guess would be to add more AL to the mix. However, its just a guess and I don't want to ruin the stuff I bought and cant afford to buy a (308) right now. Would I be correct? Any help is greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 nope you wouldnt be correct adding to much Al will tip make it oxygen deficient you need to try a different oxidiser or target design perchlorate might be a good place to start or many people use CuO/Al targets apparently they fire off a .22LR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcromwell29 Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 nope you wouldnt be correct adding to much Al will tip make it oxygen deficient you need to try a different oxidiser or target design perchlorate might be a good place to start or many people use CuO/Al targets apparently they fire off a .22LR Thanks for the response. So would just adding the CuO to the mix work to raise the sensitivity level for my need. say 85% AN 10% CuO and 5% AL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usapyro Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the response. So would just adding the CuO to the mix work to raise the sensitivity level for my need. say 85% AN 10% CuO and 5% AL? He was talking about making an entirely different type of shooting target. One that isn't AN based... A sensitizer that should would for you is Antimony Trisulfide. Replace 2% of the AL with it and add 1% more... Try one target with it and see what it does. Edited June 6, 2011 by usapyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepOvertone Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'd think that replacing some of the aluminum with antimony trisulphide might make it more sensetive but it may be dangerous. Some of the other guys on here will have to chime in on the chemistry and if the mixture would perhaps form other compounds which may be extremely sensetive. I'm not that great with the chemistry part. Mumbles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepOvertone Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Whoops. I guess USA and I are on the same page. I left the house before finishing my reply. I guess he beat me to the punch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usapyro Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'd think that replacing some of the aluminum with antimony trisulphide might make it more sensetive but it may be dangerous. Some of the other guys on here will have to chime in on the chemistry and if the mixture would perhaps form other compounds which may be extremely sensetive. I'm not that great with the chemistry part. Mumbles? Antimony trisulfide is an ingredient in most commercial tannerites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcromwell29 Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) Antimony trisulfide is an ingredient in most commercial tannerites. Thank you all so much for the rapid responses. So to confirm 89%AN 2% Antimony Trisulfide 9% AL. Only question is this wont cause a flame on impact will it? as I shoot in the desert where there is dry brush and don't want to start a fire!!! Thank you again Edited June 6, 2011 by rcromwell29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepOvertone Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 With any sort of chemical explosion there is always heat involved. Its the duration of the heat and wether or not it throws sparks that is the real concern. The antimony wont spark as long as it is powdered fine enough. And for it be an effective sensitizing agent, it would most certainly have to be powdered very finely. So no worries there. Same goes for the aluminum. If its powdered very finely and you don't have it compressed and you have the correct ox/fuel ratio and its mixed evenly enough it should all be consumed in milliseconds. Thats not to say you should set these things off in a dry field with no fire extinguisher. Its always best to be prepared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcromwell29 Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 With any sort of chemical explosion there is always heat involved. Its the duration of the heat and wether or not it throws sparks that is the real concern. The antimony wont spark as long as it is powdered fine enough. And for it be an effective sensitizing agent, it would most certainly have to be powdered very finely. So no worries there. Same goes for the aluminum. If its powdered very finely and you don't have it compressed and you have the correct ox/fuel ratio and its mixed evenly enough it should all be consumed in milliseconds. Thats not to say you should set these things off in a dry field with no fire extinguisher. Its always best to be prepared. Thank you... I just didnt want a fire ball coming off this stuff. The AN/AL mix just just causes a white cloud of smoke which I am completely fine with. We always keep a fire extinguisher with us when we are shooting these things off for safety purposes because you never know what could happen. I hope the mix percentage is right at 89% 2% and 9 % we shall see in a couple of weeks when we go shooting again. Thank you all for the assistance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usapyro Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) Thank you... I just didnt want a fire ball coming off this stuff. The AN/AL mix just just causes a white cloud of smoke which I am completely fine with. We always keep a fire extinguisher with us when we are shooting these things off for safety purposes because you never know what could happen. I hope the mix percentage is right at 89% 2% and 9 % we shall see in a couple of weeks when we go shooting again. Thank you all for the assistance I was digging a bit deeper... It's very hard to find information on exact tannerite comps because the companies that make tannerite keep them quite secret... Commercial tannerite generally contains around 5% antimony trisulfide dark pyro variety. To make things simple... Just reduce the AL 1% per each 1% antimony trisulfide (dark pryo) you add. Dark pryo grade antimony-TS is also very fine like dark al. This isn't a proper mole to mole way of doing things, but it should work just fine for a little modification like this. I would guess that sensitive would increase heavily up to around 3%, then you would get less gains in sensitive adding more antimony past 6% to where it just makes things more expensive than it's worth... This should work for the AR15, but if your moving to a 22LR... You will need a CuO or chlorate based shooting target. New base oxidizer. Edited June 7, 2011 by usapyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algenco Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Tannerite Oxidizer 85% 200 mesh Ammonium Nitrate, 15 Ammonium per chlorate Metal 90% dark Al 5% titanium sponge 325 mesh 5% Zirconium Hydryd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PersonGuyDude Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I have a composition that I found on the internet randomly, haven't tried it. Don't really plan too, but it's supposed to be .22lr sensitive. However, it contains KClO3, Antimony Trisulfide, AND sulfur. If someone chimes in and says that it may be safe to post, I will post it. But I am pretty sure this is what they call "deathmix", correct me if I'm wrong and I will post it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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