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An explaination of "tannerite". The explosive found at the home of Dallas shooter

RetiredNSmilin

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Hello friends,

TANNERITE

I know more than a few of you are not gun nuts like me. Even more of you are not even firearms enthusiasts.

So, because of this, I would like to offer an explanation about something found in the Dallas shooter's home that some in the media are calling an explosive. I have no doubt sooner or later some talking head who did a quick internet search will be trying to give a detailed lecture about something they had no knowledge of only a day or two before.

Therefore I would like to explain what this stuff is and how it is used.

TANNERITE is two powders that when mixed together and shot with a high speed bullet, explode....BOOM. Not a real big BOOM, but a BOOM, none the less.

It is sold in gun store as a fun way to have a little excitement when out at the range. Here you are plinking away at some tin cans, and then when you hit one of them...BOOM!.

Most formal ranges BAN Tannerite, either because of some fear of potential abuse, or because someone DID actually abuse it.

OK, how could you abuse it? I will offer an explanation and a video I do not have a link for just yet, but know it is there.

One group of Preppers decided to make their bug out location even more secure by placing a "bomb" in the road so if bad guys came down the road, they could shoot it and blow up the bad guys.

Now, get this....most Tannerite is mixed in small 1/2 pound or so containers. Guess what these guys did? They mixed up 800 POUNDS of it and buried it in the road. :eek:

They then placed an old beat up truck over the stuff to see what would happen. Well.....when the crap when off, it blew the whole truck into tiny pieces. I am not just talking about the sheet metal either. I am talking about the whole drive shaft being blown apart, and most of the truck blown so far apart and away it was not even found. There ya go...800 pounds of Tannerite.

Now, most shooters only get one jar or two just to have a little more fun when plinking out it the woods.

I personally have only used it twice, and both times I never saw any flame or fire as it blew up, and the explosion was more akin to a heavy caliber black powder rifle going off than a real explosion of any modern explosives.

So that is basically Tannerite in a nutshell. It MUST be shot with a bullet to blow up, or at least as far as I know, that is how it blows up.

Black powder gunpowder, to me, I feel is much more dangerous in that if compressed it blows up with much more force and can be set off more easily.

SMOKELESS reloading powders on the other hand, are much, much, safer, and I actually have a pound of it right next to ne on the table as I type this. A friend of mine cannot find his favorite brand locally, so I looked for him while I was on my trip and found him some in Casa Grande, AZ for him on the way back ;).

OK, you may or may not hear about Tannerite being in the shooter's home, but now you all have a much better idea what it is. I would not rely on a reporter from MSNBC for the straight scoop on the stuff.
 
Re: An explaination of "tannerite". The explosive found at the home of Dallas shoote

Me, again...this is only 200 pounds, and it is also a bit anemic. Maybe the stuff sold to Russia is not as good as ours.

200 Pounds of Tannerite is a Massive Explosion! | RTM - RightThisMinute

I have not been able to find the guy that blew the 800 pounds yet, but I saw it on NETFLIX...NATGEO Doomsday Preppers. They were up in their remote bug out location in a rock quarry if I remember correctly.

One thing that really bothered me about this one episode, and also bothered me about a few others, is these guys put their small children in harms way, and expect them to function as trained combat veterans under stress and under fire from bad guys. I find that kind of thinking a bit immoral. But what the hell do I know. I just do not see a family unit to be expected to behave as a military combat unit. What exactly are "acceptable" casualties? You 11 year old daughter? Your wife? This is where I part company with my fellow survivalists.
 
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Re: An explaination of "tannerite". The explosive found at the home of Dallas shoote

So when the media blathers about "explosives were found" or "had an arsenal" you want me to not overreact?!?
 
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