"Reloader" blows up his house

October 11, 2021, 03:25 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Newspapers get all kinds of things wrong.

Whether incompetence or agenda, you can hardly trust anything the media reports.

October 11, 2021, 03:30 PM

Russ59

quote:
Originally posted by 1s1k:
It looks like a natural gas explosion to me. He might have had a gas leak and didn’t smell it because of all the chemicals he had out.

In the video, the neighbor/witness states there is no natural gas in the neighborhood. Doesn't mean the homeowner didn't have BBQ tanks though.

October 11, 2021, 03:31 PM

p08

quote:
Originally posted by flashguy:
quote:
Originally posted by p08:
He was working with something, but it sure as hell wasn't smokeless powder! Unless he had Win 296 or another fast burning powder in a closed container. I'm gonna guess maybe he was loading black powder rounds or messing with other volatile chemicals. I'm sure the arson people will figure it out with residue traces all over the place.
I don't think of W296 (H110) as a fast-burning powder--it's about the slowest burning powder for handguns. I guess if you are accustomed to rifle ammo it would be pretty fast (H110 was created for the .30 Carbine round).

I don't think it is possible for smokeless powder (any kind) to do that kind of damage unless it had been deliberately confined and set off--not a normal practice during reloading. Something else was involved.

flashguy

Yeah, I was backwards. For some reason I had it in my head magnum powders burned faster.

October 11, 2021, 04:00 PM

HayesGreener

Let's wait and see what the investigation shows. I would be looking for meth, it is a problem out there, but ruling out meth I would think black powder. But that's just speculation on my part

October 11, 2021, 04:17 PM

mrvmax

quote:
Originally posted by darthfuster:
quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
If that was from 6 pounds of smokeless powder then the government is wasting too much money on munitions. Even with high explosives (primers), I doubt you'll get that affect with the quantities people normally have. Plus, components are usually not contained. That is not from reloading supplies, something else was involved.

Only way 6 lbs of powder would do that is if the pressure were contained. Even then, that’s a lot more damage than I’d expect.

You are incorrect, even contained 6 pounds of smokeless powder is not going to blow out bricks like in that picture. This is not the movies and I have used enough explosives to say that was not 6 pounds of black powder.

October 11, 2021, 04:32 PM

Lt CHEG

quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
This is not the movies and I have used enough explosives to say that was not 6 pounds of black powder.

Agree 100%. This could absolutely have been from flash powder but smokeless of black powder are both extremely unlikely. If he had several pounds of double based smokeless powder, like Red Dot, that somehow detonated with a blasting cap or some other high explosive initiator then it might be a possibility but still remote. Barring something like that, I’m not seeing this happen from smokeless powder.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

October 11, 2021, 04:51 PM

PHPaul

October 11, 2021, 10:48 PM

rburg

So far we haven't had any reloaders comment in this thread. No mention of Bullseye or Unique. Those are just dynamite with a different name. So our posters could qualify as newspaper writers, maybe. If you read the articles, you'll find there is a limit to how much powder you can store. Also how you must store it. Yeah, I ignore it. Much of mine is stored in small brass cylinders. Like 2.7 grains in each with a soft lead stopper.

I don't like Unique because it just seems dirty. Double base powder is just gun cotton with nitro glycern soaked into it. Bullseye and Unique are 50/50. So an 8#er of Bullseye is 4# of nitro with some equal amount of gun cotton. It goes off too. Anyone think 4# of nitro won't blow your house sky high?

Now back to what set it off. I have no idea.

October 11, 2021, 11:48 PM

XLT

Must have been reloading for a 10mm, I heard those are some powerful rounds.

October 12, 2021, 04:22 AM

Jelly

I don't see powder doing that unless it was under a fair amount of compression, seems unlikely. A large quantity of primers perhaps? I can tell you 1/2 dozen swept up primers are a little spooky in a wood stove.

October 12, 2021, 05:23 AM

45 Cal

All the fact are not in on this case,wild ass speculations on a small amount of powder don't cut it.
I have been handling powder for five decades,all kinds.
There is a video where they burned a trailer of ammo trying to test the explosive power,the shit just burned

October 12, 2021, 07:01 AM

gearhounds

Perhaps we’re missing the real intent here… “ammunition reloaded are a hazard to the community and need to be strongly regulated”.

October 12, 2021, 08:09 AM

Flash-LB

quote:
Originally posted by Russ59:
quote:
Originally posted by 1s1k:
It looks like a natural gas explosion to me. He might have had a gas leak and didn’t smell it because of all the chemicals he had out.

In the video, the neighbor/witness states there is no natural gas in the neighborhood. Doesn't mean the homeowner didn't have BBQ tanks though.

If there's no natural gas, there's definitely propane.

October 12, 2021, 08:16 AM

flesheatingvirus

Some smokeless powders can detonate, but you need to add confinement and a shock initiation like a blasting cap. Bullseye is one such powder, since it is ~42% nitroglycerin. If this was a detonation, the guy would likely be dead and in pieces. This could have been black powder, and I agree with that other comments about smokeless leaving more of a fire trace. Primers would not have blown out half the building unless he had many pounds that were packed together and not in their original packaging. Even then, he would have been toast. He could have also been experimenting with HME and a gas leak seems possible.

________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --

October 12, 2021, 11:34 AM

George43

Tannerite? (sp)

October 12, 2021, 12:13 PM

Modern Day Savage

@ 1:25 mark, there is what remains of a loading bench with a loading press and vices, surrounded nearby by ammo cans, and other containers that I can't identify. Also nearby is what remains of a tumbler.

When the camera zooms in you can one of the ammo cans labelled 12 ga. "OO". Another camera shot shows center-fire pistol caliber rounds strewn between pieces of home insulation on what remains of the loading bench.

Just guessing, but I'm thinking investigators were placing all this collected evidence in one place in the yard before loading it and transporting it from the scene.

quote:
Originally posted by gearhounds:
Perhaps we’re missing the real intent here… “ammunition reloaded are a hazard to the community and need to be strongly regulated”.

Yes sir, that was my first thought as well.

October 12, 2021, 04:17 PM

old dino

This thread got me thinking ... that I needed to check all my powder supplies and how they are stored. I was pleased that all my smokeless powder was just fine ... especially since it all has gotten my attention off and on over the years.

However, my black powder was not. I have not black powder hunted in over 30 years. I have six 1 lb metal cans of various black powder ... three full and three partial. The tops and screw caps of the six metal cans had a layer of surface rust. No friggin' way would I unscrew those top due to any friction that could cook a can off.

Had a nice chat with our local fire department. Decision made that I would soak the cans in water (gonna give it a week) and use a sharp object to puncture a hole in the can side so it can soak further.

Can eventually find new powder someday if wish to go black powder hunting.

October 13, 2021, 04:57 AM

tacfoley

quote:
Originally posted by old dino:Can eventually find new powder someday if wish to go black powder hunting.

Hmmm. Maybe.

GOEX have just put the mill on a permanent shut-down notice by the years-end.

After that............................?

October 13, 2021, 07:03 AM

MikeinNC

quote:
Can eventually find new powder someday if wish to go black powder hunting.

No you can’t.
You anywhere near central TX, I’ll come take it off your hands.

"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020

“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker

October 13, 2021, 09:11 AM

jhe888

quote:
Originally posted by old dino:
This thread got me thinking ... that I needed to check all my powder supplies and how they are stored. I was pleased that all my smokeless powder was just fine ... especially since it all has gotten my attention off and on over the years.

However, my black powder was not. I have not black powder hunted in over 30 years. I have six 1 lb metal cans of various black powder ... three full and three partial. The tops and screw caps of the six metal cans had a layer of surface rust. No friggin' way would I unscrew those top due to any friction that could cook a can off.

Had a nice chat with our local fire department. Decision made that I would soak the cans in water (gonna give it a week) and use a sharp object to puncture a hole in the can side so it can soak further.

Can eventually find new powder someday if wish to go black powder hunting.

You could punch a hole in the can and transfer it to another container. or use it as fertilizer. There is a lot of nitrogen in there.