# Exploding Targets???



## mmarkey (May 17, 2013)

My wife gave me several 1/2 pound exploding targets for my birthday. Has anyone played with them? The instructions state position them at least 100 yards. Is that really needed? How large an explosion is it?


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## j_seph (May 17, 2013)

Even the smallest explosions go BOOM


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## Wild Turkey (May 17, 2013)

They make a real big boom.
I tied one whole 1/2 pd can to a 4" pine and blew it in half.
I mix the stuff up and put in empty snuff cans. 
mix it up real good or it wont work,
It takes a 223 or bigger to make them go off unless you get the small caliber kind.

Even more fun. mix up and add 45 cal musket balls to the can. Instant grenade.
put in a corn pile and attract some hogs. Shoot the can and watch the whole pack of hogs go by by.
Make sure your over 100 yds away and have something in front of you.


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## The Longhunter (May 17, 2013)

mmarkey said:


> How large an explosion is it?



Large enough to blow off Jon Krueger's hand.  Jon is one of the top competitive shotgunners in the United States (world), and does exhibition shooting.  He managed to blow off most of one hand holding exploding targets.

He went on to reestablish himself as one of the top shooters.

But the targets are nothing to handle casually.


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## mmarkey (May 17, 2013)

Yall are starting to scare me a little. 

I'll be using a .50 Cal flintlock.


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## Wild Turkey (May 17, 2013)

Check velocity. It has to over a certain point to detonate them.


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## tv_racin_fan (May 17, 2013)

mmarkey said:


> Yall are starting to scare me a little.
> 
> I'll be using a .50 Cal flintlock.


 
I do not think you can generate the required energy with that sir.

Unless what she bought were intended for the lower energy weapons.


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## Bernard goldsmith (May 17, 2013)

Be careful Mike, I would like to see you again.
Bernie Goldsmith
Field Rep NMLRA


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## Redleaf (May 18, 2013)

Somebody shot one up at Cornelia last year with a roundball and it went off.  He shot it at about 50 yards and it looked and sounded about like the old time M-80 firecracker to me.  I don't know how much of it or what formulation it was.


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## mmarkey (May 23, 2013)

went to the range and destroyed a couple of exploding targets today. First one went with a resounding boom at 50 yards being shot with a 50 cal ball pushed by 65Grains of 3F black powder. 

On the other hand the second one was set at about 75 yards on a sandy burm, the first shot was low and just moved the canister. The second shot was a very near miss as well. The third shot was also a very near miss bouncing the target. One of these shots could have cracked the canister and spilled some of the contents, but any way we didn't get a boom. 

So the jury's still out on the performance of these targets.
25 yards would have been perfectly safe for shooting these things, I think.

They are fun to shoot but I like shooting at water filled coke bottles as well. But there is no guessing if you have hit it. You will know.


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## GunnSmokeer (May 23, 2013)

*what brand?*

What brand of exploding targets are these?

I have heard of black powder targets that come ready-to-shoot and will detonate from a pistol bullet or .22 rifle. I think they have something mixed-in with the black powder to make it detonate on impact.

But all the exploding targets I've used in the last 15 years have been Tannerite brand binary explosives.  A bunch of white powder and a tablespoon of a gray or black catalyst.

They need a centerfire rifle with a pointed bullet to set them off well.  And it seems that the more powerful of a round you hit them with, the more "BOOM" you get on that end, too.


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## chase870 (May 23, 2013)

mix 5 plus pounds up it will knock the glass out of the windows of a house if its 75 yards away and set off car alarms for several miles


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## Hooked On Quack (May 23, 2013)

mmarkey said:


> My wife gave me several 1/2 pound exploding targets for my birthday. Has anyone played with them? The instructions state position them at least 100 yards. Is that really needed? How large an explosion is it?





			
				Wild Turke



You will feel the "shock" in yo chest and nutzzzzzzzz!!!


y;7820304 said:
			
		

> Check velocity. It has to over a certain point to detonate them.





I buy cases of "Tannerite" a year.  Usually shoot 'em with my AR, or my 243.  Didn't think a ML had a fast enough velocity to detonate them, but as usual I could be wrong.


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## mmarkey (May 24, 2013)

The brand is "ZOMBOOM". It is a White powder with a dark grey powder that you need to mix together. These are 1/2 pound canisters.

Muzzleloaders generate plenty of velocity to blow them. My 50 Cal with a 80 grain charge has a 1750 FPS muzzle velocity. The charge I shot the canister with was 65 grains of 3F black powder at 50 yards.


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## GunnSmokeer (Sep 11, 2013)

*change shape*

If that stuff works like Tannerite, you can make it easier hit from a safe distance, and probably get a better boom, by changing the shape of the container you put it in.

Instead of a short fat round cylinder, like a jar of Vick's Vapor Rub,  use a shallow 5" or 6" covered plastic dish. Like tupperware, but not that expensive.  Something you might buy jello in, at the supermarket.  Something your local deli might use to package chicken salad or chip dip.  

Fill that empty plastic container with the explosive mix, tape the lid on, and then turn it so one of the flat rounds sides of it face you. Your target is now basically a 6" diameter disc that is an inch or 1.5" thick.  That's easy to hit near the center.

With a foot-long piece of duct tape or clear package-wrapping tape, you can attach that exploding target to a wooden or cardboard backstop easily.  Make sure it faces you squarely, so your bullet hits it perpendicular to the surface.


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## SgtPat (Sep 21, 2013)

mmarkey said:


> Yall are starting to scare me a little.
> 
> I'll be using a .50 Cal flintlock.



That will not detonate it.  It is not the size of the round, it is the velosity.  The round must be going over 2000 fps.


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## SgtPat (Sep 21, 2013)

Sorry, thought it was Tannerite.


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## mmarkey (Sep 21, 2013)

Sgtpat

Not labeled Tannerite.  The brand name is Zomb-Boom. 
I would say it is the same stuff. A jar full of little white beads that seem like Styrofoam beads with a graphite colored powder that you pour in and mix to a consistant blend. Instructions don't mention any specific caliber or bullet velocity. A direct hit (or a hit that is through and through) will blow them a GLANCING HIT (a hit that creases the container but will not penetrate the canister only chip it a little) will not Blow it. I like the idea of shooting these on end with the flat round showing. Much less chance for a glancing shot.

As far as 2000 FPS to get them to blow IMHO that's simply  nonsense, had no problem making them blow with a much slower round. When I hit it that is. Iron sights and old eyes.


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