Category Archives: Boomershoot

Boomershoot is a long range precision rifle event with high explosives as the targets. This is about Boomershoot in general and sometimes just explosives.

Summer Boomershoots

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NOT!

Those of you that have requested more frequent Boomershoots don’t know what you are asking for. It was 104F there today.

I went out to the Boomershoot site to inventory and organize a few things then fix the broken table we use for making reactive targets that sometimes fell down when we’re using it. For some reason my helpers seem uncomfortable with a hundred pounds of explosives falling to the ground all around them. I can’t imagine why.

Anyway, I arrived by about 8:45 AM and it was already warm. The Taj Mahal was buzzing with wasps and I threw out between five and ten nests and killed a half dozen or so individual wasps. I got stung by a wasp I never did see. I did all my inventory and organizational chores as the temperature kept rising. It was really hot and there wasn’t even the hint of a breeze. I was dripping wet with sweat even though I was working in the shade. I left about 10:45 and when I arrived at my parents house two miles away it was 99F. By 13:30 it had risen to 104F.

Doug and I went back out about 15:30 after the temperature had dropped back down to 99F. We fixed the table and scoped out the possibility of putting in a culvert to get better access during our wet springs. After the last trip through the creek this spring Scott said he would need a snorkel if he had to go through again. And the year before that Ry got his van stuck there (as well as in the middle of the field).

No matter how great the ballistics would be on a day like today you don’t want to lay out in the middle of dry hay field when it’s over 100F and the wasps are stinging you. You really, really don’t.

Visiting Missouri

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Barb and I will be in Branson, Missouri during the middle of August to celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. We will be visiting Ozark Pyrotechnics (who put on a dynamite shoot the week before Boomershoot 2006) as well as various activities both Barb and I will enjoy. If anyone else in the area and would like to get together for dinner or something let me know.

AK clays

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Suppose you could mount a red-dot scope securely on the top of an AK rifle. What would that do for you in terms of target acquistion speed and accuracy? 

The answer is AK clays (~60 MByte .MOV file) are a reality.

Brought to you, in more ways than one, by UltiMAK.

One of these days we are going to make Boomer Clays work.  If nothing else I’m going to fill a milk jug with Boomerite and lob it into the air with giant slingshot for Lyle to shoot.

A warning to practical jokers everywhere

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If this ever happens to me or anyone I care about I will utilize 20 pounds of HE to demonstrate my displeasure with their toys.  Anyone that tries to stop me will have their bullet riddled carcass used for charge confinement.  The video of THAT will then be posted on the Internet.

Bomb help 2005 update

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I’ve updated the Bomb Help 2005 web page.  There are a lot more I need to put up–including a bunch from 2006.  I just haven’t gotten around to getting their email and my responses on the website.  I just hadn’t felt like responding to these clueless twerps for the last year.  I’d look at their messages and draw a blank so they just queued up in my “Bomb help” folder until today.  Then I sort of cut loose when a new one came in today.  Altogether, I think there was 23 of them I responded to today. The people on the Bomb Help Fan Club email list probably thought I was spamming them. 

My favorites from this batch are here:

Oh, I’m getting responses back from some of them too.  This could be lots of fun.

Recoiling in pleasure

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Ry has put up a video documenting some people with their first experience. They seem to like it. I know I do. It’s safe for work in all but the most bigoted of work environments.

Heinlein in leather

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One of my children’s favorite high-school teachers (and a former Marine and a Boomershooter), Mr. Kaag, wrote to tell me:

I know that you probably have the complete Heinlein in a jumble of various paperback and hardback editions, as I do.

Did you know that after The Master died, Virginia renewed all of the copyrights? The lady has a whim of steel—as the most popular Science Fiction writer ever, his publisher wanted to continue to print copies of the canon, and when they asked her for permission, she acceded. But, and here’s the kicker, she politely required they put back in all of the stuff they had taken out because it wasn’t “politically-correct”, like the pro-gun parts of “Red Planet”. So the Heinlein published in the last 5 years or so is all unexpurgated. You might want some new copies. There’s a bunch more to “Stranger”, for example.

And speaking of which, Virginia is no longer among us and the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Foundation has done a joint venture with Meisha-Merlin Books, and is publishing the complete collection of Heinlein, including some previously-unpublished articles and speeches, in a fine leather-bound collection for about $2500 on up.

Here’s the URL: www.meishamerlin.com

I am saving up my shekels.

With a $2200 minimum entry price I’m going to have to pass but I’ll do some drooling.

I wonder

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There are a couple things that come to mind when I read this:

TORONTO (Reuters) – A group of Canadian residents arrested for “terrorism related offenses” were inspired by al Qaeda, had amassed enough explosives to build huge bombs and were planning to blow up targets in densely populated Ontario, police said on Saturday.

Mike McDonell, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the group had acquired three metric tons of ammonium nitrate — or three times the amount used in the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City — as they sought to “create explosive devices.”

The first thing I wonder about is will this cause people to walk up any?  Or will they just figure, “Oh, it’s our fault for being in the mid-east, if we weren’t there it would have happened.”  People can’t seem to realize that the Islamic extremists have been trying to convert the world to Islam by force for several hundred years now.  It’s not going to stop anytime soon.

The second thing I wonder about is ammonium nitrate readily available in Canada?  If so I wonder if I can pick myself up a 1000 pounds or so for Boomershoot 2010 or whenever it is that I will exhaust my current supply.

Quote of the day–Ragnar Benson

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The discovery of sugar powder was a landmark event in the history of the Benson family.  In total significance, it ranked right up there with Pearl Harbor and catching our first mink.  For my brother and I, it certainly was the moral equivalent of our first piece of ass.

Ragnar Benson
Chapter 7, page 85
Ragnar’s Guide to Home and Recreational Use of High Explosives
[Sugar powder is a substitute for black powder made from household sugar and potassium chlorate.–Joe]

Boomershoot cleanup

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No, it is not the cleanup the Boomershoot participants helped with.  Sunday, while Barb was at work, I drove the hour east to Boomershoot country to tidy up a bit in preparation for the next ATF inspection.

After using over a 1000 pounds of my chemical supply (we consumed 864 reactive targets at Boomershoot 2006) I had some room to rearrange things.  I also removed a couple garbage bags full of old milk and soy cartons.  We used to use the cartons for target containers and I had saved them for testing new mixtures.  We discovered the type of container made a difference in how easy the targets detonated.  Future tests will be made with the actual containers used.  This gave me room for the table we set up outside during production on the north side of the Taj Mahal.  This lets us open the door to the magazine without the table being knocked over and gives us better access to the chemical on the south side of the shed.

This same table has been broken for a couple years.  This year during the building of the targets it collapsed with some targets on it.  There wasn’t any danger of the targets exploding from the slide to the ground but it was not pleasant and someone could have gotten hurt anyway.  It needed to be fixed and I have been meaning to do that every year.  I still need to do some sanding, buy the screws, and put them in but I have made a significant amount of progress on this long overdue task.

I was pleased to note that the batteries were fully charged by the solar cells.

I swept the floor which had a couple dustpans full of dirt on it from all the travel in and out with muddy feet.

I ran the generator for a few minutes to warm it up so I could change the oil–which I did at lunch time in my parents shop.

I took the floor mats to my parents place and hosed them off.

I cleaned the air cleaner and put in a new filter.  I burned the old filter which was filled with potassium chlorate dust.

I removed all the miscellaneous mixing utensils we don’t use which have gathered over the years.

I brought home two blenders that “froze up”.  The chemical contact apparently had corroded the bearings (ammonium nitrate is particularly hard on metal).  I’ll see if I can repair them easily, if not I’ll buy at least one more for backup to the two remaining ones.

I did an inventory of chemicals we use (there are some chemical types we have used for testing that I didn’t inventory), and the target containers.  I still need to inventory the remaining stakes.

The following pictures are after clean up and putting all the remaining stuff, including some empty garbage cans, back in.  I’m pleased and I hope Crystal, Sue, or whoever the ATF sends to visit this year is as pleased as I am.

Quote of the day–Ms. Cyborg

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…the beauty of Boomershoot is not just about the big bangs, big booms, or big guys with their big guns. The true beauty of Boomershoot is the daylong happiness you see, everywhere you look. From down range to up range, there’s more laughter and happiness on Boomershoot Day than there is in any comedy club in L.A.

Ms. Cyborg
Post-Boomershoot thoughts from Ms. Cyborg…
May 9, 2006

Quote of the day–Michael Burrows

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Ain’t freedom beautiful?

Michael Burrows
April 30, 2006
At Boomershoot after launching an anvil 100 feet into the air.

How do you deliver a 700 ton bomb?

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From Scripps Howard News Service:

The test scheduled for June 2 will be of a 700-ton conventional bomb. The research could aid in development of so-called bunker-buster weapons, including small-scale nuclear devices, according to the federal official overseeing the test, Doug Bruder, director of counter-weapons of mass destruction technology for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

As near as I can tell the maximum takeoff weight any 747 is about 910,000 pounds which is only 455 tons and that includes the weight of the plane and fuel.  A semi truck is much smaller.  The only remaining thing I can think of is a train and that is rather problematic for a number of reasons.

So this “demonstration”, as some are calling it, of a 700-ton bomb ammonium nitrate (Boomershoot uses AN as the main ingredient) and fuel oil bomb will be more “interesting” than just a big pile of AN detonating.  And although there may be some fuel oil in it my guess is there will be aluminum powder as well as other stuff much more interesting that just fuel oil.  This guy is openly calling it a tactical nuke instead of a conventional bomb.  Tactical nuke?  Sure, that makes sense.  You can deliver those with artillery shells as well as cruise missiles and conventional air dropped bombs.

Iran is virtually begging for someone to attack.  The Israelis claim Iran is only about a year away from having their own nuclear bomb.  Others claim more time is needed, but regardless the Mideast is a very interesting place these days.  Regardless, for us to claim there is too much sand and not enough glass in Iran before we take another hit will be a tough situation politically.  But for us to wait might mean the near total destruction of Israel.  And if we take a nuclear hit on north American soil my bet is that our retaliation will not be so “surgical” as dropping a few tactical nukes as we would prior to taking a hit.  My guess is we would turn not only massive portions of Iran into glass but Medina and few other areas as well.  Mecca would probably have a few bombers in permanent “orbit” around it for several years–just daring any Muslim extremist to set off a pipe bomb in some pizza joint on our turf.

Interesting times ahead…

Update: If you follow the links in Ry’s comments (and here) you will find the people I based my post on were totally clueless.  Which means I was totally clueless when I made the post.  Idiots.  And they made me look like an idiot.

Boomershoot pictures from Xenia

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Xenia posted a little bit about her Boomershoot experience.  It includes pictures by and of Sara and Lexi.

Quote of the day–Stephanie Sailor

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I liken Boomershoot to the state of mind when one is doing yoga. It’s very peaceful.

Stephanie Sailor
April 30, 2006
While at Boomershoot.

Boomershoot 2006 cleanup video

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From Ry


Boomershoot 2006 cleanup. April 30, 2006. 14 MBytes .WMV

As Ry said, “Why weren’t you there?”

Someone else blows up a computer

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At Boomershoot 2005 (last year) we blew up a computer.  Watch the KING5 Evening Magazine video to see it.  Someone else blew up their computer and made a really nice video of it as well.

Quote of the day–SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

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The mayor asks the state to pass laws that prevent firearms from getting into the hands of criminals. But state and federal laws already prohibit the possession, purchase or sale of firearms for felons, people with a history of mental illness or facing allegations of domestic violence. All commercial sales of firearms require a background check for such disqualifiers.

What else could the state do? An outright assault weapons ban is unfair and unenforceable. Manufacturers supply trigger locks with their firearms and the locks are widely available at no cost.

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Gun Control: Blaming the state
May 4, 2006
[This is a huge turn around for the PI.  Add in their publication of the Boomershoot article on Tuesday and I’m a little weak in the knees.  This is really good news.–Joe]

Boomershoot 2006 blogging part IX

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Boomershoot 2006 is over but the blogging doesn’t stop:

In addition to blogging activity the Spokesman Review article was picked up by the AP and showed up here:

Quote of the day–Lee Ellyn Frailey

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Everything’s better with a boom.

Lee Ellyn Frailey
April 30, 2006
While at Boomershoot 2006.