A couple years ago at Spring Knob Creek they had a field trial of Tannerite.....kind of an experiment to see if it could replace the TNT that they've used for years.
Dan Tanner was there and showed them how to mix it and set it up, etc.
It was SPECTACULAR!!!
This stuff really BOOMS!!
Saturday they had the big night shoot with tracers, etc....lots of Tannerite booming along with barrels of fuel oil going sky high in huge fireballs!!
Sunday we went down to the lower range early to grab a spot and burn up some of the ammo we had purchased on Friday. We shot until about 10:30 AM, then back to the war wagon to clean the corrosive crap outta the Bridgeport and the Wolf sludge outta the Smith 76.
Now we were parked in the upper lot about half way to the highway. This translates to about a half-mile from the main line, 90 degrees off to one side with heavy forest inbetween.
I had the bucket of solvent out, both guns apart and soaking and beginning to scrub off the Thompson upper when the firing on the main line began, then......
KA-WHOOOOOMMMPPPPP!!!!
We looked up a split second after the deafening roar to feel a blast hit us in the faces! I swear to God that yopu could see the wind from the blast whip tree branches, then honking from several car and truck horns (the blast had rocked vehicles enough to set off several alarms in the parking lot!!!)
After all guns were clean and back in the safe (I bolt a safe in the back of my van....) we walked back in to find out what the heck had happened.
We ran into Dan Tanner and a couple others from Subguns.com, who explained that the cleanup crew
had tossed many (over twenty) mixed Tannerite targets together in ONE HEAP.....only a matter of time before someone hit the pile.....
I'd have given big bucks to see the surprised look on the persons face who was behind the trigger when these went off!
Someone else said they saw it happen and it knocked all sorts of stuff off tables, etc.
I'll bet there was a lot of wood being sported shortly afterwards.....
john