One of my buddies decided to help us "celebrate" the new year at the range yesterday (Saturday). He brought something some of you may know well, but was entirely new to me: Tannerite. For those who don't know, Tannerite is an explosive that you make by mixing two component powders together (one is NH4-NO3), which then makes a big boom when subjected to a sufficient shock, such as the impact of a .223 round.
I got the honors of shooting the first two charges. The first was a "double" (two of the little bottles he mixed) mounted on a stick. Naturally I missed on the first shot, but on the second ...
GREAT GOOGLEY MOOGLEY! I was not prepared for the ... intensity of the event. I was expecting something a little bigger than you get from those little exploding targets, but I grossly underestimated what was going to happen. It was very, very cool, but I'm glad I had the window of my truck rolled down!
I've never been near an (intentional) explosion like that before. It was ... educational!