Ammonal Explosives, Mining & WWI Kiwis:

The AMMONAL explosive used at The Battle of Messines (in Flanders Fields, Belgium) was perhaps better named 'T-Ammonal' .. because it was strengthened with the addition of TNT - trinitrotoluene. - Either way - That 454 tonnes of explosives made one of the worlds biggest non-nuclear explosions on the 7th June 1917 .. when the Brits set-off 19 underground mines that killed some 10,000 German men with one blow - and is said to have been heard as far away as London.

One Of The Flooded WWI Mine Craters.

Ammonal is a cheap explosive made from ammonium nitrate (the oxidizer) and aluminium powder ..the fuel. It's prone to degrading if it gets damp - and becomes unstable if contaminated with say copper.. But it did the job.

Note Wikipedia says: "The composition of ammonal used at Messines was 65% ammonium nitrate, 17% aluminium, 15% trinitrotoluene (TNT), and 3% charcoal.- and that Ammonal remains in use as an industrial explosive. Typically, it is used for quarrying or mining purposes."

Alongside of the British, Australian and Canadian Allied sappers who undermined the German trench lines at Messines (Belgium) - and tunneled at Arras in Northern France, were the New Zealand Engineers Tunneling Company and members of the NZ Maori Pioneer Battalion. The area developed by the New Zealand tunnelers is mapped using NZ city and town names.

Kia ora!

Play

1. (interjection) hello! cheers! good luck! best wishes!.

The underground caverns, mines, quarries and tunnels at Arras are quiet ancient - dating back to the 10th century. - The extraction of chalk and clay for building materials had formed an underground network that was extended by the WWI sappers for military use.

The maze of original publicly accessible caverns & tunnels at Arras are known Locally as The Boves.

This underworld was capable of hiding some 25,000 First World War troops and was fitted with services  and electricity.

- The area around Arras was once more the scene of heavy fighting between tank divisions in World War II in May 1940 and again in 1944.

Marty K.

ARRAS

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Hand Power Penetration & Ballistic GELATIN:

This link is something of a 'follow-up' video from UK about old tech ARROWS released from bows and crossbows - into Ballistic Gel. - for we shooters familiar with the  FBI's thinking on penetration and effectiveness .. (Recommended 16 inches).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSNNSh4Fuh8

This guy Tod's Workshop is GOOD.

Well I'm completely lost in my thinking here .. Energy Levels are so low compared to firearms - but I have no doubt about these old tools possessing STOPPING POWER.

Calculated ballistic energy levels cannot be the full answer - as what about sectional density, shape, cutting-edge-surface and momentum? .. I'm lost.

.. but there's more to 'ONE SHOT STOPS' than meets the eye eh (.45" v 9 mm 😈😈),

Marty K.

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Hand Powered Weapon Power:

I've long been interested in the various hand powered weapons .. I suppose it's a "man-thing" but I remember being fascinated by the skill of throwing knives as a kid right after reading a Simon Templar "The Saint" book - The Spanish War by Leslie Charteris -1937.

- a novel that included their use in civil war Spain.

 I also recall making a steel-bow crossbow from a kit when around 17-18 y.o. (and using 'whale oil' to quench and black the trigger components and sights)(using a kerosene/paraffin blowlamp - now regarded as antique?).

The power levels produced by blunt impact, hand propelled missiles, bow-spring discharge or edged weapons - despite the Hollywood screen exsanguinations - are quiet puny when calculated and compared to our later heat-engine tools motivated by gunpowder & the nitro-based 'smokeless' fuels .. Guns and bullets

 .. BUT those hand driven tools certainly worked back then for meat hunting on the full range of game (including elephant) .. and sadly - they worked when used to maim and slaughter the competition at the whim of their nobility.

There's a pommie joker 'Tod's Workshop' who likes and builds these arrow and bolt launchers .. but he also makes very good YouTube videos about them.

In this video he uses a chronograph to compare bows & crossbows for velocity - & records the facts. Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdB470lo6nM

- Then he introduces firearms energy levels into the picture and raises the old issue of "stopping power'.
Well done mate. - as if there's not enough heat in those discussions already 😁😁
- The comments section after the video are worth reading.

"Tod" notes that even the lowly .22" rim-fire is around two-three times more powerful (or energetic) than the best crossbow's energy output - but I'd say an iron clad crossbow bolt through the skull is likely to be just as deadly as a 40 grain slug ?

Very interesting eh .. but something about the energy levels of projectiles doesn't directly compute or to match the expected or perceived result .. Is that the effect of a large mass or sharp but slow moving impact?

Marty K.
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Chernobyl? Sure .. Ozyorsk? Sellafield? Yeah - But HANFORD Washington?

This post is a bit of an achievement for me - Would you believe it's number 1,000 off my computer. - I've learned some stuff along the way.
.. Anyway:

For some 13,000 years, in Washington State, three native American tribes lived near the Colombia River - Nez Perce, Umatilla, & Yakama.

Nowadays, The "TRI-CITIES" (aka Atomic Town) of Kennewick, Pasco, & Richland - much like Sellafield in UK's Cumbria - ignoring the nuclear dangers - is rated (by Kiplinger business publishing) as being one of the top ten places in USA to raise a family !

Kiplinger Publishing

Hanford Site - Contract Built By Du-Pont.

 When in 1943 the US military needed somewhere to make plutonium to develop the nuclear bombs - as part of the Manhattan Project they took the land at HANFORD - relocated 1,500 people - and then built nine nuclear plants along the Columbia River - where they produced enough plutonium to make SEVENTY THOUSAND NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

A Plutonium 238 Pellet Glowing In It's Own Light.

It is said that when tasted - Plutonium tastes metallic😏.

And in much the same way as was done at the UK's Sellafield and in Russia's Ozyorsk (City 40) - those military scientists dumped what they couldn't use out of sight and into the ground and water.

In HANFORD Washington they dumped 120 MILLION Gallons of horrific high-level waste liquid AND 444 BILLION gallons of contaminated waste .... into the ground where it is moving towards the Columbia River. Massive filled steel tanks leaking/degrading/cooking.

When operational - this plant employed around 9,000 staff. - Currently they have a similar number engaged in trying to clean it up and prevent a disaster.

- It's a big story .. check out Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site

.. "a great place to raise a family" ..

(& let's BAN civilian guns !)

Marty K.
Russia's Ozyorsk  City 40  - was modeled after Hanford Project's Richland in 1947 - to produce weapons grade plutonium for bombs. - Like Hanford USA (and Sellafield in UK), Ozyorsk is rated as possibly the worlds most polluted of areas - but the Russians dumped a major part of their waste DIRECTLY into a nearby river and a 45 hectare lake.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozyorsk,_Chelyabinsk_Oblast

MK.
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A Bullet-Proof Company:

DuPont are very big .. and they have continued to be very significant to firearms users ever since they were formed back in 1802 to manufacture (or 'mill') gunpowder - & they have been a major munitions maker ever since.

  They were very much involved in the development and supply of Plutonium and Tritium for nuclear weapons since 1939 at the Hanford Project & at the 310 square mile Savannah River Plant.

 .. and played a critical roll in the development of KEVLAR  poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide fiber - used widely for it's strength and lightness in bullet proof body armor.

Kevlar Fiber.

Watch Richard Davis shoot himself with a 44 Magnum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWNBV6ndmH4

Radioactive Tritium - that you can employ in your night sights - is an essential part of fission (Hydrogen) Bombs as an accelerant & trigger - but unlike Plutonium, it degrades at a fast rate of 5.5% per year .. so it needs to be refreshed or replaced at intervals.

Tritium

- If DuPont hadn't invented Nylon in 1935 - there might never have been GLOCKS with their polymer frames and magazines.

"We owe it all to DuPont"

Marty K.
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TARGET GUN IMPORTS - The Need For Precision:

Way back in April 2014 .. Link:  https://flicense.blogspot.com/2014/04/pardini-issf-tale-of-two-magazines.html   I told the sad story of an ISSF pistol target shooter trying to import into New Zealand an Italian Pardini .22" target pistol with four magazines. 

Long-Story-Short ... NZ CUSTOMS (Border Protection) impounded and destroyed TWO of the 5 round magazines because - while the ORDER specified the four mags - the IMPORT PERMIT only stated Two magazines. 

Pardini Target Pistol For ISSF Bull's-Eye Shooting.

Despite discussions with our Police Firearms Office & the fully licensed, endorsed & permitted retired senior army officer / target shooter - Customs refused to allow new permits to be generated - or an amendment to the original ... and got to work destroying two perfectly harmless pieces of stamped-folded metal. 

- One number  - or letter may make a significant difference to pedantic officialdom .. So bend over here comes another 'cock-up' ..

Shooting mate "Jay" fancied a Kel-Tec PMR-30 ( .. by now he's probably beginning to go off the idea 😆)

- Back in March 2018 he arranged for an importer to get one from their supplier in USA. All sorts of requirements were met on the understanding that if on arrival it failed to be 'Type Approved' by NZ Police HQ. it would not be released but instead would be forfeit.

- Around two months ago ( 8 months after the order) he heard that the new gun had landed and was with the AUTHORITIES in the Capitol.

Now .. a further two months later .. some total ten months after ordering - the importer has sadly informed him that the US Dealer had sent .... wait for it .... NOT a PMR-30 but a very-naughty-unlawful-in-NZ  CMR-30.

.. Sighs,

Marty K.
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The ".22" Magnum" Revisited:

The .22" Winchester Magnum has been around since 1959/1960 - and like so many other cartridges it is known - typically-confusingly - by multiple names (.22 WMR, .22 Mag, .22 MRF, & .22" Magnum).

One .22 LR" placed With Three .22" WMR Rounds.

However I reckon that there's only one feature holding it back from being the shooting worlds most popular and ubiquitous round .. and that's price. - I guess the "two-two-mags" fall off the shelf here in New Zealand at more than twice the cost of the plinker's choice 'ordinary rim-fire two-twos'. - But they certainly remain much cheaper than center-fire rifle cartridges.

.. Imagine if it was the same selling price as .22" R/F.

Don't let "Church of The .45" believers persuade you otherwise ... this high velocity round is effective, powerful, fairly "flat shooting" and versatile. (AND underrated & affordable).

A .22" Magnum will easily take-down a deer - but that likely may be counter to the local regulations. - I recently read that hunting deer with a 22 Magnum is as dodgy as historic white Hunter 'Karamojo' Bell shooting a thousand elephants with 7x57 mm rifles .. unless you know what you are doing.

 - Well - IF you don't "know what you are doing" - why are you carrying that rifle?

There's a sizable variety of center-fire 'two-twos' above this wee magnum, and the .22" long-rifle rim fire crowds in from below .. but some experienced shooting mates have opined that the WMR has what it takes to be a good all-round survival arm.

Ruger Model 8323 American .22" WMR - 9 Shot B/A.

Consider such a rifle combined with maybe a Kel-Tec PMR-30 pistol with both 30 round magazines loaded ..

Nothing is ever really perfect - but some things are certainly very good.

30, 40 & even 50 grain bullets flying at 2,500, 2,000, or 1,500 feet per second - hitting reliably out to perhaps 125 yards or more make the WMR very useful against small game, 'varmints' and other soft skinned creatures .. provided you hit them cleanly in an effective zone - Which you can manage of course? - You do practice?

Perhaps I should buy one of each? .. but I rather fancy a Ruger Mk. IV stainless steel 'Target' model next:

Marty K.
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

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NZ - 'KIWIS' Frequently Involved In Armed Conflict:

25 Million Years ago New Zealand was raised-up from beneath the sea by tectonic plate movement .. and in the short time that modern womankind has been around (only 200,000 years) - we've all been busy attacking and ripping-off each other eh..

1250-1300 CE Eastern Polynesians ( our Maori warriors and their wahine) settled on NZ.

           PATU ONEWA & PATU POUNAMU - CLOSE-COMBAT FIGHTING WEAPONS

1642 First European was recorded reaching NZ - Abel Tasman,  flagship, Heemskerck, (involved in deadly fighting with Maori warriors). Cannon and grapeshot used to drive off attacking canoes.

Endeavour Cannon.

1769 Captain James Cook circumnavigated & mapped New Zealand on board Endeavour, a flat bottomed 'Bark' that was armed with 10 x 4-pounder cannon and 12 swivel guns (- plus 3 tons of sauerkraut).

1791-92 Early contacts with European whalers (from USA) and sealers. Shore based whaling settlements start. - Multi-purpose Sperm Oil (from the head cavity of Sperm whales) was a valued high pressure lubricant & heat transfer agent (much used in tempering springs and bright bluing) - much appreciated for it's anti-wear and friction reduction).

Spermaceti - Sperm Oil (or 'Cachalot Oil')

1805-1843 Musket Wars raged - inter-tribal conflicts during which the tribes acquired muskets

1814 First British Christian Mission established at Bay of Islands by Samuel Marsden.

1840 Treaty Of Waitangi signed between British Crown & Maori Chiefs.- Disputed interpretations thereafter - but it was later deemed by government to be "Non Binding".

1841 New Zealand became a Crown Colony with both a Lower House & an Upper House of Parliament.

1845-1872 New Zealand Wars (Maori Wars) - Conflicts over disputed land ownership and confiscations. - Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket, Callisher & Terry Carbine, Beaumont-Adams .44" Revolver, Colt 1851 .36" Revolver.

.577" Caliber Percussion Callisher & Terry Carbine.

1846 NZ ARMED POLICE FORCE (APF) Established.

1867 NZ Armed Constabulary formed.

1893 Women granted suffrage .. the right to vote. - First Country in the world.

1899-1902 Boer War - 6,500 New Zealand Volunteers rushed to fight ... many even paying for their own equipment to go as Mounted Troops.

1914-1918 - 100,444 troops & nurses served in WWI with a 58% casualty rate.

1920 (no.14) Arms Act: - Fearing Socialist revolution - and the large numbers of weapons brought back from WWI - the conservative Reform Party introduced handgun restrictions,  permits & registration. (The Reform Party became the National Party after 1935).

1938 Social Security Act passed by first NZ Labour Party Government.(included Health Care, Superannuation, and 'State Houses').

1939-1945  WWII. Of 194,000 New Zealanders who served - some 39,000 deaths and injuries to NZ service personnel - a casualty rate & percentage figure higher than even UK itself.

1944  Labour Government established free secondary education and made it compulsory up to the age of 15.

1951 NZ Upper House of The General Assembly (Legislative Council) was abolished by National Party Govt.

1964 NZ Police Armed Offenders Squad (SWAT) established.

1974 ACC Accident Compensation Commission founded by Norman Kirk's Labour Party Govt.

1987  New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act passed after (Labour) Prime Minister David Lange banned nuclear armed & powered warships from entry to NZ waters.

1990 Military Style Semi-automatic Arms MSSA Regulations introduced after Aramoana Massacre by National Party Police Minister John Banks.

2019  ?

Marty K.

Hi Marty

You forgot to mention our involvement in Korea, Vietnam, Malaya and Borneo, East Timor, Desert Storm, and Afghanistan (and lending a NZ ship to the UK during the Falklands scrap).

- Cheers, Rod. - Yeah you are correct  - to some extent I felt that our limited involvement in these lesser "police actions" was secondary maybe .. but I'll add your comment to the post,

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The Best Place For A Pocket Gun?:

I have never really thought too much about actually shooting a wee 'pocket' handgun - as that would be illegal here in New Zealand (minimum barrel length four inches).

 - I do have some small old pieces (in my small old collection) and when handling them I've certainly observed that my largish hands make gripping them laughable.

That's Ridiculous - A Colt .25acp.

My liking for "mouse-gun" "thirty-twos" * is based on the guns that I've used here for target shooting having at least a four inch barrel and stocks that mostly allow a full three finger grip.

A shorter barrel of maybe 3" or even 2" will still work ... provided you can grip the tool properly and manage the controls.

Most gun users likely appreciate that snubbies are expected to work at close contact ranges .. but there is the chance that a practiced owner can manage respectable groups despite a short barrel.

A recent post from Active Response Training raises the issue that while tiny wee pistols are great for convenient pocket 'carry' - and may well be good enough to be reliably fired with the proper ammunition - manipulating them for malfunctions .. particularly using only the one hand - can be impossible.

Link to Greg's thoughtful article about handling wee pocket guns:

http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/small-pistols-have-some-inherent-problems?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActiveResponseTraining+%28Active+Response+Training%29

.. Maybe - thinking about ease of use - a small revolver might be more suitable for 'back-up' pocket carry?

The lesson that I would take from Greg's article is that you have to practice with such an essential critical item. - If you can't perform with it - it's just a collectible curiosity.

- This connected article from KR Training is also well worth the read:

https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/is-a-pocket-gun-enough/

Here's a quote: "Pocket guns bite hands, pinch fingers, and induce recoil fatigue faster in shooters than larger handguns do."

- And another older quote (from Jeff Cooper):

"Owning a gun doesn't make you "armed" any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician."

Marty K.
*The multiplicity of names for the .32" ACP cartridge (32 Browning, 32 Colt Auto, 32 ACP, 7.65 mm Browning, 7.65 Walther, 32 Automatic Colt Browning, 32 Savage Auto Pistol etc.

likely resulted from the American cartridge being separately developed from the European 'FN' iteration - both emerged around 1900 .. and then was complicated by various US makers trying to market their own distinctive "superior" brand. - Whatever, there were more different handguns built in this caliber than any other in history.
M.K.

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Pistol Club Range Day:

A great day .. good Spring weather, good company, - and good shooting. (Mind you a "Southerly" shortly blew in from the Antarctic with black rain clouds and a temperature drop.)

Interestingly four out of the seven in the group were exercising AR "style" rifles & carbines .. two were silenced 9mm JustRite carbines, #3 was in .223"/ 5.56 mm, and the 4th was a PUMP-Action 'TROY' in .300 BLK.

Photo From TROY Website.

The 'Troy' on range here in New Zealand was in a different configuration to this image - but is definitely an interesting way to enjoy an AR style modern arm that doesn't breech the stupid "assault weapon" semi-auto "Black Rifle" type restrictions  imposed on semi-automatics in some localities.

Interesting ..

I focused on rapid fire double action revolver work at around eight meters - and was quietly satisfied with the resulting paper perforations. My four inch Ruger SP 101s have d/a trigger pulls around 11 pounds that I enjoy working with .. standard triggers .. BUT I have fitted fatter aftermarket rubber stocks ... My Glocks have all been unaltered and work well in standard configuration.

- Now that's not strictly correct - as I actually experimented with various modifications in the early days .. long slides (and 'short' (G19), red dots, green dots, various compensator designs, different trigger options including "New York Triggers" and light triggers, added weights, Tritium night sights, "Glock socks" made from bicycle tube (cheap & functional) .. what else ..?

A bog standard gun seems to work fine. Perhaps the large frame G 20 10mm fits my hands a little better, as they are large(ish) - but 9mm is a logical choice for standard every-day use.

9mm ammunition is widely available in a range of variations - and it's simple to handload.

If I were US based I'd maybe be thinking G 17 for overt carry or a .32" compact-to-medium size for covert carry.

But the older I get - the fonder I seem to be of revolvers. - They work .. I don't 😊

I was also much interested to find that seven out of eight thinking men having a 'chat break' at the firing line were able to display a personal good quality pocket knife .. including one top quality 'BenchMade'.

My SOG 'Flash' mostly Stays Home ..
as I don't want to scratch it.

Current Daily Carry Opinel No.8.

Marty K.
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

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