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7 injured, 1 killed at Ft Bragg

Tomahawk 6

Let me assure you that if I had been there, I would have taken off for the tall timber with everybody else. Cool, dispassionate analysis follows self preservation.
 
Old Sweat said:
Tomahawk 6

Let me assure you that if I had been there, I would have taken off for the tall timber with everybody else. Cool, dispassionate analysis follows self preservation.

Interesting question as to what that analysis would have been for a 105 mm round. A primer would only ignite the propelling charge which is violent in the chamber only because it is confined. When you burn off excess charges they create a substantial but non-explosive fireball. If a primer went off outside the tube I would presume that once the ignition started there would be a point of pressure that would blow the casing away from the projectile and then end up with a Roman candle-like event rather than a proper explosion.  ???  The projectile ought to be unaffected. It's tough enough to withstand the full explosion in the chamber so should easily withstand a squib outside of it.

Regardless, by then it would have been too late to run of course, but nonetheless, I would have been running right beside you and everybody else anyway.  ;D

:cheers:
 
We are speculating but you are probably write about the round being pushed out. It would not detonate, which is a chemical process, and should not burn if the round remained intact as that requires oxygen. If the round fell, the cartridge case could have turned into a free rocket.

In the meantime, I wonder what caused the M777 accident.
 
FJAG said:
Interesting question as to what that analysis would have been for a 105 mm round. A primer would only ignite the propelling charge which is violent in the chamber only because it is confined. When you burn off excess charges they create a substantial but non-explosive fireball. If a primer went off outside the tube I would presume that once the ignition started there would be a point of pressure that would blow the casing away from the projectile and then end up with a Roman candle-like event rather than a proper explosion.  ???  The projectile ought to be unaffected. It's tough enough to withstand the full explosion in the chamber so should easily withstand a squib outside of it.

Regardless, by then it would have been too late to run of course, but nonetheless, I would have been running right beside you and everybody else anyway.  ;D

:cheers:

I have seen a 105mm tank TP round (no explosives in the projectile other than a tracer) disposed of with a bit of C4 on the side to crack the cartridge case and ignite the propellant.  This worked, propellent ignited, the projectile was pushed out a couple of feet and the tracer ignited.  This was after sticking three strands of detcord and a bit of C4 on the primer to no effect.  Now the 105mm tank has an electric primer so this why the detcord and C4 did not initate it, the body of the primer was too robust.
I have seen 105mm HOW primers initated by two strands of det cord to fire the primer and most ammo compounds have a primer firing fixture that uses a punch and small sledge to fire a primer while the cartridge case is held firmly in the fixture. 
I can tell you it takes quite a wack to fire them.  Despite that, we do make a point of protecting exposed primers on non-SAA when working on them to prevent any accidental contact.
 
On my demolition course, we placed charges against unfuzed 105mm HE rounds and detonated them. The untamped ones were flung about 50m away without going off and just scorched paint.

This will give you an idea of what unrestrained propellent fire looks like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NtfAvh2LGg (about the 56 second mark)
 
This occurred while the gun was sending rounds down range.The shell had its charges and all that was needed was not to drop the shell and bring it to the gun.I am handicapped in this discussion by not being an artilleryman.At the time the ARMY was short FA officers and a number of infantry officers were invited to see what happens at the range from the FDC,to FO and observe gun crews.Afterward I decided I would be better off as an infantry officer. ;D
 
Heads up. A post was made a few minutes ago on a gunner Facebook site that the Australians had three gunners injured in a firing accident with the M777A2.
 
OS, ya I saw the same post. Given the small numbers of M777s operating around the world today, these accidents are starting to add up.
 
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