Coins & Blasting Caps & Junk

[WawaDuane]

As my long silver drought continues I tried two places yesterday. Typical stuff....lead, some kind of copper thing and the obligatory shotgun and rifle shells.



I decided to try the local beach hoping for something exciting in the jewelry category. Sadly I found lots of junk including some aluminum nails, and other sharp objects (and a pair of panties...green ones if you're interested). All the coins minus the pennies were found in one hole. No jewelry or anything exciting. Two toonies should be enough for a couple of teas tomorrow.



This is the third blasting cap I have found this year but strangely this one hasn't been fired off. Either it was a dud or was cut off during whatever blasting operations were occurring near a public beach. Luckily I blow things up for a living and I can certainly dispose of this safely.

 

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[vpnavy]

Nice finds! Thanks for sharing...

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

If you are an oldtimer, you might remember the old tv commercials that said " blasting caps, Don't touch them!"

Wayne

 

[DocBeav]

Good job on knowing what the blasting cap is and what needs to be done with it.

Just and FYI for other hunters who may come across something like this:

People seem to think that just because something is small like a fire cracker that it can't do much damage. It's also, obviously, crimped onto det. cord (making it "sensitized") which also has an explosive content as well (though it looks like little of that remains outside the cap). PETN for the det. cord and usually RDX for the caps. Both with a higher explosive content than TNT.

PETN: Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (1 KG of PETN has the same explosive content of 1.24 KG of TNT)
RDX: ( Research Department explosive) or cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (1 KG of RDX has the same content as 1.5 KG of TNT)

These are all relatively stable by themselves, a heavy blow could set them off but you'd need a hammer or rock to make it go. IF you come across any cap with wires sticking out of it be MUCH more careful! Any type of electric charge to it could set it off, including static electricity! Handle with care, or better yet, don't handle at all! Blasting caps may not make a huge bang by themselves but you can count on losing fingers or a hand if you are holding it and it goes off, not to mention the aluminum around the explosive that will then become "frag". Caution to everyone!

Thanks for sharing WaWaDuane!

 

[WawaDuane]

Good job on knowing what the blasting cap is and what needs to be done with it.

Just and FYI for other hunters who may come across something like this:

People seem to think that just because something is small like a fire cracker that it can't do much damage. It's also, obviously, crimped onto det. cord (making it "sensitized") which also has an explosive content as well (though it looks like little of that remains outside the cap). PETN for the det. cord and usually RDX for the caps. Both with a higher explosive content than TNT.

PETN: Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (1 KG of PETN has the same explosive content of 1.24 KG of TNT)
RDX: ( Research Department explosive) or cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (1 KG of RDX has the same content as 1.5 KG of TNT)

These are all relatively stable by themselves, a heavy blow could set them off but you'd need a hammer or rock to make it go. IF you come across any cap with wires sticking out of it be MUCH more careful! Any type of electric charge to it could set it off, including static electricity! Handle with care, or better yet, don't handle at all! Blasting caps may not make a huge bang by themselves but you can count on losing fingers or a hand if you are holding it and it goes off, not to mention the aluminum around the explosive that will then become "frag". Caution to everyone!

Thanks for sharing WaWaDuane!

Strange thing to find at a beach for sure. I work in an underground gold mine and my job is to blow things up...so it's a cool job but not as dramatic as people think. I would say the best thing to do if you find something like this is to rebury it and carefully mark the location and call the police. I certainly wouldn't recommend carrying it in your pocket and whipping it out at the police station. If you're not sure....don't touch.

 

[Pointman]

I don't think that many posts have a title of blasting cap. I used to manage these for the military when I issued munitions so I have seen these a number of times. Never can say that I've use one, although I know how they work.