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Ancient Bombs Still Work

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 2:39 pm
by Katyusha
Clicky Clicky

""You can't drop these things on the ground and make them go off," said retired Col. John F. Biemeck, formerly of the Army Ordnance Corps."

Quite obviously, he's wrong. :P

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 11:22 pm
by Chief Petty Officer Klerk
well he is partly correct comrade. If you read the articial, if you drop a infantry one on the ground, yes nothing will most likely happen. But the one he was working on was a naval round. Water proofed, and with a much more complex fuse and explosive mixture.

Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 1:25 am
by Anonz
huh, i didn't realize that they had charges in cannonballs in the civil war
i know that older cannons just used the impact force of the solid ball to deal damage.

Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 2:22 pm
by Eisenmann
reminds me of serious sam :-D

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:42 pm
by Pygmi
That should not be nearly as amusing as it is

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:21 am
by HELLFIRE
// insert comment about you wishing other things had that kind of warranty period

Playing with unexploded ordinance is no laughing matter... and no amount
of skill / experience / etc makes up for the fact it CAN still go boom.

@Anonz
Stuff from around the 1500s is comparatively primitive compared to what
they had in the Civil War when you consider how long ago the Industrial
Revolution was, but then there's the expression 'if it hurts, it works.'

Trick has been to get your metallurgy good enough so it throws far enough
accurately enough.



Regards