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Old Ammunition Is Dangerous

Oly720man From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 6188 posts, RR: 11
Posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 1485 times:

Or so it would appear.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7298341.stm

At least four people have been killed and about 200 injured in a series of explosions at an arms depot near the capital, Tirana.
,
,
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Military experts were disposing of old shells at the time of the blasts.

They were reported to be being assisted by employees of a US company contracted by Nato to help the Albanian army dispose of surplus munitions.

wheat and dairy can screw up your brain

12 replies: All unread, jump to last

L-188 From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 29350 posts, RR: 62
Reply 1, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 1479 times:

Yeah,

HE can destablize over time, which is why most munitions have use-by dates...

However smokeless powder and Blackpowder are pretty stable over the long term if kept dry and temp controled.

OBAMA-WORST PRESIDENT EVER....Even SKOORB would be better.

TIA From Albania, joined Mar 2006, 520 posts, RR: 2
Reply 2, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 1472 times:

Unfortunately the death toll is much higher. There have been at least 5 confirmed dead and many are in critical conditions. The confirmed dead so far are people who lived near the army base and whose bodies are retrieved. According to witnesses there were around 100 people working inside the base (mostly civilians) who are mostly unaccounted for. Considering the magnitude of the blast, a lot of those people are probably dead and their bodies might never be found. So far no one has been able to get to the center of the blast because smaller explosions continue to happen. Not that it makes any difference, but some of the dead will most likely be American. Although never say never, terrorism was not at play here. Human error or a freak accident are most likely the cause. The last person confirmed dead was a kid and there was another one barely clinging to life. I had to stop following the news because that was a little too much for me.

RIP

Falstaff From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 5673 posts, RR: 29
Reply 3, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 1459 times:

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I use old ammo all the time. The oldest I use on a regular basis is some German 8mm from 1939. It all shoots great! I also shoot a fair amount of Soviet 7.62X54 from the 1950s. That stuff always fires.

The only old ammo I have problems with is British 303. Regardless of manufacturer I always have a fair amount that do not fire. The new stuff always works but the 1940s-1960s stuff is questionable.

My mug slaketh over on Falstaff N503

IliriBDL From Germany, joined May 2007, 1205 posts, RR: 15
Reply 4, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 1450 times:

Its a tragedy.

May all the dead rest in peace. God bless them.

Sad

delta.com

TupolevTu154 From UK - England, joined Aug 2004, 2119 posts, RR: 31
Reply 5, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 1414 times:

The force of the blasts was felt in Tirana and the coastal resort of Durres, some 20km (12.5 miles) away, and heard in neighbouring Macedonia.

That must've been one hell of a blast.

Quoting TIA (Reply 2):
The confirmed dead so far are people who lived near the army base and whose bodies are retrieved. According to witnesses there were around 100 people working inside the base (mostly civilians) who are mostly unaccounted for. Considering the magnitude of the blast, a lot of those people are probably dead and their bodies might never be found

Wouldn't these be regarded as "missing" persons? Nevertheless, an awfully large amount of casualites.

My condolences to everyone involved. Shocking stuff.

See also: Tirana Airport Closed - Huge Blast (by SeansasLCY Mar 15 2008 in Civil Aviation)

Tom

Atheists - Winning since 33 A.D.

IliriBDL From Germany, joined May 2007, 1205 posts, RR: 15
Reply 6, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 1392 times:

Here is the video on youtube.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVjAiAwhFc

delta.com

BlackProjects From United Kingdom, joined Jul 2007, 756 posts, RR: 4
Reply 7, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 2 days ago) and read 1368 times:

Looks like the Blast wave knocked the Camera guy off his feet.

MD-90 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 8418 posts, RR: 13
Reply 8, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 1334 times:

Quoting Falstaff (Reply 3):
I use old ammo all the time. The oldest I use on a regular basis is some German 8mm from 1939. It all shoots great! I also shoot a fair amount of Soviet 7.62X54 from the 1950s. That stuff always fires.

I've got Turkish 8mm from the 1940s. Works fine in my Mauser, and it's cheap (but corrosive).

Dougloid From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 9, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 1329 times:

Reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago. It seems some Virginia farmer plowed up what was left of a Civil War rifle that had been dropped on the field 100 plus years previous. Well, it was a good chunk of metan and he figured he'd use it to repair a stock gate. Started heating it up with a torch and the still loaded round discharged, killing him.

I was just reading a story in the news the other day about the amount of ordnance left over from the battle of El Alamein in Egypt-amazing, well preserved in the dry climate and fully capable of maiming and killing folks out for a stroll.

57AZ From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 2550 posts, RR: 2
Reply 10, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1316 times:

Quoting Dougloid (Reply 9):
Reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago. It seems some Virginia farmer plowed up what was left of a Civil War rifle that had been dropped on the field 100 plus years previous. Well, it was a good chunk of metan and he figured he'd use it to repair a stock gate. Started heating it up with a torch and the still loaded round discharged, killing him.

Indeed. Quite a few unexploded shells out there too. You always have to treat the shells (aka cannon balls) as if they're live, especially if you're uncertain as to whether the ball is a shell or solid shot.

"When a man runs on railroads over half of his lifetime he is fit for nothing else-and at times he don't know that."

Falstaff From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 5673 posts, RR: 29
Reply 11, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1315 times:

Quoting MD-90 (Reply 8):
I've got Turkish 8mm from the 1940s. Works fine in my Mauser, and it's cheap (but corrosive).

I used to have some of that. I shot off all 300 that I had. They all shot just fine. I don't mind corrosive ammo because I clean my guns well anyway and I figure that is the kind of ammo that those guns were made for.

My mug slaketh over on Falstaff N503

Dc863 From Denmark, joined Jun 1999, 1554 posts, RR: 2
Reply 12, posted (5 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 1306 times:

Quoting IliriBDL (Reply 6):
Here is the video on youtube.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVjAiAwhFc

Holy sh#t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the biggest explosion I've seen since the rocket fuel plant blast near Vegas in the 1990s.
I think the photographer ducked for the expected shockwave.

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