wilf@niksula.hut.fi (Johan W. Wikman) (04/14/91)
From: wilf@niksula.hut.fi (Johan W. Wikman) Hello I don't know if this belongs in this newsgroup but... I've managed to get my hands on a book that I find rather interesting. The front cover looks something like: TM 31-210 Department of the Army Technical Manual IMPROVISED MUNITIONS HANDBOOK Logo: United States of America, War Office Headquarters, Department of the Army 1969 It's got approx. 260 pages and it contains the following seven chapters. I Explosives and Propellants (including igniters) II Mines and Grenades III Small arms, weapons and ammunitions IV Mortars and rockets V Incendiary devices VI Fuses, detonators & delay mechanisms VII Miscallenous Each chapter contains extensive examples of how you can make these things with stuff you find in your kitchen or garage. If you've got any information about this handbook (was it made for particular reason, to whom has it been given etc.), I'd be most interested to hear about it. [ It' s just what it says; a U.S. Army Technical Manual on fun you can have using things you find at home. :-) If anyone cares to add anything else, its fair game. --CDR] Johan Wikman wilf@sauna.hut.fi
tracker@wpi.WPI.EDU (The Renegade Ranger) (04/16/91)
From: tracker@wpi.WPI.EDU (The Renegade Ranger) wilf@niksula.hut.fi (Johan W. Wikman) asks about: >TM 31-210 >Department of the Army Technical Manual >IMPROVISED MUNITIONS HANDBOOK One of the original printings was in the mid 60's, and the main use was for field resourcefulness training. It was to give people some ideas on what they could do if they were stuck in hostile territory, using available materials. It was given to just about anyone who really had a use for it, and nowadays it's bought in surplus stores by those of us who have no 'real use' except to learn neat stuff. :) While it does go into explicit detail, and most of the steps are simplified so that it's less dangerous under non-optimal conditions, try not to blow your head off... -Tracker
rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET (Robert E Beville) (04/17/91)
From: Robert E Beville <rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET> About your Improvised Munitions Handbook, there are other books on related topics... I'm at work and cant reach for them. There's one on Boobytraps... no s---, it's in the title, one on incendearies, one on "Unconventional ------??? Techniques(a reference to the others) and a book on how to build silencers, with performance charcteristics shown on the test models. From the catalog of the _BRIGADE QUARTERMASTER_ mail order house, they are described as; "Originally compiled and published in limited form by the Frankford Arsenal for the CIA and Special Forces. Vols I & II of the Improvised Munitions BLACK BOOKs contain more than FM31-20 individually. Vol III contains over 50 prev. unpublished articles...." The BOOBYTRAP book is FM5-31. An Army surplus store close to my workplace has them; I've seen them for sale in MANION's militaria auction house, too. that's -OWARI- from GLOWWORM-7-9-4 best regards, rbeville@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM Bob Beville, Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR 97077
cmort@ncoast.org (Chris Morton) (04/17/91)
From: cmort@ncoast.org (Chris Morton) >From: wilf@niksula.hut.fi (Johan W. Wikman) >TM 31-210 >IMPROVISED MUNITIONS HANDBOOK You'll also want a copy of the Special Forces "Demolition Programmed Text". I picked up my copy in college. The ROTC department was cleaning out its library, so we all helped ourselves.... :) cmort@ncoast.org --- Chris Morton "These opinions are mine, MINE, ALL MINE!!!!"
jtchew@csa2.lbl.gov (04/17/91)
From: jtchew@csa2.lbl.gov >About your Improvised Munitions Handbook, there are other books on >related topics... "The Anarchist's Cookbook" is still available, though it costs a lot more than it did back then, according to the ad I saw for it recently (in the Harpers classifieds). Wintringham's "New Ways of War," recommended for the good citizen's bookshelf by no less a patriot than Robert Heinlein, might also still be around, but I don't know where. Is Don-Q (aka Quimtronix) still in business? They used to send around a catalog of bloodthirsty publications. Haven't seen it since the early 80s. --Joe
shuee@venus.iucf.indiana.edu (DAVID W. SHUEE) (04/19/91)
From: "DAVID W. SHUEE" <shuee@venus.iucf.indiana.edu> There are many unoffical improvised muntions handbooks out and about. * Beware* some of these containe deliberate disinformation for the expressed purpose of killing the user. Many of the books are not in the same form as the orginal. Let the buyer beware and don't do anything too stupid. -- shuee@venus.iucf.indiana.edu
ee5391aa%triton.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (Duke McMullan) (06/17/91)
From: ee5391aa%triton.unm.edu@ariel.unm.edu (Duke McMullan) wilf@niksula.hut.fi (Johan W. Wikman) writes: >I've managed to get my hands on a book that I find rather >interesting. The front cover looks something like: >TM 31-210 >Department of the Army Technical Manual >IMPROVISED MUNITIONS HANDBOOK >Logo: United States of America, War Office >Headquarters, Department of the Army 1969 >It's got approx. 260 pages and it contains the following seven chapters. Yeah, the IMH grew out of research during the Johnson War ;^) to teach Special Forces types how go on their own without the usual kind of supplies. Later, it was bound into a field manual for the army. It's slow, tricky and a pain in the backside, but you _can_, with patience and care, manufacture fairly high-quality munitions from "civilian" stuff. You have to know what you're doing, and you can blow your asterisk away if you're not careful, but most of this stuff looks good to me. (I've only tried a few of the receipes, and they weren't the high-explosive ones.) IMH is essentially the contents of two volumes called the "Black Books" (which are available elsewhere). I've seen adverts to the effect that the BBs have a _lot_ of stuff not in IMH. Bilge. I've compared 'em. ONE item in the BBs doesn't seem to be in IMH...one of the shaped-charge variations, I think. If I'm wrong about that, please let me know. There is also a vol. 3 of the BB series that contains stuff _none_ of which is to be found in the IMH. My favorite is the castable incendiary...aluminium and plaster of Paris...neat, huh? We've tried it...it burns _ferociously_! This material seems to have been researched at the Frankfort Arsenal back in the early sixties. There are some new books out which carry on this "tradition"...the Black Book Companion, The Anarchist Arsenal and The Anarchist Cookbook, all from Paladin, come to mind. NOTE: Someone mentioned that venerable volume, The Anarchist's Cookbook. Forget that one. It's not only very old, it's very wrong about lots and lots of details, and about some general concepts. The author may have had some real interest in what he was writing about, but he had very, very little real experience...else, he'd have _known_ that a lot of his stuff won't work. BTW, that refers to both chemical and electronic stuff. He gives a lot of schematic diagrams, mostly for bugging transmitters, etc., but they're the vague sort of things that require a _lot_ of electronic expertise on the part of the builder to get 'em to work. The book is interesting, but I consider it junk from a practical standpoint.