5.1 SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR PRIMITIVE WEAPONS

 For the purposes of this publication, we will call any weapon primitive that does not employ burning gunpowder to propel a projectile forward. This means blowguns, bows and crossbows, and wristrockets.

5.11 BOW AND CROSSBOW AMMUNITION

Bows and crossbows both fire arrows or bolts as ammunition. It is extremely simple to poison an arrow or bolt, but it is a more difficult matter to produce explosive arrows or bolts. If, however, one can acquire aluminum piping that is the same diameter of an arrow or crossbow bolt, the entire segment of piping can be converted into an explosive device that detonates upon impact, or with a fuse. All that need be done is find an aluminum tube of the right length and diameter, and plug the back end with tissue paper and epoxy. Fill the tube with any type of low-order explosive or sensitive high- order explosive up to about 1/2 an inch from the top. Cut a slot in the piece of tubing, and carefully squeeze the top of the tube into a round point, making sure to leave a small hole. Place a no. 11 percussion cap over the hole, and secure it with super glue. Finally, wrap the end of the device with electrical or duct tape, and make fins out of tape. Or, fins can be bought at a sporting goods store, and glued to the shaft. The finished product should look like:

               _____
               |   | ---------- no. 11 percussion cap
               ||*||
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*| ----------- aluminum piping
                |*|
                |e|
                |x|
                |p|
                |l|
                |o|
                |s|
                |i|
                |v|
                |e|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
                |*|
               /|_|\
              / |t| \
              | |p| |
              | |_| |
              | |e| | -------- fins
              | |p| |
              | |y| |
              |_|_|_|
                |_|

     tp: tissue paper
     epy: epoxy
When the arrow or bolt strikes a hard surface, the percussion cap explodes, igniting or detonating the explosive.

5.12 SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR BLOWGUNS

The blowgun is an interesting weapon which has several advantages. A blowgun can be extremely accurate, concealable, and deliver an explosive or poisoned projectile. The manufacture of an explosive dart or projectile is not difficult. Perhaps the most simple design for such involves the use of a pill capsule, such as the kind that are taken for headaches or allergies. Such a capsule could easily be opened, and the medicine removed. Next, the capsule would be re-filled with an impact-sensitive explosive. An additional high explosive charge could be placed behind the impact-sensitive explosive, if one of the larger capsules were used. Finally, the explosive capsule would be reglued back together, and a tassel or cotton would be glued to the end containing the high explosive, to insure that the impact-detonating explosive struck the target first. Such a device would probably be about 3/4 of an inch long, not including the tassel or cotton, and look something like this:

                 ____________________
                /mercury |           \-----------------------
               (fulminate|   R.D.X.   )---------------------- } tassels
                \________|___________/-----------------------

5.13 SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR WRISTROCKETS AND SLINGSHOTS

 A modern wristrocket is a formidable weapon. It can throw a shooter marble about 500 ft. with reasonable accuracy. Inside of 200 ft., it could well be lethal to a man or animal, if it struck in a vital area. Because of the relatively large sized projectile that can be used in a wristrocket, the wristrocket can be adapted to throw relatively powerful explosive projectiles. A small segment of aluminum pipe could be made into an impact-detonating device by filling it with an impact-sensitive explosive material. Also, such a pipe could be filled with a low-order explosive, and fitted with a fuse, which would be lit before the device was shot. One would have to make sure that the fuse was of sufficient length to insure that the device did not explode before it reached its intended target. Finally, .22 caliber caps, such as the kind that are used in .22 caliber blank guns, make excellent exploding ammunition for wristrockets, but they must be used at a relatively close range, because of their light weight.

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