Happy Independence Day!
I bought hundreds of those so called M-80's in the mid to late eighties. Add a bit of sealant around the base of the cannon fuse and they make great depth charges. Tied to a piece of string and a weight that will hold them just under the water in a pond, creek, or a 5 gallon bucket gets anyone in the vicinity all wet. Probably not an accident that I ended up being a Combat Engineer when I joined the Army. ????
"I bought hundreds of those so called M-80's in the mid to late eighties."
I'm 20 years ahead of you. In the 60's the M-80's we bought were red with the cannon fuse inserted in a punch hole in the middle. We also bought, and subsequently blew up the swamp behind our house (that's how I learned cottonmouth's have an attitude) with a thing called an "ash can". I looked like a little silver cylinder with waterproof packing on the ends and around the fuse. We would use a cigarette as a time delay so as to make a clean escape. Thank God I don't live near any kids that were like me when I was young. ????
...ps: Hows "Holden" doing? Fine I hope.
Holden's doing great for man in his seventies that wrecked a motorcycle by plowing into the side of a left-turner at 40 mph. I think he goes back to the doc this week to get something taken out or something else screwed down. Through all his healing he had a 100 pound dog of his that laid down and died right inside the front door. She always waited for him there to come home...and there she was when he got there...
He couldn't get the front door open. It was late at night and he lives on a busy street. A prowl car saw him with his arm stuck in the slightly opened door and decided to investigate. After a few seconds of explaining the officer decided not to arrest him. They both pushed the door open and the officer immediately bent down and checked the dog.
"She's gone" the officer said, "There's nothing I can do."
Holden was aware the dog was gone. But being a Cash boy he had to ask the cop if he could give the dog "mouth to mouth". Holden told me the cop looked at him with a weird look, stood up and told him to have a nice evening as he walked back to his prowl car...
Even in our old age the Cash boys still got that "wise ass" humor. Pops would be proud.
I bought hundreds of those so called M-80's in the mid to late eighties. Add a bit of sealant around the base of the cannon fuse and they make great depth charges. Tied to a piece of string and a weight that will hold them just under the water in a pond, creek, or a 5 gallon bucket gets anyone in the vicinity all wet. Probably not an accident that I ended up being a Combat Engineer when I joined the Army. ????
We never had to seal the hole. And the fuses were definitely water-proof.
..some of the best fishing we ever did as kids.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-80_(explosive) says they don't make 'em like they used to:
M-80s were originally made in the early 20th century by the U.S. military to simulate explosives or artillery fire; later, M-80s were manufactured as fireworks. Traditionally, M-80s were made from a small cardboard tube, often red, approximately 1 1?2 inches (3.8 cm) long and 9?16 inch (1.4 cm) inside diameter, with a fuse or wick coming out of the side; ... The tubes often hold approximately 2?«??3 grams of pyrotechnic flash powder; ...
Because an M-80 is a pyrotechnic device containing a charge in excess of 50 milligrams of pyrotechnic flash power, civilian use requires a license issued by federal authorities. This is the result of the Child Protection Act of 1966 and regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), with the purpose of limiting the potential property damage and bodily harm M-80s can cause. This law also covers cherry bombs.
Many firecrackers sold legally in the United States to consumers bear names and designations indicating the original "M-80", such as for example "M-80 Firecracker", "M-8000"... those differ from the actual "M-80" ...] These firecrackers most commonly have a small capsule with up to 50 mg of powder... buyers are occasionally deceived into thinking that the entire tube is full. Also the fuse, at times, protrudes from the ends of these firecrackers, as opposed to the middle of the tube in real M-80s. Genuine M-80s have paper endcaps, and contain 50??60 times more powder.
I also discovered a use for the mountain of spent CO2 cartridges that I accumulated.
They make great rocket bodies until you accidentally reinvent the grenade. I had made a few and launched them horizontally, then I got curious to see how high one would go. I went to the creek in the woods behind the house and set two flat rocks on the sand bar. One was only tall enough to keep the fuse off the damp sand and the other was 4-5 inches tall so the cartridge/rocket could lean against it but still be almost vertical. I used a short trail of rubbing alcohol for a delay and crouched down not more than ten feet away. Instead of the expected whoosh, I got a blast. I'm squatting there ten feet away hearing pieces of rock and metal whack trees a couple hundred feet away. A large rock that acted as a blast deflector and a praying mama are the only reason I can think of that I walked away without a scratch from that one.
That's been almost 30 years give or take a day or two and I still don't build "homemade" rockets anymore.
....A large rock that acted as a blast deflector and a praying mama are the only reason I can think of that I walked away without a scratch from that one.
That's been almost 30 years give or take a day or two and I still don't build "homemade" rockets anymore.
Amen. We used to make a lot of homemade bombs when we were kids and only by the grace of God none of us died.
I remember one we used an old salt-shaker made of glass with little square hatching all over it. Took us days to tear open enough firecrackers to get that thing 2/3 full. We put packing on top of the powder and tamped it down solid with a screwdriver handle. We had a fuse made from several fuses from smoke bombs. To add injury to stupidity we took the completed bomb, poured Elmer's glue all over the sides and then rolled it around in B-Bs. I guess we were after a homemade frag grenade.
We picked the crotch of an old elm tree to cradle the bomb and make a quick getaway after lighting the fuse. We were probably 15 or 20 yard away hunkered down behind a wheel barrow on its side. My older brother lit the fuse and ran like hell. I've never heard anything that loud. Jesus. It blew B-Bs all over the place knocking holes in an old tin shed and blowing a 3" branch clean off the trunk. You could hear the shrapnel hitting EVERYTHING for a few seconds after the blast. We found out later some of it made it 300 feet away and broke the glass on a neighbor's back door.
We all got busted big time for that one. I think it was the last one we ever put together.
Years later I watched the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the scene where they blow up the mail car ( "Think you used enough dynamite there Butch?") reminded me of our escapade. My brothers thought the same thing too when they watched that movie.
