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Decades of consolidation have left the Pentagon vulnerable to mishaps—including when the sole maker of a crucial type of gunpowder went offlineMINDEN, La.—Nearly two years ago, an errant spark inside a mill caused an explosion so big it destroyed all the building’s equipment and blew a corrugated fiberglass wall 100 feet. It also shut down the sole domestic source of an explosive the Department of Defense relies on to produce bullets, mortar shells, artillery rounds and Tomahawk missiles. The ramshackle facility makes the original form of gunpowder, known today as black powder, a highly combustible material with hundreds of military...

The son of a Boston police captain was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for an ISIS-inspired terrorist plot — three years after his father tipped off federal law enforcement. Alexander Ciccolo, 26, went by the name Ali Al Amriki. His father, Robert Ciccolo, noted his son’s admiration of the terrorist group and alerted the FBI. The younger Ciccolo was arrested in July 2015 after a sting operation in which he accepted firearms that were illegal due to an earlier conviction. He was also recorded discussing plans that involved filling pressure cookers with black powder, nails and ball bearings,...

According to Chinese folk tale, a man named Wan-Hoo made the first attempt to carry a man in a rocket propelled vehicle in around 1500. He reportedly took two large horizontal stakes and tied a seat between them. Under the primitive device were placed 47 rockets set to be lit all at the same time. When the rockets were ignited, they burned erratically and could not provide effective thrust to move the contraption. Wan-Hoo is said to have burned to death in the resulting fire.

According to the FBI: …”The FBI’s Washington Field Office has released new information and video regarding the pipe bombs placed in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, and is seeking additional information from the public. Identifying the person responsible for placing these pipe bombs is a priority for the FBI’s Washington Field Office and our partners at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Capitol Police; and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.” Accept the statement at face value and then ask yourself: what is wrong with this picture? Seeking your help. Comments turned off....

Pipe bombs were left outside the Republican and Democratic headquarters The buildings, just blocks from each other, are less than half a mile from Capitol FBI released image of hooded suspect, wearing mask and gloves carrying object Comes after 81 arrested over riots at Capitol Wednesday which left five dead - another 36 suspects are being sought over vandalism, looting and inciting riot The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information about pipe bombs which were discovered at the Republican and Democratic committee headquarters in DC. The agency released an image today of a hooded suspect wearing a mask,...

Paul tests the difference between using round ball and conical projectiles in a black powder revolver.

Authorities say a Thurmont, Maryland, man has been charged in a pipe bomb explosion that damaged a local police department vehicle. Officials said Saturday that 22-year-old Kyle Rutger Mueller is charged with four counts of possession of a destructive device, two counts of malicious destruction of property and one count of reckless endangerment. Officials say the pipe bomb with black powder residue and nails exploded about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, damaging a marked police SUV parked in front of an officer's home on Clark Avenue. No one was hurt. Police told News4 a Burger King receipt left in a bag of...

Decision to hold 'old-style .22 match' leads to an adventure in restoring legendary Stevens single-shot. Among the guys I shoot with, there is an increasing interest in old or old-style .22 rifles. The guns we like the most are the old single-shots, such as those made by Stevens, Remington and several other makers. One friend of mine said he thought that the popularity of shooting .22s would rise in the near future, and our feelings and interests certainly follow what that friend had predicted. The reason .22s are being focused on in this black powder column is simple: most .22...

It is believed that the Chinese have been using black powder for about a thousand years and they are generally credited with its invention starting with fireworks. Around 700 years ago someone came up with the idea that if you put some black powder in a tube with a rock it would expel the rock out at sufficient velocity to make it a weapon. Another early idea was to use reinforced bamboo to shoot arrows and darts. No one knows who thought of this, but they did indeed change the world. The general consensus is the Chinese and Arabs were...

You have probably heard me compliment the .50-70 Sharps rifles before, and the most “pats on the back” in this story go to my C. Sharps Arms '74 Hartford with the 32-inch number 1½ Heavy barrel. That's a hefty 13-pound rifle; a very good performer too. It seems like every time I have some difficulties with another rifle, either a black powder cartridge gun or a muzzleloader, I go back to this .50-70 in order to get my bearings and stability again. This is the rifle that the Accurate Molds bullet number 52-4502L was designed for. The design seemed to...

ELK GROVE (CBS13) – A war was lost before it ever could begin, according to local historians who were hoping to fire up a mock battle. The Elk Grove Historical Society planned a Revolutionary War reenactment for more than a year and has had similar events in the past, but it’s now forced to cancel the event because of local gun laws. The group had already printed up flyers to market the mock battle, hoping to draw in 3,000 people for the two-day event at a regional park. “We would have encampments and all kinds of entertainment for the kids...

On Saturday, 16 September, 2017, my friend, Curtis Eykamp, was showing me a bit of Australia. He wanted me to see a captured Turkish gun from WWI, in Manila, NSW.We were traveling from Gunnedah, through a gorgeous countryside, dotted with cattle and the ubiquitous road killed kangaroo. Many people have noted the resemblance to the inner valleys of Southern California, (with different trees, and kangaroos). Roy Eykamp, a few months short of 100 years old, was along for the ride.Off in the distance, I spotted a white square on a berm. “That looks like a range”, I said. “Maybe...

It’s probably wise not to shoot cannons with this guy. Even a cannon this small is an issue if you don’t adhere to safety protocols. Witness the worst cannon shooter ever, and be glad you were not nearby. I guess this fellow forgot just how dangerous black powder really is. Loading up a tiny cannon for backyard fun is a great way to spend the Labor day weekend. However, it is generally a good idea to keep open bottle of black powder a little farther away there, genius. The cannon fires and a spark drops down the funnel, straight into...

More than a week before three people were killed and more than 175 people were injured in the Boston Marathon bombings, a Jersey City man was arrested at the train station in Hoboken while carrying two home-made bombs, authorities say. Police also found explosive devices in the Newport Parkway home of Mykyta Panasenko, 27, Jersey City police said today. According to a criminal complaint, Panasenko is charged with having "two destructive devices, specifically improvised explosive devices (IEDs) constructed from a cylinder containing Pyrodex (black powder)" on April 5, the criminal complaint says.

On a cold winter day in western Washington, two duck hunting rookies loaded up on No. 2 shot and expert advice to take on some wily webfoots. Cedarville Farms, located in Oakville, Washington, is an active farm that includes a working millworks facility. But perhaps more applicable to the topic of this column, it is also home to a waterfowl hunting club situated on more than 100 acres with five swales, a tree-enclosed pond, and 2,500 feet of river frontage. Owner Jon McAninch always donates a couple of two-person guided hunts to the annual Washington Waterfowl Association (WWA) raffle, and...

When Jacob Hawken first began making his "mountain" rifles, he incorporated features into each gun that were well thought of based on his experience. Hawken wanted his rifles to be the very best available and, therefore, desired by the most people. His strategy worked, because these days, they are the rifles we remember the most from the early to mid-1800s. Dan Phariss, a highly regarded gunsmith and black powder historian, may have said it best: “The Hawken, the fully evolved mountain rifle, be it full or half-stock, was the final evolution of the American muzzleloading hunting rifle.” In my opinion,...

New evidence suggests Iran received help from Venezuela with its nuclear program despite a decade of U.N.-mandated sanctions aimed at curbing the rouge regime’s controversial nuclear and ballistic missile programs. A 2009 document obtained by Brazil’s leading weekly, Veja magazine, shows late dictator President Hugo Chavez signing off on the release of funds to help Iran with its nuclear ambitions. Specifically, the document states the funds were to be designated for the import of equipment for a gunpowder factory and the development of production plants for nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose, elements used in rocket propulsion for Iran’s government. There is also...

If you are starting out with black powder cartridge shooting, the .45-70 is a great place to begin.Most of what we've heard or read about black powder cartridge shooting seems to focus on long-range action. Those stories either include long-range target shooting, especially in "Quigley style" competition, or hunting, such as the tales of the buffalo hunters. While those tales of longrange heroics are often very true, with credits positively earned, black powder cartridges are right at home with shorter range shooting too. Some folks might consider this to be "goin' slow," but it really is the best place to...

Flintlock Construction Inc. offers quality muzzleloading barrels in a variety of calibers, lengths, twists and tapers. I recently purchased a .52-caliber barrel from Charles Burton of Flintlock Construction Inc. (FCI) in northeast Kentucky, and I'm happy to report that it now has a new rifle wrapped around it and is performing very well. My shooting was done using a .512-inch-diameter round ball wrapped in a .015-inch patch. The bore is tapered – just a mere .003 inch within the 35-inch length – but it is easily felt both when loading a patched round ball and when cleaning the gun. That...

Bullet lube in a black powder cartridge can function in two ways. On grease-groove bullets, it helps keep the bullet from rubbing the gun’s bore to reduce the chance of leading. In a load with a paper-patched bullet, it coats the bore with lube to help prevent hard powder fouling from being too hard or stiff. In other words, with grease-groove bullets, the lube is primarily for the shot being fired, but it also leaves the bore somewhat coated with lube to keep the black powder fouling soft for the next shot. When shooting paper-patched bullets, the lube largely prepares...