booby-trapped ammunition

[Truthful James]

I came across a thread last week that I haven't found again. It concerned booby-trapped military ammunition, specifically .303. I came to Rhodesia over 30 years ago, and the Rhodesian forces and national parks anti-poaching units used this tactic with many calibers. The ammo was doctored in small quantities and fed into the system throughh informers, and it was almost impossible for it to find its way back into civilian hands. BUT! I have seen 3 or 4 old .303's "let go" in the breach, and the cause wasn't doctored ammo. The rifles were either fired at one time with corrosively-primed ammo or just plain not looked after properly. The result was a dangerous build-up of rust just in front of the chamber that caused enough friction to cause a breach explosion. So from a safety standpoint, it's very important to check bore condition in these oldies before letting them off.

 

[Mightee1]

I remeber reading something about booby trapped ammo somewhere (Guns & Ammo a few years ago I think). Anyways, I did a quick Google search and came up with the same story about a suposed Project Eldest Son in Vietnam. US Special Ops would steal ammo caches, replace the powder in some of the bullets with some other form of high explosives (the chamber pressure of 45,000psi would become 225,000psi) and esentially blow the bolt of the rifle back through the shooter when fired.

Here is the link I found.
http://www.jcs-group.com/military/war1964/project.html

Keep shooting straight
- Mightee1

 

[winchester '97]

I have read in several autobigraphical account of vietnam, that the cong were very bad about leaving equipment behind after they bugged out of an area (usually magazines, cantines and such), and some tank crews would pull bullets and replace the powder with a suitable high explosive, then place the round 4 or 5 deep in a magazine. The doctored mags would be left where they found them. had to make a nasty supprise to the person that used that clip!