into the ice bath, and that the ice bath will not overflow into the beaker
   when more materials are added to it.  Be sure to have a large enough ice bath
   container to add more ice.  Bring the temperature of the acid down to about 20
   degrees centigrade or less.

5) When the nitric acid is as cold as stated above, slowly and carefully add the
   39 ml of concentrated sulfuric acid to the nitric acid.  Mix the two acids
   together, and cool the mixed acids to 10 degrees centigrade.  It is a good
   idea to start another ice bath to do this.

6) With the eyedropper, slowly put the glycerine into the mixed acids, one drop
   at a time.  Hold the thermometer along the top of the mixture where the mixed
   acids and glycerine meet.  DO NOT ALLOW THE TEMPERATURE TO GET ABOVE 30
   DEGREES CENTIGRADE; IF THE TEMPERATURE RISES ABOVE THIS TEMPERATURE, RUN
   LIKE HELL!!!  The glycerine will start to nitrate immediately, and the
   temperature will immediately begin to rise.  Add glycerine until there is a
   thin layer of glycerine on top of the mixed acids.  It is always safest to
   make any explosive in small quantities.

7) Stir the mixed acids and glycerine for the first ten minutes of nitration,
   adding ice and salt to the ice bath to keep the temperature of the solution
   in the 100 ml beaker well below 30 degrees centigrade.  Usually, the
   nitroglycerine will form on the top of the mixed acid solution, and the
   concentrated sulfuric acid will absorb the water produced by the reaction.

8) When the reaction is over, and when the nitroglycerine is well below 30
   degrees centigrade, slowly and carefully pour the solution of nitroglycerine
   and mixed acid into the distilled water in the beaker in step 1.  The
   nitroglycerine should settle to the bottom of the beaker, and the water-acid
   solution on top can be poured off and disposed of. Drain as much of the
   acid-water solution as possible without disturbing the nitroglycerine.

9) Carefully remove the nitroglycerine with a clean eye-dropper, and place it
   into the beaker in step 2.  The sodium bicarbonate solution will eliminate
   much of the acid, which will make the nitroglycerine more stable, and less
   likely to explode for no reason, which it can do.  Test the nitroglycerine
   with the litmus paper until the litmus stays blue.  Repeat this step if
   necessary, and use new sodium bicarbonate solutions as in step 2.

10) When the nitroglycerine is as acid-free as possible, store it in a clean
    container in a safe place.  The best place to store nitroglycerine is
    far away from anything living, or from anything of any value.
    Nitroglycerine can explode for no apparent reason, even if it is stored
    in a secure cool place.


3.14     PICRATES

     Although the procedure for the production of picric acid, or
trinitrophenol has not yet been given, its salts are described first, since they
are extremely sensitive, and detonate on impact.  By mixing picric acid with
metal hydroxides, such as sodium or potassium hydroxide, and evaporating the
water, metal picrates can be formed.  Simply obtain picric acid, or produce it,
and mix it with a solution of (preferably) potassium hydroxide, of a mid range
molarity.  (about 6-9 M)  This material, potassium picrate, is impact-sensitive,
and can be used as an initiator for any type of high explosive.


3.2      LOW-ORDER EXPLOSIVES

     There are many low-order explosives that can be purchased in stores
and used in explosive devices.  However, it is possible that a wise gun store
owner would not sell these substances to a suspicious-looking individual.  Such
an individual would then be forced to resort to making his own low-order
explosives.


3.21     BLACK POWDER


     First made by the Chinese for use in fireworks, black powder was first
used in weapons and explosives in the 12th century.  It is very simple to make,
but it is not very powerful or safe.  Only about 50% of black powder is
converted to hot gasses when it is burned; the other half is mostly very fine
burned particles.  Black powder has one major problem: it can be ignited by
static electricity.  This is very bad, and it means that the material must be
made with wooden or clay tools.  Anyway, a misguided individual could
manufacture black powder at home with the following procedure:


     MATERIALS               EQUIPMENT
     _________               _________

     potassium               clay grinding bowl
     nitrate (75 g)               and clay grinder

       or                         or

     sodium                  wooden salad bowl
     nitrate (75 g)               and wooden spoon

     sulfur (10 g)           plastic bags (3)

     charcoal (15 g)         300-500 ml beaker (1)

     distilled water         coffee pot or heat source



1) Place a small amount of the potassium or sodium nitrate in the grinding bowl
   and grind it to a very fine powder.  Do this to all of the potassium or
   sodium nitrate, and store the ground powder in one of the plastic bags.

2) Do the same thing to the sulfur and charcoal, storing each chemical in a
   separate plastic bag.

3) Place all of the finely ground potassium or sodium nitrate in the beaker, and
    add just enough boiling water to the chemical to get it all wet.

4) Add the contents of the other plastic bags to the wet potassium or sodium
   nitrate, and mix them well for several minutes.  Do this until there is no
   more visible sulfur or charcoal, or until the mixture is universally black.

5) On a warm sunny day, put the beaker outside in the direct sunlight.  Sunlight
   is really the best way to dry black powder, since it is never too hot, but it
   is hot enough to evaporate the water.

6) Scrape the black powder out of the beaker, and store it in a safe container.
   Plastic is really the safest container, followed by paper.  Never store black
   powder in a plastic bag, since plastic bags are prone to generate static
   electricity.


3.22     NITROCELLULOSE

     Nitrocellulose is usually called "gunpowder" or "guncotton".  It is more
stable than black powder, and it produces a much greater volume of hot gas.  It
also burns much faster than black powder when it is in a confined space.
Finally, nitrocellulose is fairly easy to make, as outlined by the following
procedure:


     MATERIALS                    EQUIPMENT
     _________                    _________

     cotton (cellulose)           two (2) 200-300 ml beakers

     concentrated                 funnel and filter paper
     nitric acid
                                  blue litmus paper
     concentrated
     sulfuric acid

     distilled water

1) Pour 10 cc of concentrated sulfuric acid into the beaker.  Add to this
   10 cc of concentrated nitric acid.

2) Immediately add 0.5 gm of cotton, and allow it to soak for exactly 3
   minutes.

3) Remove the nitrocellulose and prepare water to wash it in.

4) Allow the material to dry, and then re-wash it.

5) After the cotton is neutral when tested with litmus paper, it is ready to
   be dried and stored.


3.23     FUEL-OXODIZER MIXTURES

     There are nearly an infinite number of fuel-oxodizer mixtures that can
be produced by a misguided individual in his own home.  Some are very effective
and dangerous, while others are safer and less effective.  A list of working
fuel-oxodizer mixtures will be presented, but the exact measurements of each
compound are debatable for maximum effectiveness.  A rough estimate will be
given of the percentages of each fuel and oxodizer:



Oxodizer, % by weight          Fuel, % by weight    Speed #     Notes
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium chlorate 67%             sulfur 33%           5     friction/
                                                               impact sensitive
                                                               rather unstable
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium chlorate 50%              sugar 35%           5     fairly slow
                                  charcoal 15%                 burning;
                                                               unstable
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium chlorate 50%             sulfur 25%           8     extremely
                                  magnesium or                 unstable!
                             aluminum dust 25%
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium chlorate 67%           magnesium or           8     unstable
                             aluminum dust 33%
________________________________________________________________________________
 sodium nitrate 65%         magnesium dust 30%           ?     unpredictable
                                     sulfur 5%                 burn rate
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium permanganate 60%      glycerine 40%            4    delay before
                                                               ignition depends
 WARNING: IGNITES SPONTANEOUSLY WITH GLYCERINE!!!              upon grain size
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium permanganate 67%         sulfur 33%            5    unstable
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium permangenate 60%         sulfur 20%            5    unstable
                                  magnesium or
                             aluminum dust 20%
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium permanganate 50%          sugar 50%            3    ?
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium nitrate 75%            charcoal 15%            7    this is
                                    sulfur 10%                 black powder!
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium nitrate 60%           powdered iron            1    burns very hot
                                            or
                                 magnesium 40%
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium chlorate 75%             phosphorus            8    used to make
                             sesquisulfide 25%                 strike-anywhere
                                                               matches
________________________________________________________________________________
 ammonium perchlorate 70%    aluminum dust 30%            6    solid fuel for
                             + small amount of                 space shuttle
                             iron oxide
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium perchlorate 67%        magnesium or           10    flash powder
(sodium perchlorate)         aluminum dust 33%         
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium perchlorate 60%        magnesium or            8    alternate
(sodium perchlorate)         aluminum dust 20%                 flash powder
                                    sulfur 20%
________________________________________________________________________________
 barium nitrate 30%          aluminum dust 30%            9    alternate
potassium perchlorate 30%                                      flash powder
________________________________________________________________________________
 barium peroxide 90%         magnesium dust 5%           10    alternate
                              aluminum dust 5%                 flash powder
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium perchlorate 50%          sulfur 25%            8    slightly
                                  magnesium or                 unstable
                             aluminum dust 25%
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium chlorate 67%     red phosphorus 27%            7    very
calcium carbonate 3%                 sulfur 3%                 unstable!
                                                               impact sensitive
 ________________________________________________________________________________

 potassium permanganate 50% powdered sugar 25%            7    unstable;
                                   aluminum or                 ignites if
                            magnesium dust 25%                 it gets wet!
________________________________________________________________________________
 potassium chlorate 75%      charcoal dust 15%            6    unstable
                                    sulfur 10%
________________________________________________________________________________


NOTE: Mixtures that uses substitutions of sodium perchlorate for potassium
      perchlorate become moisture-absorbent and less stable.

     The higher the speed number, the faster the fuel-oxodizer mixture burns
AFTER ignition.  Also, as a rule, the finer the powder, the faster the rate of
burning.

     As one can easily see, there is a wide variety of fuel-oxodizer mixtures
that can be made at home.  By altering the amounts of fuel and oxodizer(s),
different burn rates can be achieved, but this also can change the sensitivity of

the mixture.


3.24    PERCHLORATES

     As a rule, any oxidizable material that is treated with perchloric acid