Would it be possable to mix ap with something inert or less sensitive like ammonium nitrate to ap to make it less sensitive? ive been thinking about it and thought it would be good to have some relitivly safe ap sticks.

try sand

smokeless powder is probably the best stabilizer for AP. ammonium nitrate works too, but its gotta be like 1% AN and the rest AP, or else the AN wont detonate. matter of fact, i dont even think it will detonate like that. if youre gonna mix AP with AN, you need a big cap to set them off.

but if i did mix it would the ap in it not still explod if i droped it or would it still explode. i just wanna make it really stable. any ideas

No, no, no.

The AP in the mixture wouldn't be changed any. It would still be as sensitive as it was when you started off, just spread out a little more. In sane concentrations the distribution of the AP isn't nearly enough to prevent the whole mess from going off if one particle detonates, so all mixing the AP with other high order explosives would do is make the other explosive more sensitive.

This may be useful to you, though. A surefire way to set of ammonium nitrate is to mix it 75/25 (or more, probably) with acetone peroxide.

~Zero the Inestimable

Actually mixing AP witn AN makes APAN, a 50:50 ratio of AP and AN is fuse sensitive and it's very powerful. A ratio of 10% AN, 90% AP requires an AP cap (2.5grams in a brass shell casing)

And although I've never performed it, I've read the Toluene (Rubber cement has plenty) will de-sensitize the AP a bit.


Yeah... look at me, spouting my mouth off. :P

I never thought of rubber cement. With the right mixture the elastic nature of it might cushion the acetone peroxide from shocks that would otherwise set it off...

~Zero the Inestimable

That rubber cement idea is interesting, any place i can confirm it?

Aechean, I cant find the specific post but on The Forum in H.E. and Explosive Peroxides Noltair posts about his experience with AP/Rubber Cement. Chech the Acetone Peroxide-Special Instructions? thread and APAN Tests thread.