I have made fireworks and I still have all my fingers, however I don't consider myself an expert and I know my limitations. What you are trying to do is very dangerous. If you head down this road you will need a stack of books to know what you are doing. The book I used when I was playing with fire is.............Pyrotechnics by George W. Weingart.........it is a good book and is a good place to start.

There are three terms you need to be familiar with.......Combustion, Explosion and Detonation. This last word concerns you......as you will need to combine a mixture that will detonate. This means 100% of the material changes state at the same moment in time, see TNT. These mixtures are VERY, VERY sensitive and trying to PACK them into a berdan primer cup will be VERY dangerous. Most compositions that are used for this purpose are handled in a wet/damp form and allowed to dry in the form they will be used in. They are often crystilan in form when dry and are very sensitive to shock, friction and static electricty...... fulminate of silver for example. If you will do a google search on berdan priming you will find a article that describes modern primer manufacture. In this article you will read about the term PILL used to describe the piece of exlosive compound placed in the primer cup. This step is most likely done by automated, grounded and non sparking equipment.

If you are hell bent on possibly loosing some fingers then I would suggest you join a rocket club in your area to get the chemicals you will need and learn the dangerous combinations of the chemicals used. You will also need to inform yourself about the reg's concern the manufacture of explosive compositions. The chemicals that are used in making explosives are highly regulated and post 911 are probably tracked even in small quanties. Compounds that are considered primary initiators are most likely illegal to create without a license, much less in your home, even in small quanities.

A corrosive coposition will be the easiest to make but I would not try it if you paid me. It is far better to spend $5000 on a bunch of primers then it is to loose even one finger or an eye. Besides, by the time you buy all the chemicals you will need + all the books you will need to know what you are doing + the safety and processing equipment you will need to not kill yourself you could go out and buy thousands of boxer primers.

Hey I just had a better idea..........apply for a import permit and purchase a cargo cantiner of berdan primers from Prvi Partizan or some place else and then sell them here. You will make money, get free primers, and keep all your fingers + stay out of jail.

Packing match heads into a container to construct a crude "explosive" is not the same as making a compound that will "detonate".

Be very careful, it's not worth your finger, eye, life or jail time.

Smokepole