Fun With Pipe Bombs

The pipe bomb is the classical homemade explosive implement.
They're fun for the whole family. It's basically a way
to take a common low explosive (gunpowder) and pressurize
it in such a fashion that it will explode more violently
than it normally would. Shrapnel from the bomb itself
is usually the main source of damage.


Get a section of metal water pipe, about 1/2 inch around and 6 inches long.
Get two metal caps that are sized to fit that pipe. These are easily
acquired in most hardware stores. For a larger pipe bomb, try old
compressed gas cylinders, or propane cylinders. The idea is to get a
nice secure rigid container.

Drill a hole, about 1/16 inch in diameter, in the center of the pipe.
Eventually, this is where the fuse will go. For now, put some tape
over that hole so that your chemicals don't leak out.

If you're using a real pipe, screw one of the caps onto the pipe. Make
sure it's nice and tight, since the idea is to create a small,
pressurized compartment where the explovises can burn and fume and
generally get all cramped and ticked-off before they explode.
If you use a clamp or wrench, wrap a cloth around the end so as
to make the distinctive trace marks from that particular kind
of wrench harder to detect.

Thread a fuse into the drilled hole. Fuses of various powers and burn
lengths are available from better gun shops. In a pinch, shoelaces
will work adequately. If you want to get very fancy, the
electrical detonators used in model rocketry are excellent.
Old-style flash bulbs work well also.

Put some powder into the pipe. Dry, fine black powder is available
from better gun shops and will work nicely, but may draw some
suspicion. Suspicion is bad. If you are so lucky as to have
access to a shooting range, vacuum up some of the powder residue
that you will find on the floors in front of the shooting
stalls; this will produce hundreds of chemical traces, making it
a lot harder to trace the bomb to a specific type of powder and
therefore back to you. Fill the pipe fairly close to full, but
not quite; leave about a half-inch from one end of the pipe. Don't
try to pack it in; leaving the powder loose will give it some
room to pressurize, for a more powerful explosion.

If you want to increase the likelihood that significant property
damage or loss of life will occur, put some other things into
the pipe, scattered within (kind of like the way raisins are
evenly distributed in a box of raisin bran). Nails work
nicely, as do shards of broken glass. Be very careful if
you use nails, as they may spark and set off the powder.

Apply some wax, grease, vaseline, or something similar to the threads
on the uncapped end of the pipe. This will make it a bit harder
to tighten that end - try a good wrench - but will reduce the
likelihood that any particles of powder that may be caught in the
threads will spark and cause a premature boom. You may also
want to use a fine brush to wipe away any powder residue from those
threads first. Wrap a cloth around the cap before screwing it on,
as above.

Discard of everything used and unused in the process, including the
drill bit, any extra powder, any extra fuse material, etc.
Also be very certain to clean up your work area of powder,
drill shavings, and so forth.