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What Really sank The HL Hunley


Cholla

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I have been following this since first reading Clive Cussler's story on the topic. I find it very interesting.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/new-explosive-theory-what-doomed-crew-hunley-180974159/

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Interesting. Brings up an old memory, unfortunately.

The day after an attack on our firebase near Cambodia in 1970 we were patrolling in the treeline after the NVA had retreated. They had hit us with a very sizeable force but triggered the attack prematurely early in the evening before all their units were in position. The result was a pretty big dang fight all night long. The 7th Cavalry nearly did a Little Big Horn again.

About mid-mornng I came across two NVA soldiers sitting in a foxhole. Gave me a start at first till I realized they were dead. They were seated calmly with their weapons on their laps, facing our perimeter. Other than some dirt and debris on them there was not a mark on the bodies. I often wondered if they had been killed by the concussion of an exploding round from one of our 105mm guns that had been firing direct into the jungle. I guess that was the case.

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58 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

often wondered if they had been killed by the concussion of an exploding round from one of our 105mm guns that had been firing direct into the jungle. I

 

I have read accounts from both World Wars of such from both mortar rounds and regular Artillery. 

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I have long pondered this.  Now lessee, here... a can containing 135 lbs of black powder, detonated at the end of a 16' long stick.  What could possibly go wrong? :huh:

 

Bring yer ear plugs, George!  :o

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1 minute ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

If anyone wants to test this theory, go sit waist-deep in a swimming pool and fire a .44 Magnum underwater. It'll hurt, I promise.

Ummmmm………….I have a question, but I'm not sure I wanna ask it.

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34 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

If anyone wants to test this theory, go sit waist-deep in a swimming pool and fire a .44 Magnum underwater. It'll hurt, I promise.

 

Or fire it from a E-250 through the passenger window from the drivers side....not that I would know.:ph34r:

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4 minutes ago, Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 said:

I don't have the experience of you guys.  I only know how loud a full house .357 mag S&W is when cooked off inside the metal cab of a 59 chevy pickup with the windows rolled up.

 

Even rednecks know that you have to roll the window down. Did you ever fix the hole?

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6 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

Even rednecks know that you have to roll the window down. Did you ever fix the hole?

 

Well, I lived in West Texas and the cab was full of dirt.  It blew out all the dirt, went through the floorboard, firewall, coil, and radiator.  Took fifteen 1967 dollars worth of parts to fix it.  Just drove a elm stob through the floorboard to seal it.

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35 minutes ago, Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 said:

It blew out all the dirt, went through the floorboard, firewall, coil, and radiator.  Took fifteen 1967 dollars worth of parts to fix it.

 

 

Even in '67 dollars how did you manage to get all that, especially the radiator, fixed for fifteen bucks?

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12 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

 

Even in '67 dollars how did you manage to get all that, especially the radiator, fixed for fifteen bucks?

A coil at the Co-OP gin store cost 5 bucks I think and the bullet only scored one leak.  Local guy fixed it for 10 give or take a buck

 

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18 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

Am I the only doofus wondering why my brethren have experience firing 44 mags under water or 357s inside a truck?

 

A buddy was trying to open the cylinder on a new Highway Patrolmen...he was sitting in the middle and there was three of us.  It had a burr on the hammer or a a primer had backed up so he aimed it (luckily) between his feet and tried to squeeze the trigger just enough for the hammer to clear before I could say DON"T!  Then kablooey and my whole world deafened and turned into one big haboob!

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1 hour ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

Am I the only doofus wondering why my brethren have experience firing 44 mags under water or 357s inside a truck?

My department put Glocks through a torture test before they were approved,  involving among other things running over one with a patrol car, putting them in saltwater for a week, burying them In mud, and firing underwater. You definitely need real good hearing protection.

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2 hours ago, Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 said:

A coil at the Co-OP gin store cost 5 bucks I think and the bullet only scored one leak.  Local guy fixed it for 10 give or take a buck

 

 

AH!  I was thinking either major repair or replacement of the radiator.

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Gunshop owner asked me if I could figure out a way to show the expansion of a particular round of .40 S&W ammo.  I fired it into a 5 gallon bucket filled with water.  The round split the sides of the bucket over half way up, and drenched me with a geyser of water that went up over my head.  The round was expanded impressively.  Sound and pressure moves through water in ways most people don't consider.

 

Thanks for posting the link to the article.  Good stuff.  

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Any scuba diver knows how easily sound and concussion will travel under water.

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16 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

Am I the only doofus wondering why my brethren have experience firing 44 mags under water or 357s inside a truck?

 

I never said I actually did it personally. I was too busy finding other ways to get myself killed when I was young, mostly involving illegal fireworks and flying bicycles.

.

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15 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

My department put Glocks through a torture test before they were approved,  involving among other things running over one with a patrol car, putting them in saltwater for a week, burying them In mud, and firing underwater. You definitely need real good hearing protection.


Who had that (not so) bright idea?

 

Cat Brules

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16 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

Am I the only doofus wondering why my brethren have experience firing 44 mags under water or 357s inside a truck?

 

I carried it in a work van. At the time, I didn't own a larger caliber rifle of any kind except a .22. We were working on a house that was then a remote area in the woods. Every morning I drove the van on a dirt path/road through a small ditch that had about 3" of water in it. Most every day, there was a buck about 50 yards to the right of the van just standing at the ditch. One day, I had the brilliant idea that I would go home with some venison that night. I drove slowly up to the ditch, careful not to make too much noise and there he was again. Took careful aim and fired the shot. Not only did I miss but I couldn't hear much for 3 or 4 days after that.

 

Needless to say, it wasn't a spur of the moment thing......just forgot to put in earplugs.

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I sold a pickup truck to a coworker in the late 1970s. About the third day he had the truck he spotted a deer in the edge of his pasture, from the truck. He quickly dismounted and swung his rifle over the bed, for a shot above the RR taillight. When he touched it off the bullet went through the top of the fender over the taillight. We spent 3-4 days explaining to him the difference between line of sight through the scope and line through the bore, loudly. The deer snickered and wandered away.

 

Imis

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20 hours ago, Cat Brules said:


Who had that (not so) bright idea?

 

Cat Brules

Actually back when the Glock 19 first hit the market it was a big deal that it would fire and cycle under water but you had to change the spring cups. Of course we had to try it. I wasn’t dumb enough to put my head under water but you could definitely feel the concussion the bullet only traveled a few yards 

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22 hours ago, Cat Brules said:


Who had that (not so) bright idea?

 

Cat Brules

My agency had numerous patrol boats and was responsible for natural resource protection and drug interdiction among other things. A lot of firearms won't  reliably function under or when full of water due to the increased resistance to hammers caused by the denser medium to hammers and strikers.

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8 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

My agency had numerous patrol boats and was responsible for natural resource protection and drug interdiction among other things. A lot of firearms won't  reliably function under or when full of water due to the increased resistance to hammers caused by the denser medium to hammers and strikers.

 

I bet a 12 ga bang stick for sharks is something else underwater!

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Bang sticks go off when it’s hard against the shark’s skin. Kind of like a power nailer or stud gun. The shark absorbs the force which is why it dies pretty much instantly. 

 

Not sure about the sound. Least of my worries in a situation if I had use one. I tried to keep those buggers at a distance. ^_^

 

 

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On 2/26/2020 at 4:07 PM, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

I have read accounts from both World Wars of such from both mortar rounds and regular Artillery. 

I 've read the same. Also, in a documentary on WWI several years ago, the narrator stated that more soldiers died from the concussion of  artillery and mortar explosions, than from actual blast or shrapnel.

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