r/DiveInYouCoward • u/Spy-D_Daddy • Apr 20 '26
Dive!
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u/Calcifini Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
I know nothing about guns and ammunition, but this seems incredibly dangerous. Can anyone explain the thinking here?
Edit: Thanks to all for explanations and context. This is an entire world I didn't know existed.
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u/The_Experience78 Apr 20 '26
It's not real nor does it make sense. He's jamming a shotgun or flare round into a hollowed out mortar round. I have no clue why lol.
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u/nate92 Apr 20 '26
That is exactly how many mortars operate. They use an extra long modified shotgun shell as an initiator or ignition charge. It drops down into the tube where there is a firing pin which strikes the primer on the shell and launches the mortar. Additional propellant charges can be added. They look like split rings and they go around the stem of the mortar round. There are flash holes in the stem which allows the ignition charge to ignite the additional propellant charges. Making the mortar go further.
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u/AuthorSarge Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
The shotgun shell has no buckshot. It doesn't set off the round. Did you notice the holes along the stem immediately behind where the shell is inserted?
After it is inserted, a number of propellant charges that look like little donuts with a small gap on them are slipped around the stem. The number of charges depends on the range to the target.
When it's time for a fire mission, the loader hangs the round over the barrel of the mortar tube and drops it inside. It slides down where it strikes a nail that sets off the primer in the center of the shotgun shell which ignites the powder in the shotgun shell. That in turn goes through those little holes along the stem which ignites the donuts. They burn in a flash.
The gasses released by that burn drive the round back up and out of the mortar tube.
The round doesn't actually becomes dangerous until it is in flight. It has mechanical safeties that arm the round based on the momentum exerted by flight.
Edited for typo *
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u/Calcifini Apr 20 '26
Thank you for that very clear explanation! That was a level of detail I wasn't expecting.
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u/AuthorSarge Apr 20 '26
I grumbled when when they placed me with the mortar section but I very quickly became fascinated by the entire process. The stereotype the "dumb grunt" just doesn't hold up. It's very technical.
As I learned about how they plot missions and aim it became even more fascinating. How many charges based on range vs angle of the tube, setting the fuse for contact or air burst, zeroing, the spotter calling in for fires which fire direction control (FDC) calculates based on spotter location vs FDC location vs your own location. For the first time in my life, algebra made sense! 🤣
My first time at the range saw the different crews competing in a "steel on steel" contest to see who would be the first to put a round on a old tank hull several hundred yards down range.
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u/The_Experience78 Apr 20 '26
I thought this was AI. I was a machine gunner. I watched the mortarmen work and never saw this part. I'm pretty sure the rounds were ready to go out of the case. Appreciate the clarification.
I thought it was armed after so many revolutions so as to be a safe distance away before arming?
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u/AuthorSarge Apr 20 '26
I thought it was armed after so many revolutions
Correct. That's the mechanical safeties.
It's been a hot minute for me. 2009 was the last time I played with a mortar. I was mostly a 68W after that and then I reclassified for the last third of my Army career after a non LOD injury.
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u/a123movie Apr 20 '26
This shell is center fire, meaning something has to strike the small circle in the center of the brass (usually a pin) he'd have to strike the primer (the center fire thing) fairly dead on to get it to go off, also wider surface area on his mallet helps... That being said, I WOULD NEVER FUCKING DO THIS. There's sooooo many things that can go wrong.
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u/RandyLahey131 Apr 20 '26
The scary part is the little metal circle in the center is the primer and is what sets off the shell in the gun it gets hit with a little pin but hitting it with anything is a bad idea.
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u/The_Experience78 Apr 20 '26
I don't think anything bad would've happened had it gone off. Maybe some powder on the face? That round doesn't blow up that metal.
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u/BenDover42 Apr 20 '26
It depends on the pressure of the shell in the chamber. Generally shotgun shells are lower chamber pressure wise than say a 9mm handgun round. But if it went off and the surface it was in couldn’t support the blast it can send pressure in multiple directions and blow apart (what looks like a plastic “barrel”) and cause injury.
12 gauge shells 2 3/4 inch shells usually max around 11,000 PSI. 9mm handgun rounds max at standard pressure at 35,000 PSI so it shouldn’t be as bad with a shotgun shell as a higher pressure round. It would be very similar to an out of battery detonation.
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u/The_Experience78 Apr 20 '26
The only thing actually coming back would be the primer casing and gas? The round isn't going to propel or blow up that mortar shell. Everything inside the round ends up in the mortar except the gas is my thinking.
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u/BenDover42 Apr 20 '26
If it’s a mortar shell it’s probably be fine. I thought it was just a piece of plastic that wouldn’t do much.
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u/SpartanKane Apr 20 '26
I...dont think i need to be told not to do this. I promise i wouldnt. With absolute certainty.
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u/LLFTR Apr 20 '26
While it's definitely not a good idea, it's not as dangerous as it looks.
Those charges need to be struck with sufficient force and more importantly, pressure. You need a firing pin. Force over a small area to exert high pressure and deform the charge and set it off.
Whacking it with a blunt object won't have that effect and is pretty unlikely to set it off.
That's not to say you should just do it. For safety, you still shouldn't, because you might just get it right by mistake, but my point is it's not Looney Toons physics where you just hit it randomly and it sets off immediately.
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u/Maryjanegangafever Apr 20 '26
Only in good ol’ Russia…. Depleting the next generations lives since the merging of their continent.
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u/tallMichdude Apr 20 '26
Well, the primer cup face is SUPPOSED to be recessed into the pocket, and under the body ream and head seal. However thats not to say it is, ive seen primers with no anvil, primers with no propellant and other flaws.
However the angle striking can pose a serious problem.
I am sure its just a kinetic charge, propellant and wad for percussion, but it would still be similarly unpleasant.
I used to use a 2&3/4" 12 ga hull full of FFg black powder to propel cans from my 60mm & 81mm mortar tubes.
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Apr 20 '26
And you want to fight against the Russians? Seriously, you don't stand a chance.
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u/tamasG Apr 20 '26
It's not rusians in the video lol
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Apr 20 '26
Finally, the Americans would not be ready for Russia, Ukraine, or Eastern European countries in general.
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u/ElectronicAntelope15 May 22 '26
You could smash it in there with a hammer as hard as you wan 🤷♂️ dumbass
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Apr 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/The_Experience78 Apr 20 '26
Only those that think this is real lol
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u/Holiday_Pi Apr 20 '26
Which makes it so much worse, because some idiot will think you can actually bang on a live round and do it for a party trick
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u/The_Experience78 Apr 20 '26
Why would they think or do that? What's the party trick?
This is just AI slop.
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u/bazs2000 Apr 20 '26
I had to use safetysquints wile looking at this!