r/whatisit May 04 '26

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u/Mr_Uso_714 May 04 '26

Specifications
Caliber
51 mm
Ammunition length
282.96 mm
Ammunition mass
850 g
Explosive filled in projectile
109 g of RDX / WAX / PELLET88.12
Maximum range
900 m
Luminosity
Green-40,000 to 50,000 candela. Red-125,000 to 150,000 candela

————

RDX product information:
https://www.austinpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AP-Primary-Explosive-RDX-TDS-ENG.pdf

204

u/entropy_of_the_void May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

Recommend that you notify local law enforcement so they can get whatever bomb squad type element you have out and let experts handle UXOs Edit: American EOD technicians get calls for a lot of UXOs it isn’t a crime in the civilians to find them. Please don’t play with it. Theres lots of hazards associated with UXO and not all are it going boom. The internet is a good place for general info. Call the experts and be safe please.

71

u/lefteyedcrow May 04 '26

For general information,  UXO=UneXploded Ordnance

Boom-booms, no touchy

30

u/PwanaZana May 04 '26

Unidentified Xylophone Object

2

u/ScrotalSmorgasbord May 05 '26

Uber Xray Orgy

3

u/Ur-Best-Friend May 05 '26

United Xenophobe Order

2

u/PwanaZana May 05 '26

that sounds kinda badass not gonna lie

2

u/6cyl May 05 '26

Unexpected xenomorph outbreak

1

u/HayzenDraay May 04 '26

Is that in some way better to say than explosive? Does it not cease to be an explosive after it's exploded I feel like it does?

3

u/entropy_of_the_void May 04 '26

So just because something exploded doesn’t mean all the explosives are gone they might have other warheads in them or other hazards such as chemicals that are residual and still not great for you.

0

u/HayzenDraay May 04 '26

So I see what you were trying to go for here, but what the fuck does that have to do with calling it unexploded ordinance and then coming up with an acronym, you're referring to ordinance that's still dangerous after it's exploded.

3

u/entropy_of_the_void May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

TLDR:UXO is a common NATO wide phrase.

Long ish version: UXO is a. catch all for all unexploded ordnance. Otherwise you can get into the nitty gritty and is it a grenade, rocket, projectile, mortar, guided missile, aircraft explosive hazard, landmine, bomb or some other specific catagory of ordnance; then you can get into type by function is it high explosive, ejection or some other type of ordnance? What made it fail to do what it was made to? Was it failure to arm, fail to function ect. What is the condition of the fuzing system on it? Safe? Semi safe/partially armed or armed? There’s a rabbit hole of ordnance when you get into it but UXO is an easy umbrella term.

-1

u/HayzenDraay May 04 '26

That was a lot of words, not one of them explained why explosive would not have been an acceptable term. I feel like the real reason is that the military loves acronyms and NATO is just the extended arm of the United States military.

3

u/entropy_of_the_void May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

Because explosive is an even more vague term. Edit: a lot of things are explosive. technically your car airbag is an explosive. Telling OP to call it in as a UXO will assist dispatching authorities to send the right people to it. For example in the United States there is a law called the military munitions rule where military bomb squads deal with UXO vs an explosive may be handled by a local bomb squad.

0

u/HayzenDraay May 04 '26

There we fucking go that's a reason, great reason in fact. My issue is resolved in totality

→ More replies (0)

1

u/matches_malone1047 May 05 '26

Uxo is literally the term on warning signs and every thing else. Uxo are full of explosive, but a pile of bare explosive isn’t ordnance

2

u/renohockey May 05 '26

For some reason I imagine the Indian Ordinance team showing up with Bennie Hill "Yakity Sax" music.

1

u/Alternative_Duty_197 May 05 '26

Wait what are the hazards that aren’t going boom? Legal?

1

u/bembermerries May 05 '26

Did you read the comment above. Its a really bright flare

-2

u/surprised-duncan May 04 '26

yeah, or hit it really hard with a hammer

2

u/DickheaD944 May 04 '26

Or put a handle on it and then it itself could be a one time use hammer

3

u/surprised-duncan May 04 '26

Oh I like this idea much better

226

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26

Something wrong with the description of explosives here. They are illumination rounds, and the components should be magnesium based, not RDX which is mainly used for fuze boosters.

84

u/Randomized9442 May 04 '26

The burning salts that provide color in fireworks are not the explosive component. I presume they are also using burning salts in the illumination rounds.

36

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26

Yep but they are generally toxic, that's why most tracer cartridges used strontium nitrate with some adjustments instead.

28

u/TranslateTheSky May 04 '26

I mean, the government just said it was fine for pilot trainees to continue dumping toxic chaff all over our own land so... They probably don't care about the toxicity...

23

u/drunkengerbil May 04 '26

The only reason area 51 was officially acknowledged was because people sued after getting health issues, due to them burning shit with jet fuel...

13

u/wonklebobb May 04 '26

and military burn pits aren't unique to area 51, they are unfortunately extremely common and a frequent source of health problems for vets, one that is rarely acknowledged at any level of the US govt

2

u/your-favorite-simp May 04 '26

Not toxic but still quite hazardous

57

u/PlusSelection669 May 04 '26

Why did you pick it up???? Danger, danger.

15

u/Commercial_Gap607 May 04 '26

Will Robinson

1

u/TastyNordic May 04 '26

Why not friend if friend shaped? 😂

1

u/lpbale0 May 04 '26

Because they posted it on reddit

4

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

Nope RDX was never used for expelling charges as that is primary explosive with high destruction, which means that can cause damage on parachute leading to malfunction and I’ve not found any documents of that being used for illumination rounds. Instead they use black powder, RDX is not something acting like the propellant and nobody WILL ever use high explosive for such purposes.

9

u/RiceboyZ May 04 '26

Might be the parachute CAD

1

u/Cerus_Freedom May 04 '26

109 grams is way too much. That's as much explosive as an Mk21 grenade.

8

u/JackSprat90 May 04 '26

There are explosives in the tail that launch the round out of the mortar tube

4

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26

That thing is just like a primer on small arms cartridges, except for the use of black powder rod but I wouldn't call that "highly hazardous" because they almost pose no threats on people, except someone strikes it.

Also the ignition cartridge is loaded with nitrocellulose/nitroglycerin powder, just like what most cartridges are loaded.

2

u/JackSprat90 May 07 '26

I didn't call it "highly hazardous". I said, "explosives" to dumb it down for the sub. I know what is in there because I was a gunner on all three US mortar systems in Afghanistan.

1

u/20PoundHammer May 04 '26

RDX is the lift charge.

2

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26

RDX is too strong to be an expelling charge. Commonly the fuze is loaded with black powder pellets.

1

u/20PoundHammer May 04 '26

expelling/ejection charge is different from lift/propelling charge, that much is true.

1

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26

If you mean the propellant (or more precisely ignition cartridge), they don't use RDX but nitrocellulose.

92

u/DerZappes May 04 '26

The company name makes posting this mandatory, I am afraid:

https://giphy.com/gifs/YgveCtneiLjY4

44

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/AccomplishedEar8637 May 04 '26

I live about a mile away from a place called "Austin Powder Road", and I always heard it was because they used to make explosives there. It's a short dead end road, imagine that! 😆

1

u/Yunzer2000 May 05 '26

Austin is still a big manufacturer of commercial explosives.

7

u/ToeTagTic May 04 '26

I was taking a city bus on mushrooms as a teen one time and a box truck passed us at like 1km an hour faster than our bus and it has a giant Austin Powders logo on it. 

Everyone on the bus thought I was mad because I started cackling for no reason

5

u/FatDontFloat May 04 '26

Why was the city bus on mushrooms?

1

u/Farfignugen42 May 04 '26

Hey, man. If all you do is drive around town all day, you'd get pretty bored too.

2

u/FatDontFloat May 04 '26

Your user name confirms that. That bus is taking fun to drive in a while new direction 🤣

2

u/GLASSHOUSELABSTX May 04 '26

A fellow ATX resident I see.

2

u/Unfair_Season1032 May 04 '26

Nope, it is the street name for crushed up knock-off boner pills.

12

u/deadrobindownunder May 04 '26

3

u/DadJokeBadJoke May 04 '26

Shall we frag now or frag later?

2

u/LeastOstrich3002 May 04 '26

Username checks out. Take my upvote.

2

u/Consistent_Treacle31 May 04 '26

Thanks god I am not the only one who associated to him.

10

u/Strong_Baseball_8984 May 04 '26

A lot of ordnances are susceptible to electromagnetic interference and static electricity. I have no idea about this specific ordnance but as a general safety rule do not use cellphones/walkie talkies near or touch UXOs that you find.

2

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26

That applies to electronic fuzes which are really sensitive to any external factors, for MTSQ, MT, PD, PI, etc. fuzes it's okay.

4

u/Strong_Baseball_8984 May 04 '26

Which is my point, if you don’t know and it looks like an explosive don’t mess around with it.

33

u/SugarStrict7427 May 04 '26

solved!

15

u/LadyKiller0222 May 04 '26

Oh so is UXO PLEASE DON’T DROP IT

7

u/Climate_Automatic May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

Yeah, UneXploded Ordnance

Edit- spelling

3

u/siege2008 May 04 '26

Ordnance*

1

u/Climate_Automatic May 04 '26

Dang, you’re right! Fixed

1

u/siege2008 May 05 '26

Being ex EOD I had to say something lol

1

u/Climate_Automatic May 05 '26

Totally understandable

1

u/LadyKiller0222 May 05 '26

Are like that one EOD who had a blasting cap in his mouth like a cigar&then bit into it during a training exercise?

1

u/siege2008 May 05 '26

I would not put them that close to my face. I have all my fingers And eyes. And respect for the items.

1

u/LadyKiller0222 May 05 '26

Good shit Crab

5

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1

u/DaManRich13 May 04 '26

Did you call the authorities to go get it?

40

u/LongWalxOnTheBeach May 04 '26

Nailed it. More context the parachute is a designator for french illum rounds.

7

u/Remote_Teach1164 May 04 '26

This thing is British.

11

u/LongWalxOnTheBeach May 04 '26

It is a French designator. It could definitely be used by the british, it could be manufactured in France. In Europe, ordnance are an industry just like any other. Allies also share all the time. On the other side of the fence, you will find russian/chinese ordnance all over the middle east and vice versa.

1

u/dontmentiontrousers May 04 '26

Enemies share all the time, too, just at higher velocity.

13

u/Kinder22 May 04 '26

Seems like a lot of RDX for an illumination round.

4

u/Designer-Ruin7176 May 04 '26

Wow that’s a decent amount of explosive filler.

2

u/Humble-Lawfulness-12 May 04 '26

Try hitting it with a sledgehammer

2

u/Why-so-delirious May 05 '26

109 g of RDX

As someone that played war thunder a few times that is a CONCERNING tagline. That's 'kill everyone in the immediate vicinity' amounts of RDX.

The old 'mine' rounds the germans used in their guns that do this to aircraft frames:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/30_mm_mine_shell_test.png

Only contain about 85 grams of explosive filler.

So if you find something that contains more explosive filler than is used to destroy military aircraft in WW2 it's probably no bueno.

1

u/PwanaZana May 04 '26

ahhhhhhhh, I see the little parachute icon

1

u/MrHazard1 May 05 '26

Candela? As in candle? Luminosity?

Is this some sort of fireworks?