Stumbled across some nuggets of really interesting info. History really. Thought you guys would find it interesting.
For story time today we’re gonna talk about the
AKM magazine boobytrap.
It is designed to look like a random mag which was left behind after a hasty retreat. If your Army uses Kalashnikovs, you might put it in your own weapon. If your Army doesn't, you might strip the cartridges out to empty it for disposal. In either case, you took the bait!
One particular magazine was discovered by British troops in Operation Joint Endeavour, 1995-96. It was sitting on a trench mound, but the grenade-type pin was still inserted which alarmed the Soldier who found it. Here's how it works:
Once the pin is pulled, a detent switches from safe to armed. It cannot be switched back to safe at this point. There is a dummy cartridge at the bottom of the mag, so if you look at the small peep-hole you will think the magazine is fully loaded. Also, the overall weight of the booby-trap is the same as a magazine loaded with rounds. The rounds at the top are actually live, 5 of them, so you could fire or inspect those thinking nothing is abnormal.
But, as each round is removed from the magazine the explosive sequence progresses. The spring-loaded striker is released upon the last round leaving the magazine, slamming into a detonator and unleashing the main charge of 35 grams TNT. For reference, that is ~62% of a WWII hand grenade (US Mk.II has 52 gram TNT, Russian F1 grenade 60g)
To add to the situation, sometimes grenade pins are added to the botton of AK magazines to aid in pulling them from gear pouches, so the visual may not always cause immediate alarm.
For story time today we’re gonna talk about the
AKM magazine boobytrap.
It is designed to look like a random mag which was left behind after a hasty retreat. If your Army uses Kalashnikovs, you might put it in your own weapon. If your Army doesn't, you might strip the cartridges out to empty it for disposal. In either case, you took the bait!
One particular magazine was discovered by British troops in Operation Joint Endeavour, 1995-96. It was sitting on a trench mound, but the grenade-type pin was still inserted which alarmed the Soldier who found it. Here's how it works:
Once the pin is pulled, a detent switches from safe to armed. It cannot be switched back to safe at this point. There is a dummy cartridge at the bottom of the mag, so if you look at the small peep-hole you will think the magazine is fully loaded. Also, the overall weight of the booby-trap is the same as a magazine loaded with rounds. The rounds at the top are actually live, 5 of them, so you could fire or inspect those thinking nothing is abnormal.
But, as each round is removed from the magazine the explosive sequence progresses. The spring-loaded striker is released upon the last round leaving the magazine, slamming into a detonator and unleashing the main charge of 35 grams TNT. For reference, that is ~62% of a WWII hand grenade (US Mk.II has 52 gram TNT, Russian F1 grenade 60g)
To add to the situation, sometimes grenade pins are added to the botton of AK magazines to aid in pulling them from gear pouches, so the visual may not always cause immediate alarm.
