[Eddie]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

That's almost exactly my own thoughts there Jester. The aim with most EOD missions is not to cause the charge to go off, but rather damage the mechanism and components in such as way that it can't go off. At this point the device can be removed to a location where it can be properly disposed of (usually in a safe area where it can be destroyed with a controlled charge).

Are we talking about "charges" or are we talking about "rounds". The two are different things.

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

As you say, modern explosives such as Comp B, etc take a hell of a lot of energy to set off which is why they require a detonator and primary, or "booster" charge. Remember these things "burn" at around 4,000 metres per seond and up, up, up! A .50 BMG is only moving at approximately 850 mps and despite it possessing a hell of a lot of kinetic energy, I just don't think there's enough transfered over into a secondary charge to se it off.

A bullet isn't enough to set off Comp B or C-4 on it's own. It requires heat and pressure. Burn the C-4 and shoot it. Burn the C-4 and stomp on it. But just shooting, or stomping, or burning will do nothing.

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

This would be why the target for the sea mines has to be the prongs, or with all other munitions, the very unstable and extremely volatile detonator (the warmth of a persons hand can set them off which is why we were trained to hold them by the end like a ciggarette).

Are you talking about blasting caps? The silver "detonators" used with M112 C-4 blocks? You're taught to hold them that way because they're sensitive to the static charge build-up in your body. If you're talking about another kind of detonator, then you may be correct. The silver blasting caps are all I've used since 1996.

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

With regard to mortar rounds and other larger munitions, I believe they aren't actually fused until the last few moments before firing (at least that's how it worked on the few occasions I was arround the mortar plattoon). This, in addition to the safety mechanisms mentioned by Jester, renders the rounds very, very safe from small arms and shrapnel hits (although a nice large HE round would probably do the job).

When I was Infantry Mortar Leader's Course, our rounds came fused and with the little cheesecake propellant charges on the bottom. They have a safety that has to be removed to make them fireable though.

What happens is in the ASP/DHA, the rounds are separate from the fuses for long-term storage, but when a unit requisitions them, their ammo detail breaks the stuff open, fuses them, preps them for mission, and then sends them to the line.

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

And so, I repeat, while it is possible to set off a grenade or other explosive with a gunshot, in practise it's virtually impossible, especially in a combat situation where the shooter is extremely unlikely to be able to aim properly.

That's a pretty broad statement. I want to specifically address the last sentence, extremely unlikely to be able to aim properly? Define aiming properly for me, please? What necessarily prevents one from aiming properly in combat?