What do you think?
Rate this book
U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook
You don’t need to be a trained soldier to fully appreciate this official Army handbook (TM 31-210). Written for soldiers in guerilla warfare situations, it demonstrates techniques for constructing weapons that are effective in combat.
Straightforward and incredibly user-friendly, it provides insightful information and step-by-step instructions on how to assemble weapons and explosives from common and readily available materials.
Over 600 illustrations complement elaborate explanations of how to improvise any number of munitions from easily accessible resources. Whether you’re a highly trained solider or simply a civilian looking to be prepared, the U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook is an invaluable addition to your military library.
Straightforward and incredibly user-friendly, it provides insightful information and step-by-step instructions on how to assemble weapons and explosives from common and readily available materials.
Over 600 illustrations complement elaborate explanations of how to improvise any number of munitions from easily accessible resources. Whether you’re a highly trained solider or simply a civilian looking to be prepared, the U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook is an invaluable addition to your military library.
- GenresSurvivalMilitary Fiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2012
About the author
U.S. Department of the Army
7,391 books112 followersThe Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Army is the Federal Government agency within which the United States Army is organized, and it is led by the Secretary of the Army who has statutory authority 10 U.S.C. § 3013 to conduct its affairs and to prescribe regulations for its government, subject to the limits of the law, and the directions of the Secretary of Defense and the President.
The Secretary of the Army is a civilian official appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The highest-ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff of the Army, who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other senior officials of the Department are the Under Secretary of the Army (principal deputy to the Secretary) and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (principal deputy to the Chief of Staff.)
The Department of War was originally formed in 1789 as an Executive Department of the United States, and was renamed by the National Security Act of 1947 to the Department of the Army on September 18, 1947. By amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 in 1949, the Department of the Army was transformed to its present-day status.
The Secretary of the Army is a civilian official appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The highest-ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff of the Army, who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other senior officials of the Department are the Under Secretary of the Army (principal deputy to the Secretary) and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (principal deputy to the Chief of Staff.)
The Department of War was originally formed in 1789 as an Executive Department of the United States, and was renamed by the National Security Act of 1947 to the Department of the Army on September 18, 1947. By amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 in 1949, the Department of the Army was transformed to its present-day status.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 17, 2018
The "U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook" is basically a reprint word for word of an army manual that can still be found among used books at gun shows.
This book is an instruction manual for guerilla fighters that not only tells you how to make explosives, but even primitive guns as well. When reading this, one can get an idea of how such underground fighters of the Viet Cong, Mujahidin, Mau Maus and others fashioned weapons out of scrape to fight their enemies. It was said that the stuff the US soldiers threw away in Viet Nam were made into deadly weapons by the Viet Cong. Reading this book gives you a pretty good idea how they did that.
Included are instructions as to how and where to find your materials, or make them, and then how to use them. Do you want to know how to make a shaped charge from a coke bottle that will blow a hole in armor plate? Do you want to use beans as a timing mechanism for a delay action bomb? It is amazing, in a weird sick sense, how you can do these things. I could actually see how some of these ideas could stimulate other ideas for good or peaceful purposes.
The thing about this book is that it seems to have been written more for American patriots fighting enemy invaders such as in the movie "Red Dawn" (IMO, The first one with Patrick Swayze was better!). This becomes apparent with references to various things in the book.
I do believe that this would be am interesting book for writers, and even engineers.
I must add a word of warning though. Having received training in the army and having worked in a laboratory for many years, I must say that as simple as these instructions are, they assume you know certain things. It is sort of like using the Goodreads website. They assume you have grown up with computers having used your first one while still using a pacifier. But with you that isn't the case, and when you make a mistake and your screen freezes up, you have to contact your Goodreads Librarian, or your fifteen year old grandson to fix it. The same applies to the stuff in this book. You can get good ideas for a story you are writing about some MacGyver type, but if you try doing it yourself you might loose some fingers or worse.
This book is an instruction manual for guerilla fighters that not only tells you how to make explosives, but even primitive guns as well. When reading this, one can get an idea of how such underground fighters of the Viet Cong, Mujahidin, Mau Maus and others fashioned weapons out of scrape to fight their enemies. It was said that the stuff the US soldiers threw away in Viet Nam were made into deadly weapons by the Viet Cong. Reading this book gives you a pretty good idea how they did that.
Included are instructions as to how and where to find your materials, or make them, and then how to use them. Do you want to know how to make a shaped charge from a coke bottle that will blow a hole in armor plate? Do you want to use beans as a timing mechanism for a delay action bomb? It is amazing, in a weird sick sense, how you can do these things. I could actually see how some of these ideas could stimulate other ideas for good or peaceful purposes.
The thing about this book is that it seems to have been written more for American patriots fighting enemy invaders such as in the movie "Red Dawn" (IMO, The first one with Patrick Swayze was better!). This becomes apparent with references to various things in the book.
I do believe that this would be am interesting book for writers, and even engineers.
I must add a word of warning though. Having received training in the army and having worked in a laboratory for many years, I must say that as simple as these instructions are, they assume you know certain things. It is sort of like using the Goodreads website. They assume you have grown up with computers having used your first one while still using a pacifier. But with you that isn't the case, and when you make a mistake and your screen freezes up, you have to contact your Goodreads Librarian, or your fifteen year old grandson to fix it. The same applies to the stuff in this book. You can get good ideas for a story you are writing about some MacGyver type, but if you try doing it yourself you might loose some fingers or worse.
November 3, 2020
No one's going to confuse this work with THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK from 1971, but this 2012 volume (based on Army documents and published by Skyhorse Publishing) offers practical if rather crudely drawn tips for aspiring MacGyvers on how to make gunpowder explosives from charcoal and potassium nitrate, rig up switches from clothespins or mousetraps, fashion fuse igniters from book matches, or use glass Coke bottles and plastique to penetrate armor. Do not try these at home unless you have a huge back yard!
from the book:
RDX
RDX (cyclonite) is a white crystalline solid that exhibits very high shattering power. It is commonly used as a booster on explosive trains or as a main bursting charge. It is stable in storage, and when combined with proper additives, may be cast or press loaded. It may be initiated by lead azide or mercury fulminate. (p. 254)
from the book:
RDX
RDX (cyclonite) is a white crystalline solid that exhibits very high shattering power. It is commonly used as a booster on explosive trains or as a main bursting charge. It is stable in storage, and when combined with proper additives, may be cast or press loaded. It may be initiated by lead azide or mercury fulminate. (p. 254)
December 12, 2012
A handbook by the US Army on how to make and deploy mines, boobytraps, and incendary devices. It also contains a section on manufacturing pipe pistols. This manual appears to be designed and intended for guerilla warfare.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews