Improvised Munitions Handbook (Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs)

# Colophon

## C.1 Version History

### C.1.1 Version 1.0 (1969)

The only things known about the very first publication from 1969 are that it was printed in loose-leaf form and on lighter paper than the widely-available v2.0 reprint. These are known because the procedure for making an Improvised Scale shows a picture of loose hole-punched sheets and the text says, “Each sheet of paper [of the Improvised Munitions Handbook] weighs about 1.3 grams.” However, the reprint uses heavier paper that weighs about 4.5 grams a sheet.

### C.1.2 Version 2.0 (1970s or 1980s)

A 6-by-9-inch (15-by-23-cm) trade paperback with a brownish-yellow cover, apparently a reprint of the original publication, is referred to here as v2.0. It has been available to the public for decades, particularly from alternative mail-order publishers and military surplus stores.

### C.1.3 Version 3.0 (2007 – Thanks-to-Feinstein's Electronic Edition)

This electronic edition was created from the reprint described above. (“Thanks-to-Feinstein” is a satirical reference to Senator Dianne Feinstein who passed a perverse law that erodes free speech in the U.S.)

Diagrams were scanned at 300-dpi grey scale and saved as JPEG format. Text was scanned and converted by optical character recognition, manually checked, and reformatted in HTML. The colophon (this section) was added. A PDF file was created from the HTML files.

All corrections and changes made while converting the original paper document to electronic form are listed below. Nothing substantial was changed; this electronic edition adheres as closely as possible to v2.0.

Corrections and formatting in v3.0

1. Some words and phrases were corrected for spelling, consistency, or errors in metric conversion.
2. Most abbreviations were expanded for clarity.
3. Trivial changes such as removing or adding whitespace, capitalization changes, or deleting unnecessary periods at the end of words in a table are not itemized.
4. Hyphenation at ends of line were removed.
5. Words in ALL CAPITALS were changed to boldface.
6. Underlined words were changed to italics.
7. Words that were both ALL CAPITALS AND UNDERLINED were changed to boldface.
8. Page numbers were removed, but the HTML source code has comments that indicate the v2.0 page numbers; look for “IMH v2.0 page number nnn” in the HTML source code of this document. The PDF edition does not provide a way to view the HTML comments.
9. Most mixed numbers (i.e., consisting of a whole number and a fraction) have a hyphen in v2.0 (e.g., 1-1/4 inch). For consistency, all mixed numbers are now shown with a hyphen; e.g., 1 1/4 inch became 1-1/4 inch.
10. The handbook used both table headings “Material Required” and “Materials Required”. All former were changed to the latter for consistency.
11. Likewise the handbook used both table headings “Common Source” and “Source”. All former were changed to the latter for consistency.
12. Section numbers were changed from Roman to Arabic numerals in keeping with current practice; e.g., Section V, No. 7 became Section 5.7
13. Although this document is titled the Improvised Munitions Handbook, improvised munitions are now better known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs. The current expression was added in parentheses alongside each occurrence of the title.

Words and phrases corrected in v3.0
Page in IMH v2.0 | Original word in IMH v2.0 | Corrected word in IMH v3.0
--- | --- | ---
005 | manufacture explosives | manufacture of explosives
006 | of assure proper | to assure proper
010 | re-desolve | redissolve
012 | squeexe | squeeze
014 | tablespoonsful | tablespoonfuls [2 occurrences]
014 | tablespoonsful | tablespoonful
017 | Comp. C-4 | Composition C4
017 | Comp. B | Composition B
028 | mononitrobenezene | mononitrobenzene
032 | Anti-freeze | Antifreeze
032 | non-permanent | nonpermanent
043 | C-4 | C4 [5 occurrences]
044 | C-4 | C4 [2 occurrences]
054 | Place 1/4 teaspoon | 3. Place 1/4 teaspoon
059 | milliters | milliliters
071 | No. 8 commercial | commercial #8 (a)
074 | handtight | hand tight
075 | Non-Electric Military | Nonelectric military
076 | anti-personnel | antipersonnel
077 | non-sparking | nonsparking
078 | pre-heat | preheat
081 | non-metallic | nonmetallic
083 | NON-ELECTRICAL | nonelectrical
084 | Non-metal | Nonmetal
085 | Method 1 | Method I
086 | non-electrical | nonelectrical
087 | Non-metallic | Nonmetallic
089 | non-electrical | nonelectrical
090 | non-electrical | nonelectrical
092 | non-electric | nonelectric
092 | so so that | so that
094 | explosove | explosive
098 | re-inspect | reinspect
102 | re-inspect | reinspect
103 | hand-tight | hand tight
105 | re-fold | refold
109 | hand-tight | hand tight
113 | 8-1/2 [inch] 26-1/2 [cm] | 8-1/2 [inch] 21-1/2 [cm] (b)
113 | 6 [inch] 20 [cm] | 6 [inch] 15 [cm] (b)
120 | re-inspect | reinspect
124 | guage | gauge
132 | push-rod | pushrod [2 occurrences]
134 | push-rod | pushrod
135 | push-rod | pushrod
151 | sulphuric acid | sulfuric acid (c) [3 occurrences]
152 | sulphuric acid | sulfuric acid (c)
152 | 250 cc | 250 milliliters (d)
160 | sulphuric acid | sulfuric acid (c)
161 | sulphuric acid | sulfuric acid (c)
164 | Egg Systems | Egg White Systems
170 | up-side down | upside down
171 | sulphuric acid | sulfuric acid (c) [3 occurrences]
172 | sulphuric acid | sulfuric acid (c) [2 occurrences]
206 | sulphur | sulfur (c) [3 occurrences]
206 | non-electric | nonelectric
209 | wiree | wire
210 | non-slip | nonslip
217 | procedure 5 | step 5
220 | C-4 | C4
225 | 5 | 4 (e)
226 | MATERIEL | Materials
245 | dry-cell | dry cell
246 | permangenate | permanganate
252 | Section 13 | Appendix 1 (f)
252 | execpt | except
253 | Section 14 | Appendix 2 (f)
254 | maufactured | manufactured
255 | nitroglycerine | nitroglycerin (c) [2 occurrences]

(a)For consistency with other occurrences of the same phrase.
(b)This corrects an inaccurate conversion in v2.0 from U.S. weights and measures to the metric system.
(c)Although both spellings are correct, the change was made for consistency with other occurrences of the same word.
(d)For consistency with the rest of the handbook, the abbreviation cc was changed to milliliters.
(e)The procedure was misnumbered in v2.0.
(f)Sections 13 and 14 of the v2.0 reprint were renamed Appendix 1 and 2 in v3.0. (There were no sections 8 through 12 in v2.0.) Sections 13 and 14 of v2.0 had different typefaces and layouts from the rest of the book. These discrepancies suggest that sections 13 and 14 were copied from a different source and bound into v2.0.

Abbreviations expanded in v3.0
Original abbreviation in IMH v2.0 | Expanded abbreviation in IMH v3.0
--- | ---
" (double quote) | inch or inches
Cal. | caliber
KM | km
Nom. | nominal
approx. | approximately
conc. | concentration
fps | feet per second
ft. | foot or feet
gm | gram or grams
gms | grams
in. | inch or inches
lb. | pound or pounds
min. | minute or minutes
No. | number
oz. | ounce
psi | pounds per square inch
qt. | quart
sec. | second or seconds
sp. gr. | specific gravity
sq. | square
yds. | yards

## C.2 Copyright Information

This work is in the public domain. The original work was created by U.S. Federal Government employees in their official capacity. Therefore by United States Code, title 17, section 105, it is not subject to copyright.

This electronic edition is anti-dedicated to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein who authored a federal law that makes it illegal in certain circumstances to publish documents just like this one. The military is essentially immune to this law, but civilians lose free speech, a concept that apparently means nothing to Feinstein. (Sherman Austin is an example of a person jailed under Feinstein's law.)

Feinstein feigns disgust at the dissemination of information about explosives without acknowledging the U.S. military's prominent role in producing exactly the kind of information that she condemns. This handbook is indisputable proof of the military's involvement with improvised explosive devices; in fact, the Improvised Munitions Handbook has been the definitive reference on IEDs since the 1970's.

What absurdity Feinstein has created. The military creates and uses technology that the public can not even discuss without fearing prosecution under Feinstein's draconian law.