“A bachelor-bachelorette party was in progress at the residence on the farm where Jeffrey Taylor, 47, of Utica kept some cattle. When Taylor and his sons arrived in the evening to tend the cattle, they were invited to stop by the party before leaving, Fillmore County Sheriff Daryl Jensen said,” according to winondailynews.com. “As Taylor and his sons prepared to leave, some of the party-goers were shooting exploding targets with a high-powered rifle, Jensen said. Taylor joined a group of spectators standing behind the shooter . . .

Just before 9 p.m. a shot exploded a target and Taylor immediately collapsed with a wound to the abdomen, Jensen said. He was driven to a nearby location where the Rushford Ambulance and Mayo 1 helicopter attended to him. He was pronounced dead at that location.

Notice the bit about “high-powered rifle.” It’s too bad the shooter who set-off the explosion that killed Mr. Taylor didn’t take advantage of the firearm’s stand-off capabilities to ensure safety for all concerned.

Not that the rifle or the Tannerite itself is not to blame, obviously. Jeffrey Taylor was killed by shrapnel caused by an explosion intentionally detonated by one of the participants. Critically, the police report doesn’t reveal Taylor’s proximity to the blast or what materials the Tannerite was in on or near.

As the official website points out, Tannerite is an extremely stable substance that will not start fires. It is, however, an explosive. We’ve warned readers about its potential for unleashing shrapnel, specifically criticizing FPS Russia’s videos for his cavalier attitude towards cinematic explosions. [Click here for our August 2012 post on the Tannerite blast that wounded Kyle’s cameraman.]

As you no doubt realize, this tragic incident may lead to a ban on Tannerite in certain states or localities, or new regulations regarding its sale or use. There’s bound to be a run on the product. Be that as it may, always wear eye and ear protection. Beware of your target and what’s in front of it. You.

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32 COMMENTS

  2. The price of tannerite will now triple and you’ll only be able to buy it on gun broker and the other auction houses.

  3. Why do folks continue (like FPS Russia) to put tannerite inside metal containers? We’ve always used either maleable plastic containers (think vitamin bottles) or plastic ziploc bags taped to water bottles. The plastic deforms easily and is lightweight so the bits don’t fly far and are unable to do any damage. It stuns me when I see videos of people putting tannerite inside old refrigerators, cars, paint cans, etc. Apparently they’re unfamiliar with the printing on the front of a M18 Claymore mine…

  4. No need to run and buy all the tannerits possible. Its only 2 ingredients, 1 you can buy at the hardware store and the other over the internet.

      • Show me a link where I can buy 50lbs of explosives grade (not fertilizer grade) AN for $10 without a FEL. Yes there is a difference between the two grades.

        • Do you really think it takes weapons grade AN to work?

          It makes it work better is all. Also – the other stuff in the tannerite package does nothing but keep it from caking up.

    • Tannerite isn’t just NH4NO3 and Al powder. Direct from the patent language:

      “said oxidizer composition including ammonium nitrate in an amount between about 50% and 100% by weight, and ammonium perchlorate in an amount between 0% and about 50% by weight;
      said catalyst composition including aluminum powder and minor amounts of titanium sponge and zirconium hydride; ”

      and

      “oxidizer composition includes about 85% by weight ammonium nitrate and about 15% by weight ammonium perchlorate.

      catalyst composition includes about 90% by weight aluminum powder, about 5% by weight titanium sponge, and about 5% by weight zirconium hydride.”

      The percentage of NH4ClO4 in the oxidizer along with Ti and ZrH2 make the mix much more stable and less prone to accidental shock and static detonation.

    • We are all rules by physics and its tyrannical laws! “Obey physics! It’s the law!” It’s rule pervades every moment of our lives, our world, our universe! And we have no choice in these rules!

      I am… the 100%.

      • I say we march on Washington a demand they repeal the Law of Gravity! I have had enough plane crashes, deaths and injuries from falling hazards. Something, anything, must be done… for the children.

  6. I can definitely see the fun in it, but jeez. Explosives should never be treated lightly.

    Since the guy is dead because he was close enough to get dead from shrapnel, perhaps some were being a wee bit cavalier that explosions are explosive?

    Has a bit of Darwin to it. But come on. Better situational awareness seemed called for.

  7. They need to ban instant cold packs too since a home-made derivative can be created from the common ouch pack sold at Wal-Mart. Sometimes our fellow gun owners can be our own worst enemies in the eyes of the media and common man. Think before you pull the trigger!

  9. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that some kids just lost their father and watched it happen. This really was a terrible and most likely avoidable tragedy.

    IMHO it was the partiers and not the tannerite’s fault. It may have even been a ricochet from the rifle that hit him.

    I would also be surprised if alcohol was not involved.

    • There was probably no small amount of cheap beer involved. And i guarantee that they were not following the range and container recommendations.

  11. I’m sure they stuck it in something they wanted to “blow up” not thinking about shrapnel. Sad that common sense seems to take a back seat to WOOOOHOOO some times.

  12. Notice the bit about “high-powered rifle”—as if Mr. Taylor might still be with us if not for the caliber of the firearm used to detonate the Tannerite.

    That you RF for not understanding how Tannerite works. Tannerite does require a high powered rifle, rimfire and handguns calibers won’t set it off due to the stabilizers they add. If you had just AN+Al then yeah, you could set it off with pretty much anything.

    • Often, “high-powered” is newspeak for “assault rifles.” If that’s the case here, I don’t think any of us would consider 5.56 or 7.62×39 to be a particularly high-powered rifle round. It’s just more fluff to make guns sound more menacing and too advanced to be in the hands of us simpletons.

    • You haven’t seen the “Low Velocity” or “Rimfire” versions yet then…….they are indeed less stable, but I’ve set that off with around 700 FPS revolvers. Bigger bang than normal velocity too.
      Its a tragedy that this happened, but its entirely upon those involved, nothing more.

  14. High powered rifle is relevant.

    It permits greater distances, which might have helped but for woeful ignorance, and will set off things a Glock won’t – such as C4 or ANFO.

    Chlorine in the gene pool.

  15. Another “Woohoo, hold my beer and watch this” moment. A lot of these moments tend to wind up in emergency rooms.

  16. I watch way too many people, even “professional shooters” on some pretty high-ranked Youtube channels, shooting at Tannerite from distances of 50 yards or less, with the Tannerite packed down into rock-laden dirt, or into wooden crates, etc. It’s a mystery that more people haven’t been killed.

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