classics I threw away or sold ... foolishly

[Swift Griggs]

On Thu, 19 May 2016, Pete Lancashire wrote:
> Took home a couple of the exterior panels, put one on top of the bar-b-q 
> and using a propane torch got it to burn, pure magnesium did what one 
> would expect.

Being born and raised in Texas (and Alaska, too a bit) I have friends and 
family who really live for shooting holes in things and/or setting them on 
fire. I'm not as bad off as them, I only do such things once a year or so. 

Last year, I had the opportunity for a bit of a reunion. Of course, being 
a special occasion, one of my more colorful (and frankly fun) uncles 
wanted to take me out and celebrate my being in town and also his own 
divorce. He told me he'd sued his ex-wife to get her to give her car back 
to him (he bought it for her right after the divorce... long story). It 
was a gaudy Honda Del Sol with a bunch of fru-fru including .... mag 
wheels (and thus my hand is revealed). He wanted to put it back to stock 
and re-paint it. So, he pulled the ghetto-style magnesium wheels off.

We took two of them (still in good condition, but he didn't care) out to 
the part of the local landfill where people do the needful with firearms. 
After his divorce, he got himself a Barrett .50 and he wanted to show it 
off (at $6 a round, ouch). So, we first shot an old toilet. Me with a 
22/250 and him with The Fifty. Uhh, he "won" for sure (the thing just 
exploded).  Then we started shooting up the wheels. It was awesome. One 
shot sends a wheel up about 8' in the air and then it bursts into 
blinding-bright flame. Of course, then the other folks shooting out there 
wanted to come over and take shots. Eventually, they were blackened 
shredded blobs.

The moral of the story is, magnesium is cool and rednecks with guns *can* 
be fun in the right setting.

-Swift