Police: NYC couple had 'Terrorist Encyclopedia'

[happyslug]

11. 7 grams of HMTD????? That is less then a 1/4 of an ounce.

Metric Conversions:
http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/grams-to-ounces.htm

More on HMTD orHexamethylene triperoxide diamine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexamethylene_triperoxide_diamine

Despite no longer being used in any official application, and despite its shock-sensitivity, HMTD remains a common home-made explosive and has been used in a large number of suicide bombings throughout the world, and was possibly used in the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Bristol student Isa Ibrahim was charged for possession of HMTD. The New York Times reported it as the planned explosive in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot.

Wikipedia then goes on to add the above arrest. A 1/4 of a ounce of HMTD can still do a lot of damage (and is illegal in any quantity), but that is still a very small amount of explosive.

To give you a better idea of the amount we are talking about, let me point out that 7 Grams equal 108 grains (Grains is the English measure for small items, in everything other then firearms, people use Grams, but in Firearms a lot of people still use grains).

Gram to Grain conversion:
http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/grams-to-grains.htm

A typical 30 06 round uses about 46 grains of powder:
http://www.reloadammo.com/3006load.htm

A 50 Caliber Browning Machine Gun Round uses 15-16 grams or 220-250 grains of powder:
http://www.lapua.com/upload/downloads/brochures/2011/vihtavuorireloadingguideed9eng.pdf

Thus this is over twice the amount of powder used in a 30 '06 round but 1/2 the powder used in a .50 caliber round.