Explosive 1/2 Pound Composition C-

[MINENAZ16]

Hello,
I heard this one is an explosive block made of C2 but why marking is a short C- ?

 

[SchweineKarl]

It probably was the first version of the explosive. Here is some stuff from Wikipedia:

The Composition C family is a family of related US-specified plastic explosives consisting primarily of RDX. All can be moulded by hand for use in demolition work and packed by hand into shaped charge devices. Variants have different proportions and plasticisers and include composition C-2, composition C-3, and composition C-4.[1]

History[edit]​

The term composition is used for any explosive material compounded from several ingredients. In particular, in the 1940s the format "Composition <letter>" was used for various compositions of the (relatively) novel explosive RDX, such as Composition B and other variants.

Development[edit]​

The original material was developed by the British during World War II, and was used in the Gammon bomb. It was standardised as Composition C when introduced to US service. This material consisted of 88.3% RDX and a mineral oil-based plasticiser and phlegmatiser. It suffered from a relatively limited range of serviceable temperatures, and was replaced by Composition C-2 around 1943, which would later be redeveloped around 1944 as Composition C-3.