Explosively operated wire cutter

In an explosively operated wire cutter having:

• a tubular barrel with at transverse wire-receiving slot which extends continuously over more than half the transverse peripheral extent of the barrel, whereby to enable the barrel to be applied transversely to the wire to position a segment of the wire extending transversely across the inside of the barrel;
• and means for positioning an explosive charge in operative relationship to the barrel at one axial side of said slot;
• the improvement which comprises:
• a piston of dielectric material closely received slidably in said barrel for explosive actuation by the explosive charge past the slot from a starting position at said one axial side of the slot adjacent the explosive charge, said piston having a blunt, wire-engaging front face away from the explosive charge which extends transverse to the axis of the barrel for substantially the complete interior cross-section of the barrel, whereby to completely sever said segment from the remainder of the wire on either side of the barrel and blow the severed ends of the wire away from the barrel on either side by venting from the barrel the explosion gases behind the piston out through said slot when the piston is explosively actuated axially past the slot.