Methods of forming a sensitized explosive and a percussion primer

A method of forming a percussion primer, comprising:

• dissolving an explosive in a solvent to form a solution comprising the explosive;
• adding a sensitizer to the solution comprising the explosive;
• removing the solvent to precipitate a sensitized explosive;
• and
• combining the sensitized explosive with a bismuth compound and a melt binder.

A method of forming a percussion primer, comprising:

• combining a solution comprising an explosive and an organic solvent with a slurry comprising a sensitizer and a nonsolvent;
• removing the organic solvent and the nonsolvent to co-precipitate the explosive and the sensitizer;
• combining the co-precipitated explosive and sensitizer with a bismuth compound, a melt binder, and water or a nonpolar organic solvent;
• and
• removing the water or nonpolar organic solvent.

A method of forming a percussion primer, comprising:

• combining a solution comprising an explosive and an organic solvent with a slurry comprising a sensitizer and a nonsolvent;
• combining a bismuth compound, a melt binder, and water or a nonpolar organic solvent with the solution comprising the explosive and the organic solvent and the slurry comprising the sensitizer and the nonsolvent;
• and
• removing the organic solvent, the nonsolvent, and the water or nonpolar organic solvent.

A method of preparing a sensitized explosive, comprising:

• dissolving an explosive selected from the group consisting of 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazatetracyclo[5.5.0.05,903,11]-dodecane (“CL-20”), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (“PETN”), cyclo-1,3,5-trimethylene-2,4,6-trinitramine (“RDX”), and cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (“HMX”) in a solvent to form a solution;
• adding a sensitizer selected from the group consisting of aluminum, aluminum oxide, titanium, zirconium, magnesium, boron, silicon, melamine, styrene, lithium aluminum hydride, calcium silicide, and mixtures thereof to the solution to form a slurry;
• and
• removing the solvent from the slurry to precipitate the explosive onto the sensitizer to form a sensitized explosive, the sensitized explosive comprising from approximately 70% by weight to approximately 99.5% by weight of the explosive and from approximately 0.5% by weight to approximately 30% by weight of the sensitizer.