Editing Lead(II) azide (section)

==Explosive characteristics==
Lead azide is highly sensitive and usually handled and stored under water in insulated rubber containers. It will explode after a fall of around 150&nbsp;mm (6&nbsp;in) or in the presence of a static discharge of 7 millijoules. Its [[Explosive velocity|detonation velocity]] is around {{convert|5180|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thurman, James T.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/982451395|title=Practical Bomb Scene Investigation, Third Edition.|date=2017|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-351-85761-1|edition=3rd|location=Milton|oclc=982451395}}</ref>

[[Ammonium acetate]] and [[sodium dichromate]] are used to destroy small quantities of lead azide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tpub.com/gunners/7.htm|title=Primary (Initiating) Explosives|website=www.tpub.com|access-date=2017-02-13}}</ref>

Lead azide has immediate deflagration to detonation transition (DDT), meaning that even small amounts undergo full detonation (after being hit by flame or static electricity).{{cn|date=September 2023}}

Lead [[azide]] reacts with [[copper]], [[zinc]], [[cadmium]], or alloys containing these metals to form other azides. For example, [[copper azide]] is even more explosive and too sensitive to be used commercially.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lazari|first1=Gerasimi|last2=Stamatatos|first2=Theocharis C.|last3=Raptopoulou|first3=Catherine P.|last4=Psycharis|first4=Vassilis|last5=Pissas|first5=Michael|last6=Perlepes|first6=Spyros P.|last7=Boudalis|first7=Athanassios K.|date=2009-04-13|title=A metamagnetic 2D copper(II)-azide complex with 1D ferromagnetism and a hysteretic spin-flop transition|url=https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2009/DT/b823423j|journal=Dalton Transactions|language=en|issue=17|pages=3215–3221|doi=10.1039/B823423J|pmid=19421623|issn=1477-9234}}</ref>

Lead azide was a component of the six .22 (5.6 mm) caliber Devastator rounds fired from a [[Röhm RG-14]] revolver by [[John Hinckley, Jr.]] in his assassination attempt on U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] on March 30, 1981. The rounds consisted of lead azide centers with lacquer-sealed aluminum tips designed to explode upon impact. A strong probability exists that the bullet which struck White House press secretary [[James S. Brady|James Brady]] in the head exploded. The remaining bullets that hit people, including the shot that hit President Reagan, did not explode.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/04/04/the-exploding-bullets/e1bef826-a6f5-47e9-bc32-ff3914e1747b/|title=The Exploding Bullets|first1=Pete|last1=Earley|first2=Charles|last2=Babcock|date=April 4, 1981|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Taubman|first1=Philip|last2=Times|first2=Special To the New York|date=1981-04-03|title=Explosive Bullet Struck Reagan, F.b.i. Discovers|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/03/us/explosive-bullet-struck-reagan-fbi-discovers.html|access-date=2020-05-18|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>