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NC Prime for positive ignition


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Posted

I just want to share my experiences here:

I am making mortar-shots, out of simple cardboard tubes. I have 2 tubes; 1 is 25mm inner diameter, and the other is 21mm outer diameter. Wrapper with 3 pieces of 2-ply toilet paper, they fit in perfectly :)

 

Anyway... As propably many others before me, I had problems with making sure that the "shell" was ignited upon launch. I tried different variations of fuse:

- Cross-cut fuse (to maximize surface of the fuse),

- Black Match tied around the fuse,

- you name it...

 

None of them worked flawlessly every time. So I had to think of new ways, and studied this forum for other people's experience.

 

And I can now confirm, to anyone in doubt, that NC Lacquer-prime works every time!

I made the NCL from pingpong balls, made it thinner than needed. Then I added enough BP, to make it a thick slurry. And I set it outside to evaporate for about 10 minutes, to thicken it up.

What I do is, I use a brush and 'paint' the end of the shell, making sure to soak in the fuse as well. And then dunk it in ungranulated BP-meal. And set it to dry.

 

So far, I have fired 16 shells using this method, and not 1 of them has failed.

However, one need to do some experimentation to find the right amount of prime - since that also has a burnrate, before the fuse is ignited.

Posted
Did you try traditional crossmatching?
Posted
Yes. Well, I am not using traditional time fuse, just a Visco wrapped in gummed paper. But I did try attaching black match to a split end, and it failed to ignite a few of the shells.
Posted

Yes. Well, I am not using traditional time fuse, just a Visco wrapped in gummed paper. But I did try attaching black match to a split end, and it failed to ignite a few of the shells.

Well now it makes sense, same experience here, no problems with visco/nc

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Posted

I use time fuse, cross match with NC laq. dipped in bp prime for my shells. Seems to work great so far.

Posted

I'm finding lately that nc prime and slurry works quite well. Though I made mine from gun powder (I have a thread on that here recently). It's nice when you try new things and they work huh :)

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