Merlin Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 I am thinking an equal amount of energy is released by equivalent amounts of BP. I know some use MCRH for lift and I am planning to this year because it is so easy to make. My concern is that flame propagation will cause the lift charge energy to peak quicker slamming the shell. I know this is true for the more powerful benzolift so it's usefulness is limited to a max of 3" ball shells. My shells are cylinders weighing 1.5 lbs. Do you know if MCRH can be used with 4" cylinders weighing 1.5 lbs properly constructed with about 45-50 grams lift?I apologize for the rudimentary question but this is new territory for me. Thanks
lloyd Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 MCRH _can_ be used for shells up to 8", but one needs to be careful about the quality of the 'meal powder'. I coat hulls with real Goex Meal-D. MCRH with that ARE too brissant for anything larger than 4". Home-made 'weak powder' is the more common coating for MCRH, and with limits, it can be used for up to 8" shells. But what's wrong with 2F? It's ideal for lift! Lloyd
Merlin Posted March 31, 2017 Author Posted March 31, 2017 MCRH _can_ be used for shells up to 8", but one needs to be careful about the quality of the 'meal powder'. ThanksI coat hulls with real Goex Meal-D. MCRH with that ARE too brissant for anything larger than 4". Home-made 'weak powder' is the more common coating for MCRH, and with limits, it can be used for up to 8" shells. But what's wrong with 2F? It's ideal for lift! LloydThanks Lloyd. I have always used 2FA but last fall got a cement mixer for rolled stars and discovered how easy it is to use for mcrh. That's my only reason. I plan to use for lift and break. I will still use 2FA for crossettes. I use a weak (polverone?) 2FA for filling voids between stars in shells. My good powder is pretty potent, I wouldn't say it's weak.I have been thinking why you would go to the expense of goex meal-d and I suppose it would be for consistency and precision. But for my purposes approximate is close enough. Thanks for your guidance. .
lloyd Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 "...why you would go to the expense of goex meal-d and I suppose it would be for consistency and precision..."00000000 Commercial goods! Theme parks do NOT like inconsistencies! Lloyd
Merlin Posted March 31, 2017 Author Posted March 31, 2017 I thought you at one time ran a commercial production facility but for some reason thought you retired. I can't imagine! No wonder you use commercial BP. I'm pretty much nervous in the cow pasture I can't imagine what it would be like to fire stuff with an audience. That is serious business! But I'm glad there are people who are willing to manufacture for public shows. Nothing is as inspirational as professional displays.More power to you!
lloyd Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) Merlin,In a 'sense', I AM retired. I no longer manage the production plant. But I still make tools, develop formulae, and give regulatory advice to them and to other companies. Among these tasks is the making of 'prototypes'. So I still do pyro work in my own licensed facility. I can't even conceive of not having something productive to do. "Retirement" has no attraction for me! Lloyd Edited March 31, 2017 by lloyd 2
Merlin Posted March 31, 2017 Author Posted March 31, 2017 Understand completely. I have Pyro, developing rifle loads for dozens of rifles and lastly model RC. I'm also a semi-pro grass cutter with 6 acres front and three in back. If you don't keep busy you die.All my respect,Merlin 1
braddsn Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 Merlin, I lift all of my shells with MCRH, and like Lloyd said, anything up to 8" works great. I send up close to a thousand shells a year, and like you said, MCRH is so much easier to make and dries much faster than 2FA. I have noticed that in 5,6, and 8" shells, it puts a harder thumping on the mortars, (I have had to re-secure the plugs in a few after last years display) but it works like a charm. I got the idea from Ned, and talked to him about it at length about it before I put it into practice.
Merlin Posted April 2, 2017 Author Posted April 2, 2017 Thanks Brad. Do you do public displays? I cannot imagine a 1000 shells in one year even if they were small. That is a lot of comp! Not to mention time! I only do about 30 a year and most of those are on the 4th. I plan to use plain MRCH for lift and MRCH dusted with Spanish flash for burst. My shells will all be 3s and 4s cylinder. I plan to bury my 4" mortars in the ground. I knew I remembered someone using MCRH for lift and burst. Thanks
braddsn Posted April 2, 2017 Posted April 2, 2017 Merlin I do a display on my property, usually 250 or so folks show up to watch it. My display consists of @400 shells, 3" up to 8", but I shoot even more throughout the year for testing purposes. I live on 50 acres in the middle of nowhere so I can literally shoot 24/7. Every time I make a batch of stars, I send a shell into the air so I can see what they look like before I make 10 shells with those stars in them. I have as much fun testing and building as I do shooting on the 4th. 2
Arthur Posted April 17, 2017 Posted April 17, 2017 MCRH is used for getting a good big pressure spike from cheap crap powder, when used with good fast powder the product will be brissant enough to cause damage. It's also useful because it's soft and compressible. this means that a shell can be overfilled with MCRH break then closed tightly with the MCRH holding things in place. With moderate to big shells the lift is better applied more gently(!) it's quite possible to use something coarse and lumpy. MCRH may be suited to lifting small shells sub 2". MCRH is useful commercially where the NEQ has to be minimised -the rice hulls don't count to the NEQ the meal powder does.
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