Brian809 Posted August 18, 2008 Posted August 18, 2008 Made a few 3" ball shells and lit them tonite, I am using 2 5/8's paper hemi's from pyrodirect wrapped with 10 layers of 40lb kraft paper w/the 3 strip method and i'm using theyre 3" hdpe mortar tube. For lift i am using goex ffg powder at 1/10th the weight of the shell and a little more for good measure in a dixie cup that I hot glue to the shell then wrap with kraft paper. There isnt much of a thump when the shell lifts and in my estimation they only go 50ft up and start to come back down before they burst, my timing would be setup perfect if the shell went as high as it is supposed to. I tried wrapping them more for a tighter fit in the mortar but it didnt make an appreciable difference, am I using the correct lift powder or should I use fffg? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am safe in the fact I shoot over a lake but it sucks seeing all the stars light then hit the water...I need lift!! Brian
mormanman Posted August 18, 2008 Posted August 18, 2008 I'll answer but there is already a couple threads for this.Add more lift add about 10 grams extra. Never fail to make a perfect lift. So good it looks like the pros did it.Make the fuse shorter.
asilentbob Posted August 18, 2008 Posted August 18, 2008 Hmm... Thats odd Brian... I use about 1/16 (or 15th) the shells weight in GOEX 1FG and they work fine. IE shell weight in grams divided by 15 or 16.ex 100/16=6.25g of 1FG GOEX This essentially follows the whole 1oz per lb of shell weight in 2FA rule of thumb. 1FG is a bit smaller than 2FA though. Sporting grade cannon powder is supposed to be very close to 2FA in size IIRC. Is your powder particularly old? Wet? Oily somehow? Positive its BP and not some "substitute" like pyrodex? Since your powder is finer particle size than mine and you are using more it should be giving quite a thump. Unless your getting alot of blowby due to a poor shell fit... I dunno.
Brian809 Posted August 18, 2008 Author Posted August 18, 2008 I think I figured it out after looking at the goex website, I have "goex pinnacle replica black powder" and the website says its a "substitute" to black powder and their info says it has lower pressures than black powder. So I guess I need to go back to the gunstore and get goex black powder in the red can and try again!Thanks guys for the responses Brian
Richtee Posted August 18, 2008 Posted August 18, 2008 So I guess I need to go back to the gunstore and get goex black powder in the red can and try again!Thanks guys for the responses That would do it. Perhaps if yer seriously considering the hobby...an inexpensive ball mill and make your own would pay off quickly Vs. the price of buying commercial powder. Lots of advantages to making your own too...primes, black match, pulverone, coated burst charges... etc.
asilentbob Posted August 18, 2008 Posted August 18, 2008 Making your own black powder definatly has advantages... but it can be tricky to keep a consistent routine and end up with a consistent lift powder in small batches. This being why I make my own burst... but stick with GOEX for lift, GOEX is designed to be constantly consistent. You might want to keep that substitute and try using it similar to KP. Without knowing the composition though, dunno.
Brian809 Posted August 19, 2008 Author Posted August 19, 2008 I have a ball mill and do make my own bp meal powder and coat rice hulls for burst, I just use commercial powder for burst for time saving purposes and yes consistency although someday I will try making my own. It's been a long road making shells but I finally got it so my stars light, the pasting looks good and the shell actually fires out of the mortar and the shell timing would be perfect if the ball actually went as high as it's supposed to. What a horrible feeling seeing the shell go up about 40-50ft and start to fall back down before bursting, I shoot over water but if it was on land I'd be running around putting fire out for sure! Once again thanks guys! Brian
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