laser200 Posted July 6, 2010 Posted July 6, 2010 Well hope all had a good 4th.... All my shells went off without a hitch. Well except one in particular. I had one salute that went up in the air about 50 ft and ignited at ground level. Sure did scalp the ground. Not entirely sure what happened. Weak lift or maybe leaked out or something. But anyways my question: On some of my shells the BP coated rice hulls didnt break them big enough. I did put some booster on 2 of the shells and they broke hard and big spreading the stars out nicely. the booster was only 4 grams of 70/30 flash indian blackhead. What I want to know is it ok to sprinkle the flash on the rice hulls and is it stable to do so? I used a flash bag on the 2 I boosted. On another note. If you use booster does it have a chance of breaking the shell before igniting the BP hulls which in turn does not ignite the stars that rely on it? Blowing them blind? I just got through mixing up a small batch of nitrate flash using 2/1/1 KNO3, Sulphur, Indian Blackhead and a touch of boric acid. When I ignited it it was like a sparkler mixer contained in a small tube. So what I need to know is what type of booster can I use that will break my shells hard while igniting the BP hulls and igniting the stars. I use all organic comp for stars...Any info would help..And hopefully very soon I will have some pics of my Shells....Thanks Scott
Ventsi Posted July 6, 2010 Posted July 6, 2010 Scott, what size were your shells? 4grams is way too much for a 3" and pushing it for a 4". Are you asking if you can add your booster to your hulls before they are put into the shell (right after coating with BP?) if so, yes you can, but I would personally go for whistle, but FP would work just fine. I personally never use flash bags, I just put half a teaspoon of 5/3/2 KNO3/S/ Bright Al in my 3" ball shells and paste the hell out of them, I get nice perfect big breaks. I like how the flash moves into the burst, plus its easier.
pyrochris732 Posted July 6, 2010 Posted July 6, 2010 I thinks that he needs to stick to the slower nitrate flash too and ditch the 70:30.
Twotails Posted July 6, 2010 Posted July 6, 2010 I have used 70:30, and 5/3/2(both with single micron Al) and granulated whistle, all broke shells nice(exept the 1st whistle boosted shell), flash was a bit distracting(wondering if its possable to use a colored flash for burst?) the whistle turned one nice test shell(a test on a complex metal oxide strobe) into a nice salute(a repeat with less booster fixed that problem) I have always been stuck on good hot black powder, or KP burst(on hulls) I used the perch, charcoal, sulfur, and binder (both red gum and dextrin before), also have added +3% iron oxide as a catalist, but tend to stick with the regular KP i use, seems like the iron oxide catilized the perchlorate apon burning, turning many of the small 3 inch shells into salutes(very nice one's at that, seems that they shatterd the stars, becouse i would get a cloud at the burst)
Ralph Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 wondering if its possable to use a colored flash for burst? Bad Idea on two counts many coloured flash comps are incompatible with other comps they are generally much more sensitive and also most really dont pack a punch at all
laser200 Posted July 7, 2010 Author Posted July 7, 2010 I thinks that he needs to stick to the slower nitrate flash too and ditch the 70:30. yeah. I'm leaving the 70/30 to salutes and salutes alone. I got the nitrate flash mixture to work a little better now. Going to try that in a shell tomorrow... BTW Chris. I braved up and loaded a 3" with 40 grams. Geez......!!! I just thought the 12 grams were loud. I will try the thick wall cylinders next year.
ExplosiveCoek Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 Nitrate flash is nice if you like to paste more, otherwise 7:3 is a great substitute. 4 grams actually is a nice amount for a 3'', paste it with 4 layers and launch it. You'll be amazed by the effect size and it saves you a lot of time on pasting when you are making numerous shell's. When I tried nitrate flash it appeared that I really had to confine it well to work nicely, but not to much or everything blew blind. It's not that one works better then the other, it's just your personal style.. And a bit laziness on the pasting I guess.
laser200 Posted July 8, 2010 Author Posted July 8, 2010 (edited) Yeah... I like for a big spread more than a concentrated one on certain stars. Some of my inserts bursted just right with the bp hulls. What made me want to get a bigger spread is that I went to a show and the 4"ers they were throwing in the air really bursted huge and made a huge spread. Where mine sort of big popped and had a small spread. Just depends on the effect I guess. Had a lot of folks come up to me and said they could have spread out a little more. BTW I have a wonderful spot that I shoot at. Im a member of a local Radio control flying club and I get to use the field. So there were a lot of people there shooting some Cworks and watching. Had a lot of criticism from flying buddies. Was a wondeful time. I really got a kick out of the screams when I lifted the 3" salutes. So did they:) Heres the shells: http://www.amateurpy...did-on-the-4th/ Edited July 8, 2010 by laser200
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