Mousetrap Exploding Targets

[NightHawkInLight]

I've been working on a video that required some sort of interesting target to shoot a bb at, so I thought up a simple exploding target and gave it a video of its own. I thought it might be of general interest:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2egR590PMA

 

As a side note, those pulling trick fireworks were my favorite as a kid. I found all sorts of uses for them. I would wrap them in tape which would increase their noise and destruction significantly, and then bury them in my sandbox until unwitting ants would walk over them and get blasted to the moon as I pulled the strings. I was a fun kid.

Edited March 8, 2013 by NightHawkInLight

[Bobosan]

Looks like fun! Just ordered a case.

 

Do you think the humane society would be upset if I used the trap with poppers to actually catch mice?

[psyco_1322]

Cool device but I'm still trying to figure out which is louder, the trap snapping or the pull string poppers?

[NightHawkInLight]

The pulling tricks are just as loud as any consumer firecracker. They are much louder than the mouse trap, though maybe my audio balancing made it hard to tell. My ears were ringing after a few of them.

[fiberman]

My son likes to dunk these under water. They make a flash and a thump sound. We will try the mouse trap trick. Thanks for posting it. Edited March 9, 2013 by fiberman

[AirCowPeacock]

Cool, I've never thought to put 'em under water.

[psyco_1322]

Cool, I've never thought to put 'em under water.

 

Oh man, then you got to try 3 or 4 or 5 of them at once under water!

[pyroman2498]

I remember these , We use to put a good 4 or 5 taped an sometimes glued (my mum really got mad when we used glue , ) to my mums door , an when she opened her door they would go off an give me mum a scare, Then it progressed to putting them in books, They where some good times. some people at school use to put them at the edge of the toilet seat an when someone sat down, BANG , LOL xD . luckily i wasn't part of the group who got caught .

there are so many uses for these things in pranks. but the only bad thing is when they fail an don't work . either the tape brakes or they fall into the toilet.

 

~Steven

[dave321]

i could be wrong but these items may contain

a pot chlorate / realgar mix

 

believe they come from china

 

if so pretty toxic

 

dave

Edited March 9, 2013 by dave321

[AirCowPeacock]

and probably glass powder.

[NightHawkInLight]

Well, I sure let off a whole lot of them in a confined area while filming, so I wouldn't be so happy to learn that. I assumed they used armstrongs mix. In any case, I haven't felt any ill effects, apart from the tumors that formed in my nostrils in the last few hours. Probably nothing.

[pyroman2498]

from the information i can get, either fulminates like silver fulminate an mercury fulminate or as NHL mentioned amrstrongs mix is used but i havent came across anything that mentions realgar being used in these. either way the smoke from these are toxic, and the contents on the inside are dangerous. but even if there was realgar i dont thing that it poses a threat, but i could be wrong.

 

my references come from

 

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.pyrotechnics/2007-06/msg00145.html

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.pyrotechnics/2007-06/msg00144.html

 

hope this helps, message me if you guys need anything else researched

 

Thanks

 

~Steven

[NightHawkInLight]

The composition is brown/orange in color with rather large grains mixed in. The large grains are probably glass as was mentioned.

[Oinikis]

These things are awesome. i wonder, do they produce enought heat to ignite something (blackmatch), so then you could add creamora. but still, darn aweome device, expecialy for low activation velocity. too bad they do not sell fireworks now here. Psyco comment made me wonder, a bell might be even louder Edited March 9, 2013 by Oinikis

[psyco_1322]

I thought they were fulminate based. I'm pretty sure realgar and chlorates are both banned from consumer fireworks in the US.

[AirCowPeacock]

Not when in quantities under 5 mg, I beleive.

[NightHawkInLight]

I'm not sure if the chlorate rules apply in novelty fireworks or not. It's an interesting question. Maybe there are some tests I could run on the comp to determine what I'm working with?

[pyroman2498]

Methylene blue is used for testing for perchlorates. so i think it can test for chlorates to . here is a link to testing for perchlorates an chlorates

 

http://www.oocities.org/capecanaveral/campus/5361/chlorate/tests.html

 

im still looking for a test on realgar, but im having zero luck so far, might have to call up the university an ask one of them if there is a test for realgar that can easily be done.

ill get back when i find a test for realgar that can easily be done

 

~Steven

[Mumbles]

There are some arsenic spot tests. I'll need to look more into them to see which might work best for realgar. The marsh test and gutzeit methods are common. The notes I have do mention a likely problem. Antimony, another common sensitizer, generally will give false positives.

[dave321]

The composition is brown/orange in color with rather large grains mixed in. The large grains are probably glass as was mentioned.

 

i agree, an orangey colour,

does not look like red phosphorous /chlorate

and it is not a fulminate,

definately a pyro mix.

 

no glass powder in what i saw.

realgar chlorate is pretty sensitive and would not need glass powder

i bet there was much less than 5mg present

 

moneys on realgar chlorate for me

see shimizue for cracker balls, it mentions the mix and its preparation

 

dave

[pyroman2498]

I hope Realgar isnt in it, I use to be one to take apart fireworks an remake them ( I don't do that anymore due to how boring it is to me now , ) an i use to take these apart an put them into a tissue an throw them on the ground or stomp on it usaly resulting in a bang or if you ever set off flash , the noise that makes , the thumping noise. I was quite stupid back then an didn't know any better.

 

Anyways ill keep researching the possibility's,

If anyone has a picture of the powder in it that would help my observations a little better, i don't have any of the pull trap fireworks or i would take one apart for my self an run tests,

BTW, if you do take them apart please be careful, iv had a few go off when i use to take them apart, it burns HOT an hurts. I DON'T recemend taking them apart.

 

Thanks

 

~Steven