User64 Posted October 31, 2013 Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) Intentionally long to avoid confusion. I'm in a long range shooting group that uses binary targets from 200 - 600 yards. We've only been shooting together for three years but came up with a system that one person purchases the aluminum powder and another person purchases the other component. This way the targets are truly binary until they reach the range. The person that was to purchase the aluminum this year went with a popular auction site rather than a know reputable source. The aluminum powder is obviously not dark even to the naked eye and test shots have proved it to be inferior. I've since remedied that by placing an order with Anji to salvage this years matches. My questions : Can the aluminum powder that does not work be salvaged with the proper amount of charcoal or does it just need to be disposed of properly ? Edited October 31, 2013 by User64
mike_au Posted October 31, 2013 Posted October 31, 2013 Adding charcoal won't make it more reactive. The carbon in dark Al is just a side effect of the manufacturing process. The fact that it is incredibly finely divided and therefore has an extremely high ratio of surface area to mass is why it is so reactive. How much of it have you got? I would suggest testing it as a filler. Try 95% dark + 5% of the other stuff (maybe even 90/10). It will reduce sensitivity slightly but probably not enough for you to notice, it reduces your Al powder costs by 5% compared to just throwing it out and it might give a brighter flash which would improve visibility.
Shadowcat1969 Posted October 31, 2013 Posted October 31, 2013 And if that doesn't work to your satisfaction, if you can figure out more specifics (like what labeling it may have on it) and post pictures, you could then list it here in the Agora and someone may be willing to help you cut your losses by purchasing it. 1
FlaMtnBkr Posted November 2, 2013 Posted November 2, 2013 Are they AN targets or flash based? If they are AN based then the aluminum you have will probably work. Do you know what mesh it was advertised as? If you run some between your fingers can you feel a gritty feel like there are larger particles? I use 325 mesh atomized aluminum with AN targets with great success. I don't notice any difference between it and dark aluminum so I use the cheap stuff. Atomized Al is usually a dull gray/silver color. I use 5 percent and it is enough to sensitize the AN. It does require a high velocity rifle round to set it off. From shooting different ammo I think it needs to be 2800+ ft/s to reliably work. That and dry AN. If it has absorbed water it usually only partially detonates or not at all. If making flash it probably won't work well. However, as mentioned you can probably cut dark aluminum with it, especially if well confined. Since you mentioned binary I assume it is not flash.
User64 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Posted November 2, 2013 (edited) It was advertized as Eckart 5413H, which it obviously is not when visually compared next to real Eckart 5413H.It is very fine mesh but not the real deal. Targets at 600 and 400 yards with confirmed hits did not function at all with this. There was enough real dark left from the last orders to make four targets, three of which functioned perfectly at 600 yards like they are supposed to. The fourth was deemed unnecessary so we saved it to take comparison pictures and use with the order from Anji. No sense in wasting good product. Forgot to mention the powder in question has a strange odor when opening the container. None of us can put a finger on it as it's unique. Edited November 2, 2013 by User64
User64 Posted November 9, 2013 Author Posted November 9, 2013 Anji's powder does indeed work with the test shots we have done. However, it just doesn't seem to have the same thump as the last batch. It lights up nicely from a 7.62x51 at 400 yards but doesn't have the same report. This had me wondering what kind of powder was purchased last but none of the sale records were saved. I"ll have to do some investigating to see if there is a difference between brands. And we need to keep better records for future reference...
simikilr Posted November 25, 2013 Posted November 25, 2013 Adding charcoal won't make it more reactive. The carbon in dark Al is just a side effect of the manufacturing process. The fact that it is incredibly finely divided and therefore has an extremely high ratio of surface area to mass is why it is so reactive. How much of it have you got? I would suggest testing it as a filler. Try 95% dark + 5% of the other stuff (maybe even 90/10). It will reduce sensitivity slightly but probably not enough for you to notice, it reduces your Al powder costs by 5% compared to just throwing it out and it might give a brighter flash which would improve visibility. So what is the difference in the manufacturing process that would affect carbon content? I thought aluminum had very little to no carbon base, but I guess I'm thinking of something else.
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