How would you load a blank just to make a few celebration bangs?
4th of July black powder bang without a projectile >>>
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Crow-Feather
32 Cal.
A patch over the powder works well. For louder, about two squares of wadded up toilet paper.
Phil Coffins
69 Cal.
Pour in the powder and fire, no wad is required. We did this in bicentennial parades many times with no danger of fire or wads striking any thing.
Fired zillions of blanks in parades and reenactments with my rifle and my Bess. Just pour loose powder in from a measure or container. I used little plastic tubes that had a lid attached to one end and would hold about 100 grains. 80 grains of 3f gives a satisfying bang in a .45 caliber rifle.
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It's interesting that the old WW2 era handgrenade had 4 oz. of black powder for the charge. The modern ones use some type of new-fangeled explosive. Yeah, also fired many blanks like that from my Bess during the Bi-Cen!
It is a bigger bang with wadding over the powder charge 
I wouldn’t use toilet paper or similar stuff because you will get lots of burning paper and embers, though. I used heavy brown paper.
I wouldn’t use toilet paper or similar stuff because you will get lots of burning paper and embers, though. I used heavy brown paper.
I'd be careful about this if you're inside "city limits." If neighbors complain that you are firing a weapon where it's not permitted, at the very least, I suspect this will be a bit of a hassle trying to prove that you didn't fire anything except black powder. Just a thought... I've no experience with this, nor do I have any particular legal expertise in the matter.
Archer 756
40 Cal.
Good point with todays society and its ways of thinking
Unused, I hope !
Never tried a large gun, as I'm a suburb dweller and I don't want to chance the hassle of having a neighbor see the muzzle of my Bess sticking up over the backyard wall.
I do however use the 4th as an excuse to pull out a tiny 5/16" bore cannon I bought years ago from Dom Carpenter. I load it with 10-15 grains of powder and light it off with fuse. With just powder it sorta goes "fffffft" but with the addition of a tiny ball of toilet paper rammed down atop the powder you get a nice loud pop, very much like a small firecracker.
I do however use the 4th as an excuse to pull out a tiny 5/16" bore cannon I bought years ago from Dom Carpenter. I load it with 10-15 grains of powder and light it off with fuse. With just powder it sorta goes "fffffft" but with the addition of a tiny ball of toilet paper rammed down atop the powder you get a nice loud pop, very much like a small firecracker.Sidney Smith
58 Cal.
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Around these parts, hearing gun shots is an everyday occurrence. I live in a semi rural area, so it's not unheard for somebody to be target practicing with a handgun in their back yard, or taking out a garden raiding pest with a .22 or shotgun. We've test fired many a muzzleloader out back by loading them with powder and a patch tamped home just to keep the powder tightly in the breech. My grandson popped a groundhog with his 17HMR just the other day across the street on the edge of the cornfield. It's a normal occurrence to hear guns being shot around here. Nobody bats an eyelash.
12ga blanks have BP and a cardboard wad.
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1970 , saw an FIE percussion cap .45 long rifle in a gun rack at a local gun shop. It was perfect and new, except that the r/rod would only go 1/2 way down the bore. When I pulled the rod out, it was covered w/ black goo. Apparently , some one had fired salutes in it untill it was so dirty , it wouldn't fire. Price tag said $35.00 , so took it home and removed the goo. Called a friend and got some .440 r/b's , and off to the range. At 50 yds , the rifle kept the balls in the black of a 6" target. Nobody was at the range , except me . Looking around , the club had a running deer target on a wire at 100 yds in a stationary position. I couldn't resist and tried for a heart , lung hit on the deer target. Went up for a look , and the ball passed perfectly where I aimed. Would a been freezer meat. I was so hooked on the new challenge of m/l rifle deer hunting , I was never the same. ......................oldwood
Crow-Feather
32 Cal.
Pretty crappy bang if you do.
I believe the new grenades are filled with Composition B Inside a "Coil if you will" of small linked steel pieces, about 750 if memory serves
You are correct about the coil. I don't know about comp B but sounds right. The coil has divots in it so the pieces hold together but blow apart when set off.
Believe you'll find only M2 practice grenades had a black powder filling.
gunnyr
40 Cal
I load an old CVA 45 cal Kentucky perc, pistol with 50 gr of 3f black powder and place a small ball of fine steel wool
over powder , you get a bang and a shower of sparks, Shoot every New Years at mid night , the 4th of July and on
the Marine Corps birthday Nov 10 th, The SGTMAJ's kids and grand children love it always want more.
gunnyr
over powder , you get a bang and a shower of sparks, Shoot every New Years at mid night , the 4th of July and on
the Marine Corps birthday Nov 10 th, The SGTMAJ's kids and grand children love it always want more.
gunnyr
gunnyr
40 Cal
The MK2 ww2 grenades (pineapple) were loaded with Flake TNT or EC powder . EC powder was also used in blank
ammo. The M26 grenade (lemon) was loaded with Comp B and had the wire coil. The M67 grenade (base ball) was
loaded with Comp B and retained the wire coil. All practice grenades had a black powder charge.
gunny
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Mark 2 grenades were filled with EC blank smokeless powder or flake TNT. EC blank powder was used in military blank cartridges. EC blank powder is much more powerful than black powder.
EC smokeless powder | Article about EC smokeless powder by The Free Dictionary
