Blank rounds and Fire danger

[Davey Boy]

I switched from paper to flour because of the fear of setting fires. However on damp and drizzly days the drifting cloud of flour attaches itself to anything in its path.

I didn't now model rocketry was alive and well until I found it while shopping on line.

Recovery Wadding

I couldn't remember what they called the fire retardant paper packed between the rocket engine and parachute and it's called recovery wadding.

I am going to order some and see what it takes to burn and stay lit after a good load in my cannon. If it won't sustain fire in a blank load of a cannon I will try it in my pistol.

It should pack well enough.

 

[ord sgt]

Blank loads? For what purpose? Noise making? Re-enacting? Re-enactors only pour powder charges into their firearms. Nothing else goes into the barrel. Ramrods are left in the thimbles. Their firearms are pointed in the general direction of other people, so only the burning powder and smoke comes from the barrel. With that, there is still a chance of starting dry grass on fire, if conditions are really dry. Discharging any firearm during dry conditions has the potential for starting a fire.

 

[andy52]

I'm not sure how many live rounds are shot in cannons so blanks would be the norm. I'm pretty sure you could soak your paper in a borax solution then let it dry and it would be more fire retardant.

 

[Davey Boy]

I like the noise and the pressure wave whenever I shoot. I don't do live rounds.

If you just dump powder in a barrel it's just nothing. Pack that powder and wow recoil and time for earplugs.

They say flour is flammable, I use baking flour and have never seen it catch fire. The cloud it makes fills the yard though. I have seen pictures of grain mills that have blown up. I don't think it's the same. Which is why I bring all this up.

I ordered rocket paper wadding today.

 

[Greasecookie]

The wadding for model rockets is just toilet paper soaked in a saturated solution of borax. Sounds like a logistical pain to make. I don't know anything about cannons, but I grok model rockets. They also use cellulose insulation, a.k.a dog barf, for ejection charge shielding to protect the parachute. It's cheap, fire resistant, sold by the bale at Home Depot, and might work as a tamper for blank cannon loads.

 

[SOLANCO]

I like the noise and the pressure wave whenever I shoot. I don't do live rounds.

If you just dump powder in a barrel it's just nothing. Pack that powder and wow recoil and time for earplugs.

They say flour is flammable, I use baking flour and have never seen it catch fire. The cloud it makes fills the yard though. I have seen pictures of grain mills that have blown up. I don't think it's the same. Which is why I bring all this up.

I ordered rocket paper wadding today.

Grain facilities blow up on spontaneous combustion. One such explosion happened in Philadelphia in the 1950's in the night and people freaked. Thought Kruschev had dropped a bomb.
It was LOUD! Broken windows and the whole nine yards.

 

[appalichian hunter]

The cannon crews that I am familiar with from CW reenacting roll their charges in tin foil, ram the tin foil charge down the bore ,pick the vent and insert the fuse, big bang and no smoldering debris, there has been a occasional grass fire depending on how dry out it has been, I guess from the hot embers that's about it. Do a search for NSSA cannon shooting they may have some ideals.

 

[hailcaesar]

I do CW and War of 1812 cannon crew. For CW on state or private land we load bp into ziplock bags and then into the hd foil close to the dia of the tube. While War of 1812 on Fed land no ziplock bag but all foil.

 

[steam1993]

I use foil chargers in my cannons, and they make a big bang 1.25/1.5 in bore, and they have been heard over 1 mile away. I do live fire and blank fire, with the blank fire just use a foil charge, have yet to start a fire, and have shot in to dry grass and bushes.

 

[flintlock75]

I switched from paper to flour because of the fear of setting fires. However on damp and drizzly days the drifting cloud of flour attaches itself to anything in its path.

I didn't now model rocketry was alive and well until I found it while shopping on line.

Recovery Wadding

I couldn't remember what they called the fire retardant paper packed between the rocket engine and parachute and it's called recovery wadding.

I am going to order some and see what it takes to burn and stay lit after a good load in my cannon. If it won't sustain fire in a blank load of a cannon I will try it in my pistol.

It should pack well enough.

I have been shooting cannons for 30 years, your question doesn’t say how big your gun is. When I shoot blanks I use aluminum foil to make a cartridge for powder only. Just tamping it down is all that is needed, you don’t need a wad to make a Big Bang.my 2” bore gun I use 600 gr of cannon powder, makes a big noise lots of smoke and flame. But no objects in the bore to come out. The foil vaporizes about 90%.

 

[Davey Boy]

Bore on my biggest was 1 1/2"

I poured about a half cup of powder in and packed it really tight

 

[nightwolf1974]

I still use TP and sand! I just make sure I fire off in an area that's all sand and gravel.

 

[bladegrinder]

I use 180 gr. FG in foil in a 1" bore but I also pack a squished up half slice of bread down there,
definitely louder and no chance of fire...plus your feeding the birds...when they come back!

 

[nightwolf1974]

I have been shooting cannons for 30 years, your question doesn’t say how big your gun is. When I shoot blanks I use aluminum foil to make a cartridge for powder only. Just tamping it down is all that is needed, you don’t need a wad to make a Big Bang.my 2” bore gun I use 600 gr of cannon powder, makes a big noise lots of smoke and flame. But no objects in the bore to come out. The foil vaporizes about 90%.

I won't use aluminum foil because of the birds and other small critters. Even in my big 3"...just powder, TP, and sand (when I don't place a ravioli can filled with cement in the barrel ).

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I use the same stuff that fiber shot gun wads are made of. For the 10 ga I use regular fiber shot gun wads. In fact I use two of them I have never gotten a boom and shock wave from just loose powder. Easier to get a sonic crack out of something like a wad breaking the sound barrier. My 10 ga Boeller pistol is rated for 220 grains of powder and a tight cork hammered in with a mallet. I limit it to 150 grains and the cork. I fire 180 grains in the bronze 1.25 inch cannon with two wads of homosote the second one dipped into soapy water. In Italy, where they shoot the massive 40 kilo Trombini, they use wadded newspaper.

 

[steam1993]

Will and try to find photo's of the 2 30 pound cannons being fired. We use a foil wrapper for the 2.5 pound charge(50/50 powder/oat meal) big bang and at least 15 feet of flame out of the muzzle. Does not wake the dead, bad pun as there are in a cemetery.