I can't find it......

[TheOldeBushwacker]

Gents, One of the first things I read on this Forum had to do with powder charges and cannons.
One of the things that was (from memory) commented on was the addition of an amount of ???? on top of the powder charge to increase the "flash" and smoke...esp. at night. I have been looking for that thread, and now I'm not sure that I even read it on this forum. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Was the add-on flour? I'm building a 1" bore hand cannon, and since it is strictly for "Show-Offs" This sounds like something I should know about. Also, I'll be loading about an oz of black powder for the boom...would the proper amount of the add-on be about equal to the load? Does any of this make any sence????
Thanks

 

[Jumpshot]

I dont know what substance you read about in that thread, but coffee creamer is flammable. I know because we used to play with it in the desert when we got bored waiting for an attack. Take a packet of creamer from an MRE, hold it about 18" above a lit match and pour it out, the cloud of creamer would go up in a flash. But I dont know if it would have any added 'flash' effect in a gun bore.

Seems to me if you want more flash for shooting at night the black powder itself should do that. You shouldnt need to add anything.

 

[grapeshot]

I would not use flour - I've been through two different artillery courses and in both they said to never add flour because it is combustible and will raise the pressure levels by an unknown quantity.

I know of one crew that uses ultra-fine steel wool - it burns and adds to the flash when night firing, but does not produce expanding gasses that would compound your pressure levels the way flour would.

If you are using the gun at a reenactment with opposing forces downrange, then don't add anything.