Loading from flask question

[hawkeye2]

The cutoffs on flasks are not airtight nor can they be made to be (at any price we would be willing to pay). A flame front will find it's way into the flask. They may hold powder back but they still "leak".

Back in the 70s I was with a friend who was set up at the N-SSA nationals as a sutler. I noticed him staring at a passerby who was returning his gaze. Paul said "you look familar, are you X..."? It turned out that his friend had had extensive plastic surgery which had changed his appearance considerably. He had been kneeling and priming a bronze mortar when the half full flask he was using exploded. He laid the blame on a smoldering ember on the ground from a previous shot but who knows? Go there if you wish but please don't do it while I am within the blast zone.

 

[roundball]

I must have been really lucky over the decades...I have at least a half dozen carriers with spring loaded valves that I use for 4F and as fine as 4F is, never had any leaks yet...use them every week year round.
Guarantee one thing, if I had any kind of leaking powder carrier, it would either be repaired or go in the trash...LOL...but that's just me

 

[hawkeye2]

Roundball, I think you may have misunderstood the first part of my post. A flask may not leak powder but it still leaks in the sense that it does not seal tight enough to stop the hot gases from a cookoff passing into the flask. Fill a flask that works fine with water sometime and see what happens when you turn it upsidedown.

 

[aeatwood]

I take it one step further. I have a spout and valve that screw onto the powder can, and I make sure that I slip a baggie over the top of the can before I prime the gun. I dont want a spark going down that spout to a pound of powder whether the valve is closed or not.

 

[roundball]

Roundball, I think you may have misunderstood the first part of my post. A flask may not leak powder but it still leaks in the sense that it does not seal tight enough to stop the hot gases from a cookoff passing into the flask. Fill a flask that works fine with water sometime and see what happens when you turn it upsidedown.

OK, got it...I did think you meant leaking powder.

Bottom line, there is some inherent element of danger associated with this hobby (many hobbies) and everyone should absolutely do whatever it is they're most comfortable doing from a safety point of view...and I suspect that can vary depending on circumstances, depending on if working alone or in a group, etc, etc.

Kind of like the old discussion of blowing down a barrel or not...LOL