Black powder Blanks

[DLCTEX]

We are wanting to do a reenactment bit with a bank robbery. My thought is to load my ROA and Colt 36 cal. with black powder capped with oxyoke wad and then beeswax. Will this be as safe as wax only or wax and cardboard? We realize that even wax is a projectile and shouldn't be fired directly a a person. We also will need some shotgun loads in the same catagory. The other members may have to use cartridge guns, but we want to use black for the smoke effect and realistic depiction of the time. Any suggestions would be appreciated. DALE

[John Boy]

Dale, might want to consider just using a dry felt wad. Felt burns at 140*F.
I have several good recipes where I use a felt wad and ... I've never found a spent one on the ground

[Matt Muir]

Igot my youngest son shooting the 45-70 by loading black with just a veggie wad compressed over. He thought he was shooting a .22 Then I loaded a leaded round, it kicked but not enough to scare or hurt him. I carried the rounds in my pocket for a while and no round seemed to work loose. I dont know how durable this would be running around. robbing banks.

[405]

Reminds me of being involved in some re-enactment stuff for the 1976 Bicent. Celebration. What a blast and the spectators loved it. Very impressive at night.

Did all the blank combos- from muzzleloaders to cap n ball to cartridge guns. I know... cartridges and cap n ball post-date the Revolution but used what we had and some of it was done at night. :)

After some experimenting, found most any fairly light BP load under a containment will work fine. Just have to have the containment contact the BP so no ringing possible and make the containment as frangible and as low a density material as possible- for obvious safety reasons. Used some cotton patching for the muzzleloaders and I think a thin card seated on top of the BP charge with a small drop of wax dripped on top to keep it in place for the cartridges. Just a card on the BP in the cap n ball with some lube smeared on top as in regular loading.

After all the fireworks remind everyone to clean their guns :mrgreen:

[DLCTEX]

Thanks , I think it will be fun. DALE

[SwedeNelson]

dale

Have a friend that does reenactments in Promontory Utah.
I load blanks for him in .45 colt with ffg black powder and use
CH Blank Crimp die (no wad to worry about)

12ga. we use brass shells, ffg black powder and a very thin
wad made from a styrofoam meat tray. (thinner the better)
And a little Elmer's to hold it in place. The idea is to burn it up
as much as possible in the barrel. (again thinner the better)

Try to keep anything from going down the barrel.

Try your loads and if you get a lot of unburnt powder
ether lighten your load or go to a faster powder.

Swede Nelson

[freedom475]

For the Jackson Hole shoots we compressed the BP in the cylinder, it stayed put and was very loud, and then loaded a piece of cotton ball.....Chain-fires didn"t happen and it doesn't matter too much if they do.

The fun thing about a cotton ball is it will break a balloon at quite a distance. This was a real attention getter for the croud when the outlaw yelled "Oh you think I'm Kidding", than turned and shot the ballon across the street.

Funny story... a staged bank robbery was going on when a local rancher drove through town and saw what was going on, thinking it was real, he grabbed his 30-30 out of the gun rack and had them all face down on the sidewalk beggin for mercy before someone explained the sittuation to him:mrgreen:

[curator]

Dale,
I have created "Movie & Stage" blanks for various plays and reenactments. Using cap& ball revolvers is the easiest. Use about 12-15 grains of FFFg in the .36 caliber revolver and 20-22 grains of FFFg in the ROA. After loading the powder in each chamber, fill the remaining space with either Cream of Wheat or Cocoa-puffs cereal, and compress it with the rammer. Add more cereal and compress again. This will create a "frangible" wad. You will have a really good BANG, and lots of smoke. The "wad" disintigrates within a few feet of the muzzle.

These "blanks" can be dangerous out to about 15 feet, and Cowboy-mounted-shooting competitors use them to bust ballons out to about 10-15 feet, so keep your distance between shooter and shootee. Past 25 feet they are mostly harmless if you don't overdo the powder or include foreign material in the wadding.

Always instruct your shooters to aim to one side or over the head of those they are pretending to shoot. I usually do a "demonstration" of the danger of these blanks by shooting something up close to impress on my actors the danger involved if they are too close when they shoot. This has a good effect!

Good luck!

[DLCTEX]

Thanks to all! DALE

[Griff]

Use a foam of the type used by florists for their arrangements. It needs very little compression, and WILL NOT fall out like COW or grits have a tendency to do. It burns and becomes dust as it's burst by the powder.

[HABCAN]

+10, Curator and Griff.
Our group staged the gunfights/robberies/train holdups etc. at the Calgary Stampede and all around the Calgary area for many years, (and even in some of the downtown bars!). Dale, PLEASE listen to Curator's advice about 'aiming off'!!! Rehearsals are necessary! It's a ballet; every shot has a POA. It CAN happen that a load of BP will become a pellet, and they can do serious damage within two or three yards. Our 'demo' was to blow a hole through a very thick telephone book with a blank, and the shredding really gets folks' attention! Put the muzzle tight to the book if you do this, or the one holding it can get it in the face. With due care and attention, and rehearsal, everyone can have a safe, fun time, and the crowd will love it. Good luck!

P.S. Another trick we employed: put a few grains of Bullseye in the bottom of the case to get the corrosive BP load out of your action/muzzle before it bursts.