Bert2368
02-24-2009, 03:29 PM
I am a pyrotechnist. Yes, I earn my living by blowing things up and setting them on fire (in a good way).
We use smokeless powders for some theatrical and special effects. In particualr, I've burned more green dot for indoor flame projector effects than I ever have or will in a shotgun- We buy it by the drum.
Some time back, Western Powder got us interested in researching other cheaper fast burning double based propellants that they thought might suit our needs. Long story short, these might spec out similar to the fastest double base canister reloading powders, but they didn't burn or ignite in a fashion similar enough to our standard green dot in open burning. I've got a fair ammount of these powder samples left- About 60 lb. of 7 different types. (We typicaly burn several ounces at a time for such effects) If you want to see what this looks like, look here (the segment titled "Hound of Hades" with the flame jets coming from the dog house)
http://www.daredeviloperacompany.com/mov_inferno_lg.html
From my conversations with the sales and technical folks at Western, these powders were mostly made in Belgium for manufacture of rimfire ammunition and/or blanks for powder actuated tools. They were not willing to discuss any other applications, these are generally sold in bulk to manucaturers who determine their proper and safe uses (and bear the liability for any miscalculations).
I would like to get these out of our magazine and put them to some better use than an expensive bonfire or garden fertilizer...
On hand I have Western #'s C-1010, 1020, 2020, 2030, 2040, 2050 and St. Mark's #138. These are all very fine grained ball or flattened ball powders, nitroglycerin contents range from the 30's to low 40's % range.
I have a sneaking suspicion that regardless of the supplier's reticence to make any recomends, some of these might perform similarly to the old "dust" bullseye. And I want to explore that possibility, preferably without losing any body parts.
Is anyone here familiar with these propellants? Or got any advice beyond "don't do that".
We use smokeless powders for some theatrical and special effects. In particualr, I've burned more green dot for indoor flame projector effects than I ever have or will in a shotgun- We buy it by the drum.
Some time back, Western Powder got us interested in researching other cheaper fast burning double based propellants that they thought might suit our needs. Long story short, these might spec out similar to the fastest double base canister reloading powders, but they didn't burn or ignite in a fashion similar enough to our standard green dot in open burning. I've got a fair ammount of these powder samples left- About 60 lb. of 7 different types. (We typicaly burn several ounces at a time for such effects) If you want to see what this looks like, look here (the segment titled "Hound of Hades" with the flame jets coming from the dog house)
http://www.daredeviloperacompany.com/mov_inferno_lg.html
From my conversations with the sales and technical folks at Western, these powders were mostly made in Belgium for manufacture of rimfire ammunition and/or blanks for powder actuated tools. They were not willing to discuss any other applications, these are generally sold in bulk to manucaturers who determine their proper and safe uses (and bear the liability for any miscalculations).
I would like to get these out of our magazine and put them to some better use than an expensive bonfire or garden fertilizer...
On hand I have Western #'s C-1010, 1020, 2020, 2030, 2040, 2050 and St. Mark's #138. These are all very fine grained ball or flattened ball powders, nitroglycerin contents range from the 30's to low 40's % range.
I have a sneaking suspicion that regardless of the supplier's reticence to make any recomends, some of these might perform similarly to the old "dust" bullseye. And I want to explore that possibility, preferably without losing any body parts.
Is anyone here familiar with these propellants? Or got any advice beyond "don't do that".