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Shooting with no patch and ball.

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norSSeman

32 Cal.
Joined
May 18, 2004
Messages
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Curious as to what would happen if I shot my new Tapper
pistol, 50 Cal with only powder? Holding the gun up at
30 degrees or so to keep the powder where it belongs.
 
I do this with my brown bess every July 4th, and New Year's Eve...

You still have to clean it though, and the bore will be fouled more-so than with a projectile on top of the powder....

True, it is a waste of powder, but I'm willing to loose two shots a year for the sake of celebration...
 
what i do is put a wad of paper towel in after the powder so it is just snug to need some little pressure it seat....then you have some noise and flash........bob
 
This is the method used by most buffalo runners. Shooting buffalo from horseback with pistols or with muskets/shotguns was a favourite pastime of the military, usually officers.
: Since loading a patched ball was too slow, difficult and time consuming, a mouthfull of balls was used and the rider would spit an undersized ball down onto the powder, hoping the spit would attach the ball to the powder long enough to discharge the shot into the buffalo running alongside. Of course, this lead to many accidents where the barrel burst from being discharged as the ball rolled down the barrel. For your safety, this really shouldn't be done unless there is some way of holding the ball on the powder, as in athin card wad, or, only when pointing the muzzle up at an angle that will allow gravity to hold the ball there, as in Musketman's 4th July adventure - soon to be repeated.
: Personally, I would have used paper ctgs. with blank laods for that along with lube on the outside of the paper ctg. to help keep the excessive fouling soft. I believe I've seen where 120gr. 3F is used in .69 & .75 muskets for the blank charges used in movie making and reinactments. If that isn't enough noise, of course, 150 to 200gr. of 3F could be substituted for the blank charge. I wouldnt' expect pyrodex would make a good blank due to the slowness of it's burn, unconfined. it would also probably need a BP booster.
 
I use the paper cartridge method for blank loads. I roll a tube and insert a paper wad then fold the end of the paper over the wad and dip the end in a bees'wax/lube solution... Once dry, I next insert 60 grains of Goex 2fg in the tube, fold and glue the paper up the side of the cartridge and I'm done. All that is left to do is throw 20 grains of 2fg Goex into the bore from my powder horn (yes, I do use my powder measurer), ram the paper cartridge home, prime or cap whatever I'm firing, and it makes for a pretty good bang... It's a good load for parades and such... I use two cigarette papers glued together. They are combustable so I don't have to bite off the end of the cartridge this way... works good! :)
 
I usually use the wad of paper method of holding the powder in place. You just have to be careful because the paper will almost always be set on fire during the blast and although the velocity will blow it out, it can reignite.

If your firing at night, you will also get to see a ball of fire erupt that puts modern smokeless powder to shame. If you are firing a flinter, you get two balls of fire for the price of 1 1/32.

Is it loud? YES!
If you don't want to hear your wife telling you what an idiot you are for fireing your blank charges, just fire one inside your house. You won't be able to hear her, the kids, the dogs, the neighbors or the police car approaching. At least not for a little while. :: ::
 
Is it loud? YES!
If you don't want to hear your wife telling you what an idiot you are for fireing your blank charges, just fire one inside your house. You won't be able to hear her, the kids, the dogs, the neighbors or the police car approaching. At least not for a little while. :: ::

nor will you be able to see'um for a spell with all the smoke floating around....unless you have a celing fan.............................bob
 
Ever shoot "spitballs" of paper when you was a kid??

Well, try a great big one, but not too wet!!

It'll flash and boom just fine..keeps the fouling soft too!


(carefull where ya point though! safety always!!) :winking:
 
A wad of paper or a wad of steel wool. The Civil War reenactors load small wads of Brillo or other steel wool wads soaked in something (not sure what, I bet someone here knows)to produce a lot of smoke and an occasional smoke ring for the viewing crowd.
 
Eeks! Steel wool is "rust-in-a-bunch" and I avoid it whenever possible. Paper Wasp nests do not burn and make great wadding (I make shot wads just for the heck of it). You could also go to a hobby store and get "recovery wadding" used to protect the plastic parachutes on model rockets from the ejection charge. It dosn't burn much, either.

The thin overshot card for a M/L shotgun would probably be the least mass you could eject, for safety considerations, and it shouldn't ignite when fired alone.

If you're loading while walking the paper tubes (torn, poured & rammed on top of the powder) would be the way to go. Our CW groups in parades go through hundreds of them and have yet to burn the town down.
 
Is it loud? YES!
If you don't want to hear your wife telling you what an idiot you are for fireing your blank charges, just fire one inside your house. You won't be able to hear her, the kids, the dogs, the neighbors or the police car approaching. At least not for a little while. :: ::

And as an added bonus, all the smoke alarms in the house will go crazy, never seen Granny run before... :haha:

Never2Late.jpg
 
Would't putting a patch over the powder be a dangerous thing to do if you are firing these rounds while walking in a parade with people on each side of the street.could'nt someone get hit with a smouldering patch,even if you fire in the air?
 
I suppose a burning patch could float down onto someone. I cannot understand how someone could be hurt, though. A patch with a smoldering corner bears very little real danger, but then the courts do generally hold some ridiculous conclusions.
 
In Wisconsin, we are no longer allowed to shoot blanks with paper wadding. Seems some of the fellows were bored parading and when they came to an intersection and had to stop, they would aim at the birds sitting on the phone wires. You would be surprised what paper wadding will do at 20 feet. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif you can still get a lot of smoke and a good report by just tapping a load down.

strongarm
 
once had to stand at "present arms" for a 13 gun salute (I think it was 13..) for a state governor while the burning newspaper wadding floated down, and ignited, first the grass in which we were standing, then the shirts of about a third of the formation....nobody moved a muscle (I was 17 and too scared of my sgt to even think of moving before he did)...so, yeah, burning wadding can start fires, but I wouldn't worry about the small quantity in a rifle load.
While marching in the Marshall, NC parade, we were invited to fire in the air as we approached the reviewing stand...one of the guys whispered to me, "what shall I do...I've still got a load from deer season..." I told him to not shoot, as he might hit a politician we liked...does point out an additional hazard in firing "blanks" there's always a chance that some idiot will forget he has a real load in there...Hank
 
This thread reminds me of something that happened about 15 years ago. A friend of mine bought a deck cannon from Dixie Gun Works - he figured it would be just perfect for his sailboat. Of course, the cannon arrived in the middle of the winter. Being an anxious guy he decided the cannon needed to be test-fired, but since he lives in the city, he couldn't do it outside. We set it up in his basement, loaded it with a light load of Pyrodex and then tamped in a nice big wad of toilet paper. We lit the fuse and then hid behind the firewood pile.

Well, let me tell ya, that cannon went off with one helluva bang! It recoiled backwards into the woodpile, knocking it over onto us, and burying itself in firewood in the process. By the time we managed to get our heads up out of the woodpile all we could see was a veritable blizzard of smouldering pieces of toilet paper drifting downward to the basement floor. It took quite a while for the smoke to clear, but the stench of powder smoke and burning toilet paper hung on in the house for weeks. His wife was NOT impressed.

But the best part of the story took place the next morning when a cop showed up at the door. My friend was sure he was looking at a prison term for the previous night's caper, but as it turns out the cop was investigating a car theft from a neighbors yard. What a hoot to see my buddy cringing in expectation of having the cuffs slapped on him! After the police officer left we laughed until we both had tears.

Looking back on it now all I can think of is how incredibly stupid we were...
 
I was at a "Pirate Days" (yes, it's a long affliction) and a fellow on a very nice sailboat learned an expensive lesson about cannon vents when firing what looked to be a 1" bore stainless swivel gun mounted on the rail under the Sunbrella 'canvas' of his bimini. Melted about a 1 ft hole with the blast up from the vent. LOTS of nautical speak from the ladies aboard. All the guys but the skipper seemed to think it was kind of neat. Pretty impressive on the front end of the cannon, though. (I want one. Oh, how I want one).
 
I went out today and shot a load without a wad,which sounded pretty whimpy,and then I shot a load with a wad on top,and it sounded real good,coudn't find the patch.I'll have to see what the guys at the club who are marching with me are going to do.
This makes me think,you see these people in Iraq firing live rounds in the air all the time,anyone ever hear of anyone getting hit with any of the falling lead,or are we getting blamed for that too.
 
Unfortunatly, a few years ago in Phoenix, a young girl died from a falling bullet. It hit her in the head.

I believe this happened on New Years Eve when a lot of idiots fire their high power rifles into the sky.

In responce to this Phoenix passed "Shannons Law" which dam near makes it a crime to even think about shooting anything to celibrate anything. I believe it is a felony to break this law.
When I said I used paper wads, I was referring to the days before Shannons Law was enacted.
I have many firearms I don't want carted off by the Police so on New Years Eve, I quietly oust a flatulence and let it go at that.

:shocking:
 
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