Paper Cartridges

I was looking at magic flash paper on ebay, the price wasn't bad but I had just ordered end papers for curling hair.
The flash paper was a little pricy and I want to try out these new curling papers first, I just rolled up 35 paper cartridges with round balls and 30 grains of Pyrodex. (Let ya know what I think)
I saw a video on you tube where a guy (jeffshootsstuff) tried out pyrodex pellets and they didn't work out so well for him. I would like to see more on experiments done with these in revolvers.

There's a guy on another forum who has been experimenting with making his own pellets. That would be quite interesting if it works.

I mixed a light dilution of flake shellac in denatured alcohol, and made some BP pellets. They were pretty durable, but it took forever for the DA to evaporate out. More work than its' worth.

I'm not so sure I'd try it but it does still sound intriguing. How long is too long?

Gene...I just ordered some flash paper off Amazon to test. It's described as looking like tissue paper, hopefully it's no clumsier to work with than curling papers. The sheets are 8 1/2" by 14" with ten to a package for $16 delivered.

Here's a little demo on some items made of flash paper. Just so you get an idea of how it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLjUluW0bwE

Great! Can't wait to hear how well it works for you.
Keep us all informed.

Hahaha! Imagine making paper cartridges out of those dollar bills, then loading them in front of your friends.
Just tell them you found that dollar bills make excellent cartridges. LOL!

:thumbsup:

Mean Gene said:

Hahaha! Imagine making paper cartridges out of those dollar bills, then loading them in front of your friends.
Just tell them you found that dollar bills make excellent cartridges. LOL!

Click to expand...

If you do this, you can tell your friends at the shooting range,

"Yup. When I'm shooting these cartridges, it's almost as expensive as shooting one of them modern cartridge rifles."

:rotf:

Once had the brilliant idea of trying to find bank note paper since it's a stronger weave than many others for paper patching a conical...long story short, treasury dept. told me "not only no, but hell no"! Then recommended I exchange 20 U.S. dollars for a whole bunch of low denomination Lira notes or some other currency where you get a lot for a little. Seems cutting up someone else's money doesn't bother them...so if you need the look..... :wink: :haha:

It's okay to cut up someone else's dead presidents but not ours, I see eye how it is.

That's the attitude treasury took! :wink: :haha:

The flash paper from Amazon turned out to be coming from China, so figuring it would be on the proverbial "slow boat" and ordered a couple of packages from Dreamland Magic. Worked out well, they both arrived today, though I notice that now Amazon is out of stock and not sure when they will be selling it again.
Too bad, because the Chinese stuff cost about half as much as Dreamland and was just a tad thicker per sheet, though a little bit more flexible.
The paper from Dreamland is around three times thicker than Top cigarette paper or curling paper, with the Chinese product four times thicker; about the same as my home brewed stuff. Guess I can shut down the laboratory.
Both types are easier to work with than Top or curling paper, and both burn completely clean in the open air, I'll try the cartridges tomorrow.
Dreamland ships the stuff wet (more like damp actually) and encloses a note about how to handle the product safely. They suggest not drying out more than you need for immediate use, and storing the product in a cool dry location. Dreamland says that the stuff ignites around 320 degrees F.

Nice! Do report back please.

Do be aware that it burns like smokeless. Your pressure can change.

I used it in the 60s &70s and no trouble, just saying.





William

Interesting point William. I cut a piece of the Chinese flash paper to the size I use for a .36, and loaded it into the cylinder with a lubed wad. Fired from three feet with a CCI cap, the wad bounced off a sheet of printer paper, barely leaving a dent. The piece of flash paper weighed .7 grains, and the cap burnt it away completely. I think it would take a chronograph to be certain, but it doesn't appear that the flash paper adds much to the charge. With just a wad loaded over the primer, the wad never left the barrel.

AZbpBurner said:

I mixed a light dilution of flake shellac in denatured alcohol, and made some BP pellets. They were pretty durable, but it took forever for the DA to evaporate out. More work than its' worth.

Click to expand...

Maybe you could dry them out on the backyard grill??? :rotf:

Looks like I'm a couple of months late to the party but I've been making paper cartridges for my C&B revolvers for a few years. I thought I'd add my 2 cents.
I dump Spectracide stump remover (pure Potassium Nitrate) into a pan of hot water till it won't dissolve any more. I use tissue paper like you stuff into the top of a gift bag (hair rolling paper and coffee filters work very well too) and cut it into 2" strips then drag it through the liquid and lay it out flat to dry for a day or two. The paper burns completely and leaves almost no ash.

Welcome to the forum, better late than never!