passgas Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 I have a chance to do some night time firing of my full scale mountain howitzer . When shooting day time a willow charcoal bpis my choice because of the boom it makes. For night time I want to work on more fire than boom. Would a hardwood charcoal work or maybe a yellow pine be better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyzard10 Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 Got a hookup, my son in law is part of a cannon crew for a rev war reinactment group. Getting a good flame is kind of difficult without some backpressure. Since firing live shot out of a cannon is mostly frowned upon theres a couple things you can do. You can fluff up one or two pads of coarse steel wool and put them on top of your charge it gives some nice gold sparks. Or mix your bp with some 8 to 20 mesh charcoal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 Perhaps some sponge Ti- small mesh would be impressive. Had not thought of the steel wool. That would be cool. Be sure to have a wet field of fire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passgas Posted September 9, 2022 Author Share Posted September 9, 2022 I have done the steel wool in the past. I may try some small pieces of charcoal in front of the bagged bp which will be all wrapped in foil. I though of carbon stars but want to get away from crossing the line into fireworks.No fire hazard from where we shoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uarbor Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 (edited) I would think Willow black powder would be scary fast and creating dangerously high pressure in that thing. I'll bet it sounds impressive though. Hardwood Maple was the choice back in the day that that thing was made. What I do with my homemade version is pack a little bit of paper on top of the charge and then throw some sand on top of that. It greatly increases the Boom without launching anything too dangerous. I would agree with grape nuts sized sponge titanium would look fantastic it would definitely still be burning by the time I got out the end of the barrel. It doesn't take much. I will start this next statement by saying that I am in no way recommending this but about a year ago I accidentally mixed up a batch of Willow black powder and accidentally used potassium perchlorate. Luckily for me I noticed it before I milled it. Even just screen mixed this stuff is an extremely impressive Cannon shot. I did some research on it and it is 20% stronger than ordinary black powder according to the US government. Look up black Powder equivalency test for some interesting info from an A ridiculous expensive study done by the government. Anyway using the stuff as Canon fuel was the only way I could figure out how to get rid of it. I always put the cannon on the opposite side of a giant oak tree just in case. But everything seems to be holding together fine. Even with some sand on top. Oddly enough outside of the barrel this stuff is barely flammable. It burns like a fuse. But confined it is damned impressive. Probably too impressive for a beautiful antique mountain howitzer. Edited September 11, 2022 by Uarbor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 (edited) Look up black Powder equivalency test for some interesting info from an A ridiculous expensive study done by the government. OMG... well, I guess that was more acceptable to me than some frog sex study or violin varnish research. https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2020-10/Black%20powder%20equivalency.pdf On edit: The grammar is deplorable... Edited September 12, 2022 by Richtee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uarbor Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 (edited) OMG... well, I guess that was more acceptable to me than some frog sex study or violin varnish research. https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2020-10/Black%20powder%20equivalency.pdf On edit: The grammar is deplorable... there is a ton of useful information in there though. Including various recipes for rocket fuel. I was noticing there was a difference between benzo whistle fuel and benzo burst charge as far as the recipe. Interesting... Edited September 13, 2022 by Uarbor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passgas Posted September 13, 2022 Author Share Posted September 13, 2022 I need to get a federal grant on which charcoal makes the biggest boom for cannon blanks. Then I can apply for a grant on which charcoal makes the best fireball at night. Now back to the blanks. I can't use sand or any paper wadding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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