braddsn Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Guys, if you could choose 1 prime for all of your stars, what would it be? Or better yet, can 1 prime do everything well? All of the reading I have done on prime, it seems that the fence post prime.. (essentially adding silicon and diatomaceous earth to bp slurry) has the best reputation. I hate the thought of going through the hard work of mixing comps and rolling stars, then having them blow blind. Thanks!! -Ps.. ordered more stuff today. Thumler's tumbler came in... ordered 7 lbs of .50cal lead balls for media, bought 40 large tupperware containers, more safety equipment (goggles, more gloves, and some sandbags to put around my ball mill). Also ordered some HDPE.. 40ft of 4" and 40ft of 6". Have not ordered any chems yet, I want to learn how to make charcoal from the cedar that I have first.. then I will order Potassium Nitrate and Sulphur. Rockin' and Rollin'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TYRONEEZEKIEL Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 7 lbs doesn't sound like enough media to do anything with. My prime of choice in general is the monocapa prime. There is no such thing as a one size fits all prime. There are too many variables, however there are a few one size fits most. Monocapa or fence post are good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobosan Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 7 lbs doesn't sound like enough media to do anything with. My prime of choice in general is the monocapa prime. There is no such thing as a one size fits all prime. There are too many variables, however there are a few one size fits most. Monocapa or fence post are good +1 What size Thumblers did you get? The 15lb mill jar uses about 35lbs of lead media. Monocapa seems to be the best for hard to light compositions. Like Tyrone mentioned, monocapa and fencepost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrB Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Milling media always is a pain in the ass to be buying. If it's any good, it's heavy. If it's heavy, your paying through the nose to have it shipped.And you never really know quite how much you need for your jars, or even worse, you might not even have the jars yet...Bottom line, i hate it, and hence cast my own. But now that finding second hand lead has become almost impossible, it has it's issues to. Buying lead means you get soft stuff, your still paying through the nose for shipping, and while you can by stuff aimed at bullet casting that is an lead-antimony alloy, thats even more expensive, and most the time not quite as good as wheel weights... Bleh.B! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carbon796 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I prefer a hot KP prime followed by scratch mixed BP prime. It may be a little more effort, but it works on a wider range of stars and items for me. Consistently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzoMittle Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Straight BP with 2-5% dextrin. If they don't light the first time around I use a step layer of Fencepost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braddsn Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Oh I guess I was confused about mill jar capacity, etc.. lol. The specs say that the Thumler's tumbler has a 15lb capacity. So I would have thought 35 lbs of lead balls would be way overweight. Looks like im ordering more media!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Monocapa as a rule since it has been sufficiently fleshed out as a good overall prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braddsn Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Monocapa it is! I know that with the blue stars, many have talked about the monocapa as being the answer. My daughter's favorite color is blue... so.................. monocapa it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TYRONEEZEKIEL Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Monocapa is a coined compound word in Spanish. It means single layer. Why Google translate says blue, I am not sure, the prime itself is dark brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowcat1969 Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I think that the "blue" translation likely refers to the process of blueing a firearm. I just went and translated the two terms via Google and got:Mono : MonkeyCapa : Layer So I guess we're using a Layer of Monkies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Correct, layers of monkey to prime stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogeryermaw Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 just make sure you always pay attention to what your priming and what you prime with...also what break you're using. i've been experimenting with ap blues lately and idiotically primed with a black powder based prime. not as big a deal if you fire them immediately but ap is incompatible with nitrates and will undergo a reaction. not dangerous in this case but it can be a waste of chems. there are other mixtures than can become sensitive and dangerous. just do your homework and you'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braddsn Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 I never saw a translation that said "blue". When I mentioned "blue", I was referring to the fact that I have heard that blue stars are sometimes tricky to prime, but the monocapa seems to do the trick. And since my daughter's favorite color is blue, she wants a lot of blue fireworks.. thus......I will use monocapa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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