Anyone ever experiment with reloading 37mm or 26.5mm Flares?

FP1201

FP1201

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One can order ready to use Flares/Fireworks/Signals for launchers, but there's $40 worth of shipping and HAZMAT on top of $13~$20 bucks a pop.
Reusable Aluminum Tubes can be had for ~$12. that use a 209 Shotshell Primer and 4F black powder, which is simple enough, but the tricky part is the load: I have zero real experience making works, even though I have some of the dry chemicals on hand.
These are pretty much unregulated so long as you don't cross the line into Destructive Devices (explosives, anti-personnel, etc.)
Anyone have any real experience with these or other launchers?
 
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Bustedknees said:
Sounds fun.
I also have the tubes, powder, and primers.
I'll have to look at my live rounds. I think they sealed the loads with a waxed paper top.
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Wayyy back in the day I made "bird bombs" by taking tube & cannon fuse firecrackers and drilling a hole in the Wad for the fuse to pass through and when shot, the fuse would light...cheesy, but they worked.
Bet there's a lot of product going out to Portland...might need some here....wonder how many pepper balls you could fit into a tube.
 
spat

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Bustedknees said:
I have our son and daughter inlaws baby gender reveal tonight, so I just looked through my flares this morning. No blues or pink. The best I can do is send up a white one. You're having a white baby!
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Just go to home depot, and buy some red or blue chalk line refill.

If you need pink, just mix the red in with some baby powder.

Not a flare, but you can get a nice colored cloud.

Just be careful not to get it on people, they won't appreciate it. Hard to get off clothes. It will come off, but not easily enough to not piss them off.
 
thughes

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spat said:
Just go to home depot, and buy some red or blue chalk line refill.

If you need pink, just mix the red in with some baby powder.

Not a flare, but you can get a nice colored cloud.

Just be careful not to get it on people, they won't appreciate it. Hard to get off clothes. It will come off, but not easily enough to not piss them off.
Click to expand...
Isn't baby powder flammable? That should be fun!
 
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Years back I used to buy boxes of them at Knob Creek, then suddenly prices went stupid for both Flares and launchers...still have some for a "rainy day"...I expect those 26.5mm tubes could also easily be reloaded, but playing with pyrotechnics and the chemicals used IS hazardous without proper procedures and equipment...The Lifting Charge to launch isn't a big deal, it's the ignited load that'll have your head on fire and your ass catching.
 
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