Smoke load

[Dusty Woodman]

I am thinking about how one might load a red, white and blue smoke load in magtec brass hulls for our next July shoot. Has anyone done this? My thinking goes to powdered chalk like you use for a chalk line but it is so light I wouldn't get enough back pressure.  Loading a standard 1oz BP and shot load does not leave much room for chalk on top to be visible.  

Can this be done with smokeless powder? 

It would be for fun, not to knock down a target. 

[John Kloehr]

Following.

 

 

Did find this old thread:

 

 

[Blackwater 53393]

The chalk is not a good idea!  The red chalk won’t wash out of clothing.

 

I used colored sequins, (don’t use glitter! It can blow back and get into people’s eyes!) and crepe paper in smokeless shells.

 

A trick I used was to use the rolled up crepe paper as a cushion wad loaded over an 1/8” nitro over powder card, (it’ll work with smokeless powder) and my shot load over an over shot card.  It looked like I was shooting flowers! 
 

I used sequins large enough that they wouldn’t get past safety glasses and put them in the shot cup with a slightly reduced shot load.  You can do this with Black Powder loads as well, but the sequins won’t be as noticeable!

 

Never had trouble knocking down those knockdowns either!

[Dusty Woodman]

Good stuff. Especially the link to the previous thread. 

Had not considered the irritation factor from others. But at the same time I had not considered using these during the shoot. The idea was to do a three or six gun salute at the beginning and/or end. Perhaps even pointing up for best effect.  

So perhaps crepe paper is the answer.  Smokeless would be better. Any advice on that load? I do see some info on line that says because the primer pocket is so high in the hull that you should put a filler doughnut around it to bring the smokeless up level with the primer hole. 

 

[Blackwater 53393]

You might need to space up your powder load if you’re using MagTech brass shells. I’ve heard that that will help with smokeless powder, but I’ve never used smokeless in my MagTechs.  I have other brass shells that I can load smokeless.

 

For the loads I mentioned, I used plastic shells, which of course come smokeless anyway.

 

For the crepe paper shells, I just rolled up the paper tightly to fit into the shell and the tamped it in ‘til I had room for my shot load. 

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

when I make them, I load as usual up to the shot; then I pour a (suitable sized) scoop of colour in on top of the shot and tap, tap, tap the case to settle the powder into the little gaps between the pellets (there's a surprising amount of room in there) and, this is important, a thin card wad OVER the shot to keep everything where it belongs. The colour gets EVERYWHERE so make sure to package them all PRIMER DOWN as much as possible right up until you actually load and fire them.

ps It's actually a dust cloud, unless you use BlackPowder as well ..........  also red stands out the best against most backgrounds.

 

I use the colouring that is used to colour concrete when it's being mixed and poured.   😉

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

First, only try this with well compressed black powder loads. Smokeless powders get temperamental with bad outcomes when you play these games. 
 

My experience with years of shooting black powder loads is that color was very hard, if not impossible to achieve. I tried everything from chalk line chalk to cement dies. When a red load was perfectly back lit you could sort of see a faint pink. Blue was non existent. 
 

I suggest red white and blue paper confetti. But even then, check with the  range master first as they can be messy in a durable way. 

[Texas Maverick]

I know of some shooters that put a cotton ball over their shot to help with the crimp and when they shoot it it looks like white snow. Wonder how it would look if  you colored the cotton balls? Just thinking out loud. Here is some already colored.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204408697654?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1F9dPE35rTu2Nf4k-hC538A21&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=204408697654&targetid=2320093655185&device=c&mktype=pla_with_promotion&googleloc=9028275&poi=&campaignid=21222258394&mkgroupid=164713660992&rlsatarget=aud-1412318123216:pla-2320093655185&abcId=9408285&merchantid=701099608&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9eO3BhBNEiwAoc0-jZDq281cwqwgSvpnob9jyqlxLdNh2mso75I7-JTxOUlbQOGlK92NNBoCdwQQAvD_BwE

 

TM