Two thousandths of an inch

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Joe

As I reported last weekend I put all my polymer coated lead bullets through a max case gauge and still had problems with my new STI. I had saved one of those cartridges to diagnose the problem.

The cartridge still failed to chamber when stripped off the magazine by the slide when I tried it again at home. The bullet in that cartridge was seated too deep by about 0.040”. None of the others were too deep so I suspect it happened during the chambering of the cartridge. I pulled the bullet and reseated it at the proper depth and it chambered just fine. Hmmm… maybe the crimp just isn’t tight enough, the bullet gets driven deeper into the case, then the cartridge fails to nose down into the chamber as it comes off the magazine.

I shot in another steel match yesterday to get more samples.* On the first stage the first few strings went fine then a round failed to chamber the entire depth. I couldn’t pull the slide back. The gun was essentially locked up. I dropped the magazine, held tight to the slide then pounded the grip forward with the web and palm of my hand. The extractor pulled the round out and it was ejected. I put in a fresh magazine and completed the string in 17.xx seconds. I switched to my Montana Gold JHP handloads for the rest of the match and had no more problems.

I brought home the problem round and put in the case gauge. It fit just fine. I put it in a magazine and tried to to chamber it. It failed to chamber all the way. I tried dropping it directly into the chamber and dropping the slide. It chambered but again I couldn’t extract it without slamming my hand into the grip.

But the round fits just fine in the case gauge!

I measured the round. At the largest point it is 0.425”. The specification for .40 S&W is 0.423. So, it is oversized by 0.002”. But CASE GAUGE!

Hmmm… Maybe I have another case gauge around here… I did. I had lost one for a while and purchased another. I pulled out the other case gauge and the cartridge failed, big time.

These pictures are of the same cartridge in two different case gauges:

In the picture on the left I applied a couple ounces of pressure to get it to seat all the way. In the second picture I put the maximum amount of pressure I could comfortably apply with my thumb to get it in that far.

So why is just the ammo with the polymer coated lead bullets giving me problems?

I measured a few bullets. Depending upon which axis I measure the bullets they have a diameter of 0.400” to 0.403”. The specification is 0.401”. The Montana Gold JHPs I measured have a diameter of 0.399.

Here is the cartridge:

You can’t really see it but you can feel a bulge where the base of the bullet is in the cartridge.

Five conclusions:

With a slightly over spec bullet and probably max thickness brass** I end up with an oversized cartridge.
The Midway case gauge, on the left, is slightly oversized.
My gun has a minimum sized chamber.
Two thousands of an inch can make a huge difference in the reliability of a gun.
I must use the L.E. Wilson case gauge (on the right above) for this gun.

I might be able to use the Midway gauge for some other gun(s).

Scary thought… Can you imagine needing your gun in a life or death situation and losing the fight because of two thousands of an inch?

* I can’t use this ammo at indoor ranges and I don’t have easy access to any outdoor ranges except when I shoot at matches.

** Not all cartridges with polymer coated lead bullets fail the tighter case gauge. Only some of them fail.

Washington State Steel Championship video

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Joe

Via Pat Kelley:

You can see how slow I am starting at the 1:01 mark.

This is from the match I shot in last Saturday.

Here are stills of all the stages except stage 4:

Stage 1: Dot the Box.

Stage 2: Total Recall.

Stage 3: Texas Tree.

Stage 5: Hidden Option.

Stage 6: Basic Instinct.

Stage 7: Treed.

Stage 8: Tin Men.

Firing 40 S&W in a 10 mm Glock

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Lyle

Over at The Truth About Guns.

Pretty interesting. I was confused for a bit though, until I realized that by “excessive headspace” the author really means “excessive case length” which would result in inadequate headspace. Using the shorter 40 S&W cartridge in a 10 mm barrel results in excessive headspace, so it’s a sort of Opposite Day article in that regard. It’s a well-written and interesting article otherwise.

The greater implication, at least for Glock shooters, is that you can go ahead and trim your brass at or below minimum spec and the gun will run just as well and possibly better. This would explain some of the commercial ammo I’ve seen, which has what appears to be a roll crimp rather than the prescribed taper crimp. That COULD result in a dangerous situation, as the crimp opens up across the chamber shoulder. So long as the case is short enough though, that the case mouth never touches the chamber shoulder, everything’s fine and dandy.

I’m one of those people who regularly checks finished rounds by plunking them down into the chamber (barrel removed from gun) to check for headspace. That’s a fine idea for several reasons, but this article puts all that into a rather different light when it comes to Glocks.

I have some 40 ammo lying around, though I don’t own any guns chambered for it, so now of course I’ll have to try it in my G20.

As an aside; I wish we could get past the little, political/legal/social dance we often perform when it comes to disclaimers. The author of that article asserts that using 40 in a 10 is actually safer than using 10 in a 10 or 40 in a 40, but still feels the need to dance the “Don’t try this at home, Kids” dance. I understand how this social twitch came about (I witnessed the whole thing) but really you can stop any time you like.

That wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Joe

Yesterday I participated in the Washington State Steel Championship. I knew this was going to be a whole new level of competitors for me and I didn’t expect to have results that would appear to be anything beyond, maybe, average. After shooting a couple stages I was concerned I would come in dead last even though, from my perspective, I was shooting pretty good. I was clearly the slowest shooter in my squad.

I started out shooting polymer coated lead bullets in my STI. These have almost zero hazard of bullet fragments returning to hit shooters and observers. I had put every single round through the case gauge and hoped that would fix my feeding problems I had last week. The first and second stages were fine. On the third stage I had one failure. On the fourth stage I had something like five or six with one set of three failures in a row.

I brought out my handloads made with Montana Gold JHPs which I also had run through the case gauge. I switched to that ammo and never had another failure. There were lots of fragments coming back but that was no different than anyone else.

I was shooting fairly consistently. I had few misses but many of the other shooters on my squad would have multiple misses and still have times a second less than me. And this when my time for a string might be in the four to five second range. So they were shooting, including multiple misses, in 25 to 30 percent less time than me.

Pat Kelley was in my squad and there were other shooters in our squad doing as well or better than he was. I consider Kelley god-like with a shotgun and wonder of nature with any other gun.

The overall results are here. I came in 44^th with my iron sighted .22 and 58^th with my STI in .40. This is out of 105 entries. I was actually concerned that I would come in dead last so I feel pretty good about being in the middle of the pack.

But look at where Kelley came in! He shot his Limited gun in the open division as well as limited and came in 30^th and 40^th overall. Mike Gallion (he went to the European Steel Challenge Championship and came in 12^th) came in 39^th! The competition was really tough.

That was overall. In Limited division Kelley did win and I came in 11^th out of 35. Okay. I don’t feel bad at all about that. Especially with a gun that was malfunctioning on some of the stages.

In Limited Seniors I came in second, behind Kelley, out of nine.

In rimfire iron sighted pistol I came in 9^th out of 21.

In rimfire iron sighted pistol Seniors I came in 1^st! I also came in last as the only senior in this division.

I had fun and wasn’t completely embarrassed by my results so it was a good day.

Cute toy

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Joe

Via email from Joey D:

When was the last time you saw toy guns advertised on T.V.? Many people would consider it evil.

Not many people alive today will remember Roy Rogers. But once upon a time he had a radio series, a television series, was in numerous movies, and was a model for honor, honesty, and clean living.

Times sure have changed.

Steel challenge match results

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Joe

Despite having a cold I participated in a Steel Challenge match yesterday. I shot two different guns (not at the same time). Here are the results:

Main Match

Stage #	SCSA ID	Stage Name
1	SC-103	Smoke & Hope
2	??	Saving Ammo
3	SC-106	Pendulum
4	SC-108	Roundabout

Place	Name	Comp	SCSA	Division	Aggregate	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Additional
1	Steve M	32	A86909	OPN	64.17	64.17	13.65	14.48	20.21	15.39	Senior
2	Alexander W	6	3362	OPN	73.46	73.46	13.51	19.08	25.79	14.64	Junior
3	Bradley M	2		PROD	79.62	79.62	15.09	22.28	24.85	16.96	Junior
4	Connor P	8	A87260	PROD	86.28	86.28	14.18	19.97	33.08	18.61	Junior
5	Daniel C	17		PROD	93.81	93.81	20.04	23.59	28.99	20.75
6	Heather S	38	TY86040	PROD	98.51	98.51	17.79	28.38	29.87	22.03	Lady
7	Michael M	44		PROD	102.00	102.00	23.53	25.67	28.46	23.90
8	Joe H	28	TY29386	ISP	102.79	102.79	19.16	35.86	28.66	18.67	Senior
9	Matt H	40		PROD	110.62	110.62	19.43	32.85	32.52	25.38
10	Jeffrey K	30	A84426	PROD	110.77	110.77	18.51	34.77	31.42	25.63	Senior
11	David B	39		PROD	111.37	111.37	19.05	41.60	29.01	21.27
12	Earl B	24		ISP	111.51	111.51	16.23	39.53	34.23	21.08
13	Greg M	41		PROD	112.41	112.41	19.15	29.37	36.90	26.55
14	Brad M	11		ISP	112.94	112.94	20.68	34.57	33.23	24.02
15	Dan P	13	A87261	ISP	123.24	123.24	17.44	47.69	32.99	24.68
16	Theresa D	43	TY65454	OPN	125.78	125.78	22.97	33.72	42.37	26.28	Lady
17	Tod R	12		ISP	127.72	127.72	20.13	43.36	37.89	25.90
18	Jim S	14	A91246	ISP	131.87	131.87	22.29	30.58	48.01	30.55
19	Bob L	10		ISP	136.66	136.66	20.05	45.77	39.12	31.28
20	Jesse P	1		PROD	143.77	143.77	22.04	52.61	37.64	31.04
21	Jason F	25		PROD	147.80	147.80	21.22	48.26	48.55	29.33
22	Susan E	16		PROD	150.20	150.20	22.55	43.04	56.38	27.79	Lady
23	Daniel C	15		OPN	216.63	216.63	52.23	52.68	57.26	54.02
24	James W	19		PROD	236.98	236.98	58.67	50.62	90.49	39.79	Senior

Rimfire Pistol

Stage #	SCSA ID	Stage Name
1	SC-103	Smoke & Hope
2	??	Saving Ammo
3	SC-106	Pendulum
4	SC-108	Roundabout

Place	Name	Comp	SCSA	Division	Aggregate	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Additional
1	Alexander W	5	3362	RFPI	49.07	49.07	11.35	10.26	15.96	11.50	Junior
2	Bradley M	3		RFPI	55.05	55.05	17.07	10.54	13.95	13.49	Junior
3	Cel A	21	4893	RFPO	57.28	57.28	12.18	11.24	21.81	12.05
4	Joe H	27	TY29386	RFPI	74.63	74.63	13.30	22.70	22.50	16.13	Senior
5	Theresa D	42	TY65454	RFPI	75.38	75.38	13.91	13.70	28.96	18.81	Lady
6	Earl B	23		RFPI	82.38	82.38	13.23	24.32	25.86	18.97
7	Addison L	9		RFPI	82.50	82.50	14.54	23.10	30.01	14.85	Junior
8	Heather M	26		RFPI	248.60	248.60	49.06	53.69	87.78	58.07	Lady

I’m not sure shooting two different guns was a good idea. The trigger pull on the two was quite different and several times my new STI went off before I expected it to and I missed the targets. I also had problems with jams on the new STI. The cartridges would just start into the chamber and then stop. There were also some rounds that were very tight in the chamber. I suspected my handloads were the problem.

When I got home I looked at the ammo. I think I don’t have enough crimp on my handloads. The factory ammo has a noticeable crimp. My handloads are crimped just enough to have a straight case wall. I also know that not all my handloads would pass the case gauge. If they didn’t I would test them in the chamber of my old STI and throw them into the ammo can anyway. Since that barrel is history I need to run all my rounds through the case gauge again. I probably should crimp them a little more too. I’m going to the International Steel Shooting Association Washington State Championship (ISSA is different from the Steel Challenge Shooting Association) on Saturday so I need to get my gun working this week.

Despite not feeling well, the trigger pull issue, and the jamming problems I did manage to decrease my times on Pendulum and Roundabout. Previously I had times of 30.87 and 23.43. This time I achieved times of 28.66 and 18.67. Smoke and Hope was slightly worse with 19.16 when I had a time of 18.76 in March. I also won my division with the STI.

I wish the club would use some different classifier stages. I need 5 to Go, Showdown, Outer Limits, and Speed Option before I can really know my level compared to other people.

Barrel analysis

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Joe

After my gun barrel split open I had a reader request that I send the barrel to him for analysis. This is what I know so far:

May 21, 2015:

I cut the end off the barrel to expose the fracture surfaces. I see no evidence of fatigue at the macroscopic level, the barrel will have to go under the microscope. I took the intact muzzle section and put it under the hardness tester. KKM advertises their barrels as being heat treated to 45 HRC. I measured an average value of 42 HRC with a minimum value of 40.9 HRC. Heat treatments on small parts are generally +/- 3 HRC meaning a barrel in spec will range between 42 and 48 HRC. I would state at this point that this barrel was in spec for heat treatment, but just barely and on the low end. Of course I will send the data out to my senior engineer for review. He was the chief metallurgist for Remington and I’ll get his opinion on the heat treat spec.

June 4, 2015:

I put the fracture surfaces of your barrel under the microscope today, as well as having the chemistry done. The chemistry was within specifications, but the manganese to sulfur ratio was low. What I saw the was most interesting was a crack at a 45deg angle coming down from the front of the first locking lug into the barrel, almost 1/4 of the way through the thickness of the barrel. This crack looks to have been formed during the repeated firing/cycling of the gun and caused the barrel to rupture in front of the chamber and at the 12 o’clock position. As the top surface of the barrel came free, this imparted a bending moment on the opposite side of the barrel and caused it to split at the 6 o’clock position.

I am frankly amazed at this failure. I have never seen shear fatigue in a gun barrel before. I’m going to send this off to my firearms expert, he’ll find this interesting.

June 8, 2015:

LHS is “left hand side” and RHS is right hand side (breach towards you, muzzle away, in the as-assembled orientation), the barrel having been split in half along the major fracture surfaces. As you can see there is a crack at about 45 deg from the front of the first locking lug going in the muzzle to chamber direction. It goes about a quarter of the way though the thickness of the barrel. I am having the barrel cut by our machinist to expose that crack fracture surface to look for evidence of fatigue.

The color pics are optical microscopy, the black and white are scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

He sent me 18 pictures. I’m posting the more interesting ones:

LHS 003

LHS 01

LHS 02

LHS 08

RHS 01

RHS 002

RHS 04

Boomershoot 2015 email

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Joe

After Boomershoot I don’t want to even think about it for a while. Unless email requires a response from me I just let it set in my inbox. I finally got around to looking at the collection and thought I would share some of it.

From Cat:

Hi Joe,

I had a fantastic time at my first Boomershoot!
Thank you and your crew for making this event happen, and for supporting the 2nd amendment.
I hope to be back next year!

The BBQ was amazing!

She also shared a picture of the fireball:

From Matthew:

Enjoyed the opportunity to come with the guys and get to shoot.
Enjoyed meeting some of the other shooters, great folks!!!!!!

From Grete:

Joe,

It was a great experience!

See you next year!

From Greg and Bob:

It was the most enjoyable event we’ve been to. The weather was perfect and our shooting neighbors were friendly. It was great. We did not have any issues during the event. The fireball was amazing, the targets exploded and the BBQ was excellent. Looking forward to next year.

From Joe:

Dear Joe,

Thanks again for this wonderful event. I have been coming for many years and each time is the best time I have all year. Looking forward to next years event already.

You and your crew give a great party!

From Bill:

Joe, I had a great time throughout the weekend. Great people, food and scenery. Something I will do for next year is site my riffles better (add scope).

Mark your calendars. Boomershoot 2016 will be April 22^nd, 23^rd, and 24^th.

Ammo matters

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Joe

I went to the range today and tested various ammo in my Ruger 22/45.

This target was made shooting five rounds offhand at 25 yards with CCI Standard Velocity ammo:

This is the same target after I fired another five rounds with Federal “Target Grade Performance” “Auto Match” (AM22) at the same range:

Other people also report accuracy issues with the Federal ammo and others report problems with reliability.

I shot more groups at seven yards with similar results. The Federal was far less accurate than the CCI. I shot some old CCI Blazer at seven yards. The one flyer was my fault. There are four rounds in the hole that looks like only two shots:

I shot some more rounds through my new STI DVC. The following are five rounds at seven yards:

I then tried some handloads that used 180 grain Rainer Restrike JHP bullets. The results were terrible. I moved the target to 25 yards to see if there was some key-holing or something. Only one bullet was on the paper! It looked like a normal hole so I moved the target to 10 yards and saw what I was expecting:

It’s most obvious with the top hole. See the “grease mark” out to the right of the hole? That’s from the bullet striking the paper nearly sideways. Notice the other holes with the asymmetric tearing? Compare those holes to the holes from the factory ammo. The factory ammo has symmetric holes. The Rainer Restrike handloads are unstable in my gun.

Ammo matters. It matters a lot.

Front sight problems

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Joe

I’m not the only one to recently have problems with the front sight of their new gun (H/T to gonxau):

He also had problems with the rear sight. I’m not up to 500 rounds yet so I may have problems as well by the time I shoot that many rounds in my new gun.

Slightly off topic… I should soon have some microscope pictures from the gun barrel that died in April. The reason why it split is apparently quite unusual. Assuming I have permission I’ll share everything after I get the pictures.

My first gun class

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Joe

I was looking for something else and found the certificate for my first gun class:

The instructor, Carl Zmuda, now, 20+ years later, frequently attends Boomershoot.

New gun

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Joe

Yesterday I picked up a new gun to replace the old one which died at a match on April 19th.

It’s another STI. This time a DVC Limited. Again it’s chambered in .40 S&W.

I didn’t realize it but this gun was just introduced at Shot Show this year and they are hard to get. I was going to get another STI Eagle but I saw this on the STI website in mid March and called around trying to find one.I asked the local gun shop if they could get me a good deal on one and after calling their distributors and STI found they could not. Only authorized dealers can get them. There are only three dealers within 100 miles of me. One told me I could get delivery in September. Another told me delivery “by the end of the year”. Another dealer told me they were on sale if I ordered by the end of the month and I would get it “in April or May”. It would have been nice to just “go pick it up” but April or May was a lot better than September or the end of the year. And getting it below MSRP was a big bonus. I ordered the gun and then less than a month later the STI I purchased in 1997 and carried almost daily died.

Getting the gun was a big thrill and I checked the holster fit before I getting in my car. It fit both my competition holster and my IWB carry holster. It was a little tight in the carry holster but not a big deal. I loaded it up and it felt so good to have a STI on my hip again.

I had been carrying my Ruger P-89 in the Alien Gear IWB holster but after a few hours it was uncomfortable. And when I bent over to lift something the gun would pop most of the way out of the holster. I used to have Kramer holster for it but couldn’t find it.

I stopped off at the range before coming home. I shot factory ammo which I had known to be accurate in my old STI but it was a huge disappointment in this gun.

I bought a different brand in a different bullet weight and tried that. Still horrible.

I was about to give up and go home and decided to just empty the magazine. The last couple of rounds went about six or eight inches right of my point of aim on a target 21 feet away. Oh! I need to check something.

I tipped the gun to the left as I brought it closer to look at it and the front sight fell off:

That happened with my first STI after a few hundred rounds when I first got it.

I put a 0.004 shim of plastic under the front sight and carefully tapped it into place just like I had done with my first STI.

I went to the range again today and the results were much better. I adjusted the sights for a 25 yard zero and tried it again at 7 yards.

This is five rounds, off hand, from 7 yards away with some of my Montana Gold handloads:

This is five rounds, off hand, from 25 yards:

Okay. That’s more like it! Most of the group dispersion is probably just my aging eyes in the relatively low light of the indoor range and the tremors in my hands and arms.

It’s been many years since I could get groups like that with my STI Eagle. I had been wondering if it was my aging fire control system or the gun. I’m pretty sure I can say it was the gun. The slide to frame fit on the Eagle was never very good. The gunsmith who assembled the kit had deliberately put it together with loose tolerances for reliable carry. After 40K rounds through it the tolerance probably increased enough to make the difference that I suspected were aging of the flesh rather than wear of the gun.

The first thing I did with the DVC Limited, assembled by STI, was check the slide to frame fit. I cannot detect any movement at all. It has to be on the order of 0.001” or less gap. Same with the barrel. No detectable motion when I try to wiggle it.

I’m very pleased now that the front sight is staying in place. I can’t wait for the next match.

Paper cartridges for percussion revolvers

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Lyle

This post delves deep into technical esoterica, so unless you have a specific interest in percussion revolver shooting you may as well move on.

Continue reading →

Quote of the day—Bryce M. Towsley

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Joe

Don’t get hung up on your gear. You need guns that are reliable and fit well, but that’s it. The next cool rail-mounted gadget will not make you a better shooter. Instead, take that money and buy more ammo for practice. The guy who has burned enough powder so he can hit the target fastest is the guy that will win the match, not the guy who dragged his gun through the gadget catalog.

…

If you practice with bad habits, you will shoot with bad habits. To learn correct technique, take a class from a professional. But if you don’t have the time and money for that, attend some local matches and learn from the top guys there.

Bryce M. Towsley
July 8, 2013
9 Shooting Tips for Better Long-Range Accuracy
[I can’t emphasis this enough. I started out shooting pistol matches with a Ruger P89. I took classes, practiced a couple times a week, and improved enough that I was occasionally winning the local USPSA matches.

On the Microsoft Gun Club email list other people were discussing which $1000 to $2000 gun would be best for the local pistol league match. I came in near the top in those leagues with my $300 Ruger. It wasn’t until I was certain the Ruger was “holding me back” and I had put 30K rounds through it that I decided to upgrade to a better pistol. I immediately saw about an improvement in my match results and dominated in the league matches.

I remember one time after doing quite a bit better than another league shooter he said something to the effect that it was the guns we were shooting that made the difference. He was shooting a compact Glock and I was shooting my STI Eagle. I offered to trade guns and reshoot the course of fire. He agreed. He did about the same as before and I did slightly worse. I still beat him by a significant margin.

The “meatware” is far more important than the hardware in almost all shooting matches. This is particularly important true in pistol matches.

In rifle matches there is a bigger difference in the hardware capabilities at long ranges. While you aren’t going to be making 1000 yard shots on USPSA targets with an SKS I’ll bet on Monte Milanuk (who coaches at Boomershoot each year) with a Savage Model 12 F-T/R chambered in .308 over someone who has invested more money than time into long range shooting.—Joe]

Gold plated guns for sale

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Joe

SAF is selling 24-Karat Gold-Plated rifles and pistols. The pistols are 1911s:

The rifles are Winchester lever action 30-30s:

Pressure signs

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Lyle

It seems to me that the process of reading pressure signs in your brass and primers, as they tell us in the loading manuals, can be a bit ambiguous. In this instance however it was rather obvious.

Too much pressure?

Continue reading →

Quote of the day—J-

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Joe

Glockheads are heathens, following a false prophet. Real Americans worship at the Church of John Moses Browning.

…

Follow not the unbelievers. Heed not the basement dwellers, mall ninjas, and armchair commandos. Do not anoint thy hip with Kydex and polymer.

J-
May 13, 2015
Comment to The New Austro-American Jihad.
[It’s a very well done rant and rave.

Via email from Michael B.—Joe]

Repeat an Insights class for 30% off

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Joe

I’ve been thinking about doing this anyway:

Memorial Day Sale May 20-26

Repeat any class June through August and get 30% off! Because once just isn’t enough.

Call Jenna at 888-958-0884 or email info@InSightsTraining.com to sign up. This offer does not include Tactical First Aid or Shooting Leagues and may not be combined with any other discounts. This is for repeat classes — you must have taken the class previously.

Visit InSightsTraining.com and find a class that fits your schedule. Stay safe and we’ll see you in class!

Maybe now is the time to go through one of the classes I took nearly 20 years ago. I’m thinking maybe Intensive Handgun Skills.

Images from Boomershoot 2015

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Joe

This is my impression of Boomershoot 2015 in images and a few words.

Creating a target rich environment.

The hillside as seen through a 6X scope.

Part of the tree line target area as seen through a 6X scope.

Nearly all of the target areas as seen from a 1.5X scope.

The fireball crew and their work of art. Barron doesn’t actually walk around with a road flare stuck in his ear. See more details here.

On the left Janelle is pregnant. On the right her husband Barron just initiated the fireball.

People inspecting the crater left by the fireball.

Adjusting the artillery for a long distance shot.

It wasn’t really indirect fire.

Appropriate.

Taking a break.

This guy did his prep before he started shooting.

Barb and I patrol the shooting line (photo by Kim).

The two obvious hits are probably outside the active zone anyway. But the target is mostly empty from the rip in the lower right corner.

You’ve got the windage down. Let’s work on elevation.

It’s still a target rich environment at lunch time.

Boomershoot 2016 will be April 22^nd, 23^rd, and 24^th. You know you want to. Start making your plans now.

Road flares and gasoline

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Joe

The Boomershoot 2015 fireball was very well done and impressive. Here are some of the details of the construction.

There were 15 seven-inch square targets, each containing 800 grams (about 1.8 pounds) of Boomerite arranged as shown below around a 50 pound bag of powdered sugar:

The target in the lower right with the two red dots was facing the audience and shooter. This is the initiating target which propagated the detonation to the rest of the targets.

In the picture below you see 19 gallons of the gasoline/diesel mixture in place on top of the explosives.

The job of the explosives is to lift the gasoline and mix it in the air. Usually we have a ratio of explosives to gasoline of about 1 pounds to 2 gallons up to 1 pound to 1 gallon. This time it is about 1.4 to 1.

In the picture above we have the people that designed and constructed the fireball (left to right: Mike, Matthew, Barron, and Ry) along with the road flares attached with rubber bands to rebar and wooden sticks. One or more of these flares ignited the fuel air mixture.

In Phil’s slow motion video below you will see the ignition start on the side opposite the shooter and propagate to the remainder of the fuel-air mixture.

In this frame capture from Ry’s video you can see the dust propelled into the air some distance from the explosion. I suspect this is from the shock wave traveling through the ground.

In the still picture of mine below you can see pieces of shredded milk jugs which have been propelled beyond the expanding “ball” of fuel and that most of the fuel has been ignited. The flares mounted on the rebar and sticks are entirely engulfed in the fireball.

The following pictures is one of the most interesting fireball photos I have ever seen. Usually it is mushroom shaped or even flattens out more than the picture above. But this ball of fire barely touches the ground and is a decent approximation of a sphere. I’m not sure what the white streamers coming out of the fire are. Perhaps pieces of burning milk jug or lumps of powdered sugar.

Here, a fraction of a second later, we have the ball of fire suspended in air on what is a probably a column of water vapor from the explosives:

Here, another fraction of a second later, we have the fuel still burning high up in the air and forming a smoke ring:

Watch Ry’s video and see the fire roll around in the sky. It’s amazing:

In the picture below, less than a minute after the explosion, we have Barron standing in the middle of the crater he created. But notice there is no fire on the ground. In years past there were patches of burning fuel on the ground. There was none this year. It all went up into the air.

Another thing, as pointed out by Ry this year and last (edited to add: Ry says the first time was 2011 or earlier), is that nearly all of the flares have been extinguished. Ry is the first person I know who has successfully extinguished road flares with gasoline.

Don’t try this at home. Come to Boomershoot 2016 instead.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Rimfire Pistol

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Memorial Day Sale May 20-26

Repeat any class June through August and get 30% off! Because once just isn’t enough.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: