Childhood Memories of Our First Home made Firecrackers

[painter777]

I have my Thunder Mug (Signal cannon

Hello 2A-Jay,
Any chance you could post a picture of it?
Would love to see it.

My 31 year old son still has a pretty wicked Potato Gun complete with a Piezo (SP ? ) sparking lighter, made from some special heavy duty PVC pipe. Some serious noise and launch. I could just imagine what your Thunder Mug would do.

Thanks for your replies !

Regards,
Charlie -Painter777

P.S. July 4th is coming soon. Problem here is our dog is scared to death of thunder or any booms, including just small firecrackers. Scared to death !!

[2A-Jay]

Attachment 84889Attachment 84889


It isn't fancy, infact it is homemade, it is a 33mm smooth bore. The foil wad next to the mug is a 20 gram charge. ignition is by Cannon Fuse through the fuse hole at the base of the bore.

[HENRY B]

my cousin and i made a mortar. we found some unused railroad flares, the ones with a nail in one end so they could stick them in the ground. we used a metal pipe for the tube, we pushed it into the muddy ground and then dropped in a lite flare, and on top of the flare a co2 cartridge. the first one went off .it blew the cartridge several hundred feet into the air ,out of sight ,the next one seemed like a dud so i picked up the pipe and held it away from my face. the other muddy end was pointed next to my knee. to this day i can still make out the nail hole in my knee . boy those where the days ammonia nitrate at the hardware store was around 20 cents a pound mix it with sugar and charcoal .we always smelled like firecrackers. iam 69 and i still miss the boom we used to make.

[painter777]

Boy I bet that would wake the boys up at deer camp, nice job.

Speaking of waking them up, years ago while deer hunting at our tent camp in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP). One of the alarm clocks was set way to early and went off in the middle of the night. The father of the son whose clock went off got ****ed off about and shot 3 or 4 rds from his .45 at it.
He hit the clock, scared us to death along with making us mad about his no brainer move. After settling back in I gave thought as to the direction of his shots and asked where he had parked. Brand new with the dealer stickers still on the window 1985 Dodge Ramcharger had 2 shots in the drivers side front fender, just behind the tire. One last shot in the drivers door. Blew out a power steering line and the power window motor or control.

I just remember LOUD, same thought I get after seeing your Thunder Mug.

Thanks for the pictures...... Wish I could see/hear it go off.
Not sure why but why is it that so many I get to know from Washington are ex navy and.......... on the wild side :-)

Cheers
Charlie-Painter777

[2A-Jay]

I am in the process of making up Charge Packets for the 4th of july on the Beach. Our dog freaks out every 4th of July. And here at the beach where we live (28 miles of drive on beach) Fireworks will be legal from July 3 to july 6. at the Fireworks stands you can buy air launch Mortors. (which I will also buy)

---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:51 PM ----------

Thanks for the pictures...... Wish I could see/hear it go off.
Not sure why but why is it that so many I get to know from Washington are ex navy and.......... on the wild side :-)

and to add to the crazy, I was born in Detroit, lived in Garden City till I was 6. Sailors are bred for their inventive entertainment capabilities. I excelled in that department.

[painter777]

I grew up in the 'Down River' area south of Detroit, little town called Flat Rock, about 1/2 between Detroit and Toledo.

[2A-Jay]

Washington State Has a lot of Navy Bases, When I retired from the Navy I retired to Oak Harbor WA on Whidbey Island. I have always tried to stay near a Navy base or any Military base. The Exchange and Commisaries can be great places to shop. Though the exchanges the only real savings you are going to get are in sales tax (there are none) Sailors make some good people (usually) The nearest military base to me now is a Coast Guard Station 30 miles away.

[CINDERS]

We used to be able to get Potassium Nitrate from a medical supplier just drop in on the way home from High school then they stopped selling it to us so we switched to Soduim nitrate which gave you a type of slag when it burnt no where near as good as the pot nitr.
I backed off that and started to make a thermite powder way more fun and a really brilliant flame all was good until that eventful day I mentioned earlier that my dad took a real dim view of his son playing the amateur alchemist in our backyard.

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

Washington State Has a lot of Navy Bases, When I retired from the Navy I retired to Oak Harbor WA on Whidbey Island. I have always tried to stay near a Navy base or any Military base. The Exchange and Commisaries can be great places to shop. Though the exchanges the only real savings you are going to get are in sales tax (there are none) Sailors make some good people (usually) The nearest military base to me now is a Coast Guard Station 30 miles away.

I live a couple hours away from you in Sequim. Washington is a great place.

[2A-Jay]

wow, I am a member of 3 Firearms forums, The Firearms Forum, Milsurps and Culvers Shooting. Out of the three there are several members that are sshort distances from me. My world keeps getting smaller.