Reloading to make fire breathing dragon?!

[Big Boomer]

Ok, silly question but let's say that I wanted to reload some pistol rounds for not performance but simply for "show" i.e. fire breathing dragon effect...

Would I reload say 50BMG powder in a 357 mag with a really light bullet and have most of the powder ignite out the end of the barrel?

I am not talking accuracy here or performance just simply a WOW what was that effect.

Not caliber specific just thinking of different combinations something that would not of course blow up the gun.

Anyone ever tried this? How about "blanks" for same effect, probably safer too, no squibs.

 

[MASTEROFMALICE]

Black power. There was an article a while back on using black powder in a short barreled .357 and it was most impressive.

There is a LOT of cleanup involved afterwards, though.

 

[RecoilRob]

Using rifle powder in the 357 won't work. I once tried a casefull of 4831 under a 158 JHP and it sounded like a cap-gun and barely got the bullet out of the barrel.

4831 is WAY faster than any powder used in the BMG so this is the wrong way to go.

Assuming that you actually want to fire a projectile, your biggest flash-bang will be with the slowest recommended pistol powders...like WW296/H110. Max 2400 charges light up pretty well as do Blue Dot.

Now, for REAL spectacular (ala Movie Effects) muzzle flash, you will need to go to blanks with flash powder. Sorry, no experience in that area.

 

[eldon519]

Have you ever used Blue Dot or H110 in a .357? They both deliver some pretty impressive shock and awe.

 

[NVMM]

Try a max load of WW296 with a light bullet = Lotsa Fire!

 

[Floppy_D]

+1 Blue Dot. I get comments at the range when I use a max load, and several people wanting to buy some. I run 9.9g on a CCi Mag primer with a 155 JHP in 40S&W, and it throws a FIREBALL through my 229.

 

[zxcvbob]

.30 Carbines in a Ruger Blackhawk make a really impressive BANG! and fireball. You should be able to emulate that load in a .357 by using 2400 or #9 or Lil'Gun powder with a light bullet.

Or just use black powder for that BOOM! and fireball and smoke.

 

[lee n. field]

Black power. There was an article a while back on using black powder in a short barreled .357 and it was most impressive.

There is a LOT of cleanup involved afterwards, though.

Ditto. Lot's of smoke, noise and excitement, much cleanup afterwards. LIke, you know, sex.

 

[Snapping Twig]

Heavy loads of slow burning powder and light copper jacketed bullets.

Done deal.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Blue Dot puts out a nice fireball.

 

[Big Boomer]

Thanks for the replys

I've been using H110/2400 in my 357's and get a decent fireball out of my snubbie about 8 inches or so but I'm going for like 18-24 inch ball o' fire.

Although I've never tried loading blue dot although I do have some sitting around on the shelf. My 460 mag throws a huge ball o' flame out the end of the barrel and out the cylinder gap (18" in the front and 12" to the left and right) but I was going for that "small gun big boom" effect. When they see the hand cannon it's kind of expected...

I was looking for that "Noisy Cricket" effect from The Men in Black. People point and laugh until you fire it

So, just out of curiosity how would I go about loading blackpowder in a 357? Anyone have some loads?

 

[rjohnson4405]

Awesome question, I'm most interested in the replies. We load W296 behind a 125 grain and get the 8-10 inch fireball, with great performance. A bigger one? Now I'm interested.

 

[bugs100]

Blue Dot gives a lot of flame compared to most powders.

 

[wcwhitey]

Full power loads using 296 and 110 grain bullets out of a 2 1/2" .357 will blind and deafen ya. I would have to say the same thing would go for H110.

 

[cpttango30]

Just make sure you take some Pictures of your fireball when you do it. These ought to be good.

 

[Big Boomer]

I actually have some

I'll need to crop them etc I'll post in the main forum so everyone can see. I'll try to get to it in the next day or two.

 

[Big Boomer]

done!

actually check in a few minutes they are done! Thread will be Show me your Fireballs!

 

[jeepmor]

I've gotten 12" of flame or so, maybe a bit more, using Blue Dot in my 10mm Witness. Good stuff, shoot it at dawn or dusk for full WOW effect from the bystanders.

 

[Vitamin G]

Using rifle powder in the 357 won't work. I once tried a casefull of 4831 under a 158 JHP and it sounded like a cap-gun and barely got the bullet out of the barrel.

Hmm... What about a semi-auto?

 

[MrTuffPaws]

If you want to really experiment, try mixing power with magnesium powder or shavings. The dragon breath shotgun shells are basically a powder charge and magnesium flakes

 

[robctwo]

I put together a bunch of blanks for last July 4. Loaded for the .45 lc. I have a stainless Taurus single shot. Smokeless powder with cream of wheat filler gives good bang. Pyrodex gives good bang, smoke and fire, but is a pain to clean up. I bought some .410 cardboard disks and sealed the rounds with a bit of hot glue. I shot off around 50-100 of them after dark. Good fun. Wear hearing protection and glasses.

 

[redneck2]

Long time ago I copied a picture off of TFL of a guy shooting a .454 right at dusk. Used it as my background on the 'puter. Replaced it with something else and have no idea where it's buried in the recesses of my machine. Anyway, the fireball was quite impressive.

I shoot a 10" barrel Contender in .357 Herrett. If you think 10 grains of Blue Dot is impressive, you should see 26 grains of AA 1680. Makes a flash maybe the size of basketball on cloudy days. It would be extremely impressive at night. Muzzle blast and recoil equals the flash.

 

[Cosmoline]

If you want to really experiment, try mixing power with magnesium powder or shavings.

Um, let's stay clear of suggesting people mix flash powder with smokeless powder!! Likewise, let's stay clear of suggesting any potentially unsafe loads. A mild load of black powder substitute with a wad on top fired from a blank shell will give you a fantastic fireball at pressures well within a revolver's operating specs. They used to sell .38 Special black powder blanks, and I've still seen some .32 S&W long BP blanks for sale at various stores which I believe are designed to create a nice fireball.

 

[brickeyee]

"Um, let's stay clear of suggesting people mix flash powder with smokeless powder!!"

Flash powder is not magnesium.
It will not make a fireball as much as the 'shooting star' effect.

 

[layusn1]

Just buy a Mosin Nagant and some surplus ammo