Finned projectile 1

PROJECTILE REVIEW

Reloadableshells.com Finned projectile

Scot Pace at Reloadableshells.com sent me some of his new finned projectiles for testing and review purposes. These are two piece projectiles, plastic, with machined fins and top caps that snap into place. The quality of the projectiles is apparent from the pictures. These are pre-drilled with a hole in the center of the base portion for a fuse. For my testing, I used two types of fuse, the standard visco type cannon fuse, and some fast burning fuse. (Both purchased from cannonfuse.com.)

The base section measures 2 3/8” long and 1 3/8” round. The fuse hole will accommodate the standard 1/8” visco or quick fuse. The fins are machined into the base and are angled to provide spin on launch. The top section is 1 9/16 tall and also 1 3/8” round. The top snaps solidly over the base.

As you can see from the above photo, the base has a smaller section that the top snaps over. I covered the edge with white Gorilla glue before placing the top in place, to secure it for launch.

In this picture you can see the inside of the top cap, as well as the view from the top down on the cap.

Here is what they look like cut in half. You can see the fuse hole, and the payload section. You can also see how the base section snaps into and locks together with the cone section. When securing fuse, start the fuse into the base, then coat the remainder with Gorilla glue, and insert the fuse, twisting as you go, to spread the glue.

Allow the gorilla glue to set before you proceed.

Loaded cap with “Ninja” smoke mix from Firefox

Finished projectile, ready to be loaded into a casing. The extra gorilla glue helps sealing the projectile in the casing, so leave a bit behind when you clean up your projectile and it will fit better.

TESTING:

I loaded six of these projectiles using Firefox’s “Ninja” smoke mix white. Three of these were loaded using green standard and three using the red quick fuse. I found that the quick fuse worked much better in loading them, and provided enough time from launch for the smoke to burst at apogee, instead of hitting the ground. The three that used standard visco all reached the ground prior to igniting the smoke mix. The three that used the quick burn fuse all functioned in the air. The casings that were used are those from Reloadableshells.com, the 37mm smokeless XD casings with the thin, high sidewall as found in this review: http://www.freewebs.com/grog/XD%20casing%20review.htm I loaded the casing with 6 grains of Bullseye and used .010 copper wads. All functioned properly.

The projectiles seem to be reloadable, however, with the color and the distance they travel, I have yet to locate one after firing. I will conduct further testing, to see if I can locate some fired ones. I would recommend the manufacturer use orange or other bright colored material to aid the reloader in retrieving the parts for reuse, or the reloader painting the items with orange paint. I would also recommend making taller caps for larger payload capacity. The ninja smoke signals worked fine, and would be visible for quite some distance, but the ones that popped on the ground were not as visible at distance, so a larger payload would promote better visibility of the signal.

REVIEW:

These fit perfectly into Scot’s casings, and I highly recommend them as a delivery system for smoke payloads, or powdered OC/CS payloads with burning type powders. They would not make good impact burst, as they are made of tough plastic that may not crack on impact with glass or other lower resistance items resulting in the projectile remaining intact. They make a very good projectile for burning type payloads such as smoke burst, and would also make a good carrier for smaller clusters using rolled stars such as fireworks balls stars with a small black powder burst charge. They seal well in the casing, and do not come out easily once seated in place. They could also be RTV’d in place and waterproofed for emergency signal use by simply using thread locking compound on the casing threads, RTV on the base of the projectile, and nitrocellulose lacquer on the primer and primer holder area.

3LC Productions