My federal flamethrower license came through...

[JonF 79]

I've recently started down the path of reloading and have begun with reloading for my revolvers (38/357 and 44). Now, i've played with several powders and bullet weights already and have found out that universally, factory ammo is just plain *weaksauce*. You can tell from the recoil and the muzzle blast that mainstream ammo is loaded on the side of caution and in today's age, its no doubt why. I recently brought my first batch of reloads to the range and grabbed some video of the process knowing it could be interesting. I picked out some of the more interesting frames of muzzle blast from various calibers and give the details of it and the load info below.

 

First, just for reference, is the seemingly sickly 9mm. I don't reload this but grabbed some screens from run of the mill S&B 115gr FMJ just out of curiosity. This is the most "energetic" pic i grabbed of this caliber although the others were essentially the same.

*ptew*

 

 

Next is the 357 magnum. These loads are a 158gr JHP in front of a near max charge of Alliant 2400 shot from a 6" smith 686. The recoils is stout with a good strong push.

*muzzle flash looks like an insect*

 

*ring of fire*

 

*the initial blue flame--i caught a few of these cool flashes on film*

 

 

Next is 357 magnum with a 125gr JHP and a near max charge of 2400 as well. This charge is a few more grains than that for a heavier bullet so the flames become even more intense. The recoil of this isn't as heavy but the report is a much sharper crack.

*first the blue flame*

 

*same shot as above but a millisecond later with full muzzle blast and singed knuckes*

 

*ring of fire again*

 

 

 

Now lets move onto the 44 mag. These loads are a light 180gr JHP in front of a near max charge of 2400 again shot out of a 8" Ruger SRH. This is so much powder, i have to use the rifle rotor on my Hornady powder measure to throw it in one shot. I can't help but wonder if i'm just wasting powder with these fiery loads in a handgun, however, in a carbine, i'm sure they would be a lot more efficient and produce some screaming velocity.

 

*looks like the start of the "angel wing" military bomber sequence*

 

*i have to get a better angle on these rings as they're more like enlongated "tubes" of fire rather than just a flat donut*

 

*this one is cool--the initial blue flame is transitioning to the full blast out of the cylinder gap*

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the light show. Stay tuned until next time when we load up some Hodgdon H110!

[Blcklightning 11]

Awesome pictures!

[Jon 264]

Awesome pics! How'd you capture them? Are they stills from video?

[JonF 79]

Yea, i used my little point n shoot digital camera to grab video (hung on the stall wall ledge with a gorilla-pod) then pulled all the interesting still frames from it. most shots fired had 1 still of some sort of flames. some shots had two (the blue flames followed by the main event) and some got barely anything cuz it happens so fast.

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

I need a huge revolver now

 

 

AWESOME PICS!

[Radek 73]

Cool pics!

 

When you say max load, can you clarify, as in what's known to be typical manufacturer load vs. what you loaded? Please specify bullet weight and powder grains.

 

Also, curious to know how you determined what's safe for the gun? Incrementally, till the gun blew up!? (kidding) more likely research ...

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Nice. Yeah if you take the P&S camera and set it to high speed video, it'll take 2x the frames and will capture the muzzle blasts better.

[Guest megaman]

REALLY COOL PICS!!!!

[PK90 3,573]

I would think that if you were losing that much gas, accuracy must suffer substantially.

[vladtepes 1,060]

I know nothing about reloading.. but while looking cool and all.. isn't that NOT what you want to happen... doesn't that also put hue unnecessary strain and wear on the firearm?

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

I would think that if you were losing that much gas, accuracy must suffer substantially.

 

 

Just a waste of powder which is unavoidable with really hot loads (especially the lighter ones).

[Guest megaman]

I know nothing about reloading.. but while looking cool and all.. isn't that NOT what you want to happen... doesn't that also put hue unnecessary strain and wear on the firearm?

 

Its a revolver..there is very little to break or be stressed...

[Pew Pew Plates 358]

Its a revolver..there is very little to break or be stressed...

 

Sorta. A steady diet of full house mags can work the timing out of time, widen cylinder gap, it can stretch the top strap over time, and there will be flame cutting of the top strap. Even more so on the K frames and smaller revolvers. All this said, a revolver is the only choice for these loads, anyways!

[junkmanted 54]

I love it no more hair knuckles

[vladtepes 1,060]

Sorta. A steady diet of full house mags can work the timing out of time, widen cylinder gap, it can stretch the top strap over time, and there will be flame cutting of the top strap. Even more so on the K frames and smaller revolvers.

 

this was my understanding as well, and pretty much what prompted the question..

[Cemeterys Gun Blob 165]

Awesome photos!!

 

Your halfway from becoming a Darksider, nothing like gun's belching flames.....

 

I've been trying to capture flames from other Darksider's guns, will give a the HD Video capability on my camera a shot.

[NJ609 22]

I LOVE MAGNUMS. It's like fireworks!

[JonF 79]

Cool pics!

 

When you say max load, can you clarify, as in what's known to be typical manufacturer load vs. what you loaded? Please specify bullet weight and powder grains.

 

Also, curious to know how you determined what's safe for the gun? Incrementally, till the gun blew up!? (kidding) more likely research ...

typical factory load info? outside of the bullet type/weight, you'll find no such thing.

 

for my loads, the charge weights were .5 - 1.0 grains below max published data (safety buffer) for the various load combination i showed above. As usual, load data is gleaned from a corroboration of several load data books and powder manufacturer load data sheets.

[JonF 79]

Nice. Yeah if you take the P&S camera and set it to high speed video, it'll take 2x the frames and will capture the muzzle blasts better.

i went back and checked after you mentioned this thinking i could try this again but the max she'll do is 30 fps. :/ I would be nice to get a sequence of shots watching the round firing from hammer drop to full recoil but i wont be able to do it with my simple P&S canon.

[Bwana4 0]

Spectacular photos. these should be shown nationally