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Pyro Experiment: Consumer shells -12" vs 15" mortars

NightLighter

NightLighter

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Apr 2019
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Ok, here ya go! The answer to one of those nagging pyro questions, and fodder for frequent discussion in the pyro world - DO CONSUMER SHELLS SHOT FROM LONGER MORTARS GO HIGHER? Short answer, maybe sometimes, but not all the time, sometimes no, and if they do, is it even noticeable?

A few weeks ago this discussion came up on the Facebook Pyro Universe and I posed a challenge to actually test the theory. Someone threw the challenge back to me, and, with an upcoming KCAP shoot, I accepted it. Here are the results. I used 2 10- shot racks, one loaded with 15-in mortars and the other with 12-in mortars, positioned 80 ft apart. I fired matching-effect/brand consumer canister shells simultaneously from both racks using direct matching with MJG FireWire Initiators and the Cobra firing system. We recorded video at ground level and from a drone. I also captured screenshots from the ground level video showing the precise moment of the breaks. I worked those into this edited video as well. Special thanks to the KCAP members who assisted with set up and recording!

 
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Very well done, sir. While I'm sure it won't definitively answer everyone's questions this is by far the best side by side comparison I've ever seen. I have a mix of both 12" and 15" tubes and may try to replicate your results.

Just to make sure your conclusion is fine, the 15" tubes result in either the same height or higher. same = roughly 50% and higher = roughly 50%. Do you have any way to add quantitative information to the break heights? I can't tell if this is roughly 20' or closer to 50'? I'm getting greedy :)
 
The height distance was miniscule and it was inconsistent. There's more important variables than mortar length determining break height.
 
I'd say individuals need to figure out what was material. I personally don't buy 15" anymore because I'm tired of the fuses not coming out the top for many brands of cannister shells!

What other variables do you think are more important?
 
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