Upside down artillery shell (listen)

[displayfireworks1]

I have a feeling loading an artillery shell upside down occurs more than most people realize. If you listen closely in this video, you will hear it. They light four artillery shells, listen closely to the lift on one of them. Once you heard that sound a few times you can recognize it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIc1trtQEYA

[jknepp1954]

Bottle of beer in hands while lighting fireworks = dumb a$$ idiot and upside down shell

[wpman321]

I agree with you Joyce!

[Robertlopez]

well pretty soon we will be hearing instead of "don't drink and drive" "don't drink and light pyro "

[Michigan Pyro King]

I agree too. Save the drinking for after the Fireworks. Not to smart in my opinion.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Just sitting here shaking my head. Another video posted on You Tube for the anti pyro people to feed on.
Title says "Fireworks are dangerous". Should say "stupid drunk people are dangerous"!

[Vavoom]

Although to us it seems just plain stupidity to put a shell upside down into the mortar tube, it's because a mistake like that is easily made that reloadable shell kits are forbidden in The Netherlands.

[displayfireworks1]

At Vavoom
It seems like no matter what they do with these artillery shells there are going to be times people load these shells upside down. I believe the organization American Fireworks Standards Laboratory here in United States is working to address the problem in various ways. While compliance with these rules is not mandatory a few fireworks importers are working towards compliance. Here is an excerpt from their list of standards.
2-1.5.5 The launch tube must be able to withstand at least 2 times the intended number of uses without burnout, blowout, separation from the base, or other malfunction.
2-1.5.6 The launcher tube including its base, packed in a reloadable shell kit must be capable of withstanding the explosion of any individual shell in the kit, without fragmenting, when the shell is inserted in the tube upside down and ignited.
The World Class artillery shell Excalibur for 2012 has a newly designed mortar most likely in an effort to meet this requirement. I have one and may do a video about it soon. The supplied mortar is HDPE and has an extra sleeve towards the bottom of the mortar. Will it withstand an upside down artillery shell, we will have to test it to find out?
If I remember correctly the Netherlands was selling a preloaded mortar with up to a 4 inch shell. Now that you mention it I do not believe I see these reloadable artillery shells in the United Kingdom either.

[Jdrobinson13]

They are lucky no one got hurt.

[Vavoom]

@displayfireworks1:
I think it's a good thing that the industry is trying to take precautions instead of waiting for an eventual ban of a product due to misuse or easy mistakes. It shows that they care for safety and prevention of accidents (as obviously stupid these accidents might seem to others).

In the Netherlands preloaded mortars have never been available over 2 inch in diameter. Unfortunately for some, but I think luckily for most. In Belgium, however, big preloaded mortars up to 6 inch were available to foreign customers (if you asked around). I didn't see many of them, because what was mostly being sold were shell kits up to 3 inch and big repeater cakes (varying from a 1000 shots of 0,5 inch to 16 shots of 4 inch). All that ended about 10 years ago and now "the stuff" comes from other countries (most of the times without the mortar tubes) as you've seen and read in other threads. You know what they say about forbidden fruit..... :)

[Vavoom]

In addition:
In the UK reloadable shell kits up to 3 inch were available. Mostly being used in semi-public displays that were fired by e.g. a headmaster of an elementary school or the head of a fire department. However, due to severe and fatal accidents shells got banned. Nowadays, preloaded starmines up to 3 inch is the biggest available.