Low breaks...

[Richspyroplace]

Im writing this post due to something i read about 2.5in. Peanut shell low breaks. Has anyone seen this with the 2.5in. or a peanut shell? Any other experiences with low breaks?

[PyroManiacs]

Low breaks come in all sizes. You can never know if a low break is going to happen. Just make sure the shells are seated properly to the bottom of the mortar and you should be fine.

Do you have a link to the source of this information you read?

[Richspyroplace]

Ive been searching for it again thats why i posted to see if anyone else heard anything about it. If i find it again i will be attaching it. I just remember it saying they were 2.5in. Peanut shells.

[Northern Sky]

Low breaks really aren't that big of a deal if you are shooting with the required space guidelines. When hand firing it isn't unusually for the shooter to not even know there was a low break.

When it's the round tripper that gets my attention.
I listened for the sounds; the quick match, the lift and finally the break of each shell. It is Important to listen for all three so you know what is happening around you.

This kind of information is learning in those boring PGI cert classes and in the field experience.

[Fire Art]

A few years back there were a few companies that had some 2.5 peanut shells and single 2.5 ball shells with low breaks but haven't heard anything about out of the ordinary amounts of low breaks lately

[displayfireworks1]

I remember some 3 inch peanut shells that were break and report. There was no low break, the were breaking while still in the gun. I remember 4 inch peanut shells blowing in the gun and bending a Pyro-Magic rail , taking out a bank of mortars with yet more break and reports and sending a FireOne module into the river. Trapped on a barge in the river with that stuff. If the second part of a peanut shell is a salute, it scares me. I remember loading them at the time and admiring how well made they looked on the outside, it was a false perception of quality. I am the first one to say most professional displays need more salutes in the body of the program but not with these, just load salutes separate.

[RalphieJ]

Low breaks really aren't that big of a deal if you are shooting with the required space guidelines. When hand firing it isn't unusually for the shooter to not even know there was a low break.

When it's the round tripper that gets my attention.
I listened for the sounds; the quick match, the lift and finally the break of each shell. It is Important to listen for all three so you know what is happening around you.

This kind of information is learning in those boring PGI cert classes and in the field experience.

Communication is of the utmost importance during hand-fired shows. The lead should be telling the shooter the size and number of breaks as he hands off the shell, critical when firing multiple break shells with bottom shots. "Three inch color and salute"....and especially when you get handed "Six inch hammer, nine and one." Walk fast and start counting........

[Northern Sky]

Communication is of the utmost importance during hand-fired shows. The lead should be telling the shooter the size and number of breaks as he hands off the shell, critical when firing multiple break shells with bottom shots. "Three inch color and salute"....and especially when you get handed "Six inch hammer, nine and one." Walk fast and start counting........

Communication is everything.
I've never reloaded shells during a show. If there aren't enough mortars product doesn't get shot.

Salutes and specialty shells are fired from dedicated racks for safety and frankly so I/we can watch or just know what to expect.

Regarding multi break shells, they are always e-fired because they tend to be more unpredictable. Bottom shots; I've only seen them shot at PGI and private displays for clubs where manufacturing is done.

I'd LOVE to check out one of your displays. They sound right up my alley.

[Chris23]

Communication is everything.
I've never reloaded shells during a show. If there aren't enough mortars product doesn't get shot.

Roger that! I've never liked the idea of running around with shells in darkness trying to load as quickly as possible while other shells are launching overhead. Call me a wuss :)

[Northern Sky]

Call me a wuss :)


I think it's called instinct or self preservation.

If you shoot in northern VA the Sun will count shells and mortars. No reloading period.

[RalphieJ]

Communication is everything.
I've never reloaded shells during a show. If there aren't enough mortars product doesn't get shot.

Salutes and specialty shells are fired from dedicated racks for safety and frankly so I/we can watch or just know what to expect.

Regarding multi break shells, they are always e-fired because they tend to be more unpredictable. Bottom shots; I've only seen them shot at PGI and private displays for clubs where manufacturing is done.

I'd LOVE to check out one of your displays. They sound right up my alley.
LOL. Not my displays but those of a company I was once associated with. It was purchased by a former shooter from an old Italian master who made all his own shells, black match, spoolettes, black powder, set-pieces, lances, even to rolling his own safety "mopoline" caps on his fuses. The only pre-made item he purchased were coin wrappers for finale fuse buckets. The things he did were beyond belief. Like 4-ft long 12-inch shells that took two men to lower into the mortar, live pigeons released from a daytime aerial shell (try THAT today), huge parachute flares as a signaling device between the ground set-piece team and the mortar team some distance away, ground devil-wheels that spun off 3" salutes, a set piece of a man riding a bicycle moving across the field with turning wheels (and the poor shooter underneath with a heavy canvas over him, 12-break 3" salami shells with orange, pink, turquoise, and lavender tints that I have not seen since, to, I kid you not, an end of finale salute with dynamite. I have personally experienced two of these at an annual Italian celebration. I once asked the grandson after the founder passed "Is it true Grandpa (as he was affectionately called by associates) used 24 sticks of dynamite in the last shell at the celebration?" He replied "Where did you hear that? That's a damn lie! He used 36 sticks!" The burst was a relatively small ball of orange, but the concussion broke glass in china cabinets, cracked windshields, and knocked gutters and leaders from roofs. The people loved it, his insurance company did not. And everything was hand-fired (albeit some with very long leaders) from double-banked battery boxes filled with sand and all flights and the entire finale was hand-dug. This is not hyperbole, I kid you not. But mind you this was over 50-60 years ago (I'm 70) when the old master was alive and operators got away with things you'll never see today in your hometown or stadiums. Some of that over-the-top showmanship was carried on by the new owner, although it's been quite a while since I've seen one of his hammer shells in his shows, although his 6" crossettes are a thing of awe and beauty. Safety restrictions and limitations set by municipalities and even his clients have limited what can be done today.

[Northern Sky]

Except for the 26 /36 sticks, I've some really impressive things at PGI. I wish I had pictures to share of some videos the things from there.

The All STARS an Dr X shells make a lasting impression.

I'm thinking to maybe 2014 the All STARS and the good Dr did a display where the last hit had us all flash blind from a SALUTE WALL of multi break SALUTE shells.

It's crazy during the day seeing what look like telephone poles being shot into the air and being blown away as they reveal their payload.

Those are a of the things I will miss this year not going to PGI.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

RalphieJ--I will be 68 next month and also remember some of the things from "days gone by". My first "hands on" with 1.3 was back in the early 60's when I went to the local display in the early afternoon and asked them if I could help. It was a local company of Italians & when they asked me my name and what part of Italy my family was from the door was opened. They graciously allowed me to unload & carry steel mortars from their truck while they buried them..."let the kid carry the pipes"... HaHa....I remember them smoking cigars & drinking Dago Red from a gallon jug while they worked and laughed. Those were the days of multi break shells and beautiful set pieces--they also did the bicycle as well as two tanks shooting at each other across the football field where the display was and many other set pieces and wheels. The most beautiful shell I remember was a spider to spider to spider....and almost every shell had a bottom shot! They also did the dynamite [on the ground] not nearly like what you described---and that shell with the pigeons you described---WOW!
The town I grep up in back then was relatively small--23,000 or so people and the pyro was not near the level of what you described---but none the less it left an indelible mark on my inner being and to this day I can appreciate the art, craftsmanship and love behind a hand made shell, wheel, or set piece thanks to those early experiences.
Thanks for sharing your memories!