US made Class C salutes

[countryboy7978]

Old timers.... what was your favorite class C salute? There were several
American made iterations and many imported versions.

[halk]

Flitter Bombs from Bristow's.

[RalphieJ]

ground or aerial? I'm assuming pre-ban since you said "Old timers" lol

[countryboy7978]

Actually post ban Class C. So US made M80 knock offs but I’ll take preban too.

[halk]

Have a list of those post-ban M-80 knock offs? Were both end and center fused tubes produced?

[RalphieJ]

Pre-ban, New Jersey Fireworks cherry bombs (with their ash cans a very close second). Post ban, I don't know the mfg. but obviously American, one was a side fused red/white/blue M-80 size, with wax (not hot melt) ends, the other was red, side fused, a very thin silicate plug covering a paper disc. Both were available 1976-'77. A dissection of each showed a charge substantially more than 50 mg. but nowhere near that of a post-ban class B M-80. They gave a pretty good pop, louder than a ICC Class C 1-1/2". Had a half-gross of each and they went quick, saving none. Oh well.

[halk]

Article on PGI Bulletin not long ago on how these knock offs and 'watercrackers' were related to the invention of mini-visco. The earliest used small crackers inserted in tubes by U.S. companies.

[Niceshellsdude]

does anyone have any photos or old advertisements of any these old school "ash cans" ? I would love to see what these things really looked like.

[RalphieJ]

aka "silver salutes", spiral warning, we called them ash cans, were smaller than an M-80. There also were availabe "Silver tube salutes" that were the same size as M-80's, without the spiral warning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDyjkqWy8_I

This video originally posted on this forum by Dave.

[halk]

There were a lot of bootleg salutes called ash cans. Some were huge. Idiot assholes sold them to kids.

[wingman]

Apollo of the Ozarks: Ozark Crackers!! They came in a plain white box. The red fuses were really sloppy with visco lacquer all over the red tubes. The end plugs were coated with waterglass and the flash comp was nitrate based, but they had a really nice report much like a 3 grain cracker. They were actually made as a front to sell real bootleg crackers but in the end the manufacturer got caught and arrested anyhow. Nice dot era tube type crackers and I imagine if you found a box of them partial or full, they'd be worth quite a bit. Apollo of the Ozarks made other types of tube or salute type crackers and sold them in plastic bags..either red or silver tubes but they had weak reports.

[countryboy7978]

Ok so the American M80 knockoffs that I am aware of are as follows:

Apollo of the Ozarks: Ozark Cracker, also called M-50, M70, and Silver Salute, owner Gerry Gitts and Tom Scaman, charge was loose flash, later went to Chinese manufacture. In the late 90s he made the PCR2000. ATF didn’t like that too much for

Mid-South Pyrotechnics: M60/Pyro Pop, Owner Charles Beatty, loose flash but later gel capsules with flash, finally went to Chinese manufacturer

Space Age Pyrotechnics: M90, Owner Lew Loyd, charge was waterproof cracker imported from China but assembled in the US. Later Chinese with clay and weaker cracker.

There was also a Cherry Bomb knockoff using an uncoated cupset painted red. I don’t remember the manufacturer off hand. Maybe American Specialities. I’ll have to find out.

The rest were Chinese made. PoSing made cherry bomb knockoffs called Phantom Bomb/Pop Bomb/Big Bomb/Ball Exploder. Later they came in foam casings called Flash Bomb with several siblings in the shape of grenades and tube salutes.

I never had the pleasure of shooting the original Ozark Cracker but I have the later versions with 50mg.

[countryboy7978]

does anyone have any photos or old advertisements of any these old school "ash cans" ? I would love to see what these things really looked like.

Ash cans were silver tubes with a center fuse. Not what the YouTube warriors call end fused tube salutes.

[Niceshellsdude]

I pictured these things looking like a metal Folgers coffee can with a long visco on the top. Or something like that I guess.

[countryboy7978]

Omg no! The M80 was the largest of the common flash firecrackers. The ash can was smaller than the M80. There were some cannon crackers and things like black cones with more flash but uncommon compared to the cherries ash cans and M80s. Bigger salutes belong in the sky. I have pictures of genuine examples of all the crackers in this thread but I have difficulty posting photos here from my phone or tablet.

[Elisabeth]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd293/ElisabethD1970/Pyro/Misc%20Pyro/F208E752-A1F7-4AEC-B60E-6E905EBFF2C8_zpslndrcuem.jpg

Found a good comparison pic.

[RalphieJ]

What company made those perfectly round cherry bombs? All we ever had were Kent and New Jersey fireworks cherries, and you cold tell that they were made from cup sets, they looked like little barrels with rounded edges.

[countryboy7978]

The M80 and M70 tube should be the same size. I think Globe uses rounded cup sets instead of cylinders but it also depends on how long they tumble them too.

[RalphieJ]

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/269858_10150256133274734_2929885_n.jpg?oh=a31ba3b3 413624b536d71a0f2eb8ffb7&oe=5B0C77C7

A little faded.....made in 1966.

[RalphieJ]

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/269858_10150256133274734_2929885_n.jpg?oh=a31ba3b3 413624b536d71a0f2eb8ffb7&oe=5B0C77C7

A little faded.....made in 1966.

Correction: Made in 1961. New Jersey Fireworks Mfg. Co. Inc. Elkton Md or Vineland NJ. $3.95 half gross.

[PieRoe]

I did just post this pic in my intro thread but I feel it belongs here:

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2884&stc=1

[RalphieJ]

I did just post this pic in my intro thread but I feel it belongs here:

2884

The M-70's, are those with black pitch plugs or white silicate?

[RalphieJ]

Check out this patent (409 2950) for these for Apollo of the Ozarks. Filed 10/16/1975. 2 grains of powder = 130 mg. Wow!

http://www.patentbuddy.com/Patent/US-4052940-A?ft=true

[countryboy7978]

The American made M70s had hot melt plugs. The later Chinese versions had clay/plaster and thin fuse. The bootleg M80s used silicate and carbonate plugs like the old legal ones.

[displayfireworks1]

Back in the 70's I purchased an M-80 looking cracker that had the fuse running into what looked like a actually pill capsule that probably contained 50 mg of powder. The rest was filled with some sort of filler. It was all deception.

[PieRoe]

The M-70's, are those with black pitch plugs or white silicate?

They are white

[countryboy7978]

Back in the 70's I purchased an M-80 looking cracker that had the fuse running into what looked like a actually pill capsule that probably contained 50 mg of powder. The rest was filled with some sort of filler. It was all deception.

M60/Pyro Pops were made that way. They were made by Mid-South Pyrotechnics in Mississippi, by Charlie Beaty. Hot melt plugs,visco through the top plug with the pill capsule of flash. I still have an aerial Bomb he made.