Noob Safety mistake

[bingsbaits]

Made my first safety mistake, thankfully it was only a small 1 inch shell. Loaded a small 1inch canister in the tube and thought geez they short fused me---First mistake. Didn't double check the shell for proper loading and shot it--- Second mistake.. The shell was loaded upside down. It blew the bottom of the tube out, blew a hole through the 1/2 inch board it was screwed to, blew a 2 inch hole in the ground bounced 10 feet in the air and went off..Scared the hell out of me. At least I was a safe distance away and didn't get hurt. It was all my bad.. Lessons learned---They don't short fuse shells. When I pulled the fuse out of the tape to load the shell there was length of fuse still attached to the tape. Second--- Double check proper loading of shell. I now keep a razor blade handy to cut the tape so this cannot happen again.

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[PyroJoeNEPA]

Arrow means "This end up". Glad you were not injured. Lesson learned and hopefully not to be repeated.

[RalphieJ]

At least you didn't launch it from the top of your head.

[displayfireworks1]

Thank you for posting that picture and detailing what you experienced. If you think about someone with limited fireworks experience, they may think, looking at that shell from that angle and fuse position , the arrow indicates it should be placed into the tube downward. I tried multiple times over a period of at least 3 years to get someone at the AFSL to consider there is a design flaw in the canister artillery shells. When that fuse disappears under the paper as it approaches the lift , it is causing a perception problem for the average user. My limited research into canister shell accidents is there are two mistakes being made , one is holding the mortar and the other is loading it in upside down. At the last AFSL meeting they discussed some of the deaths associated with the re-loadable mortar kits. One of the board members investigated and discussed what he found out. I ask the question was it investigated if any of these events included someone loading the shell in upside down? They said someone along the lines of it was not. I find that unusual when you are wearing a football helmet and shoot three off the top of your head and its the fourth one that kills you. It had to more than just the lift on the fourth shell.

[MontanaMike]

All the shells we used last year said "TOP" on the top of the shell. I think they should put some wording on the opposite end, such as BOTTOM.

[displayfireworks1]

My recommendation is not have the last part of the fuse disappear under the paper. If that is possible. I feel if users see where the fuse really ends it will stop the upside loading. I suspect they currently think the fire and lift comes out of the end where they visibly see the fuse end. Their perception may not understand the fuse goes under the paper to the other end. We are talking about novice occasional users.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

What you can also see on the bottom side of the fuse are what appear to be the words "This end up."

Clearly that didn't help either. With all due respect to all involved, this looks like a case of apathy and inattention. No amount of design changes are going to fix that. When dealing with things that can kill you, you simply have to pay better attention to what you're doing.

[bingsbaits]

I have to agree Rick. The shell was clearly marked and I didn't check it. I just grabbed the fuse and dropped it in the tube. One thing for sure you can bet your bottom dollar I will not do that again.

[nayslayer]

The only thing that may help, is if the top was maybe reflective? idk

[Mattp]

Wow.. amazing that it actually bounced out and went a little into the air.. better than in the tube!!!... yes,, the arrow should definitly be labed with "this end up".. or "top"...i do agrre with daves suggestions for the manufactureres,, , but also think alot of completely amateur once a year buyers have no clue what end the fuse should go into the shell.. or even know whats a lift charge... id bet alot of novices think they go up like rockets

[Robbro097]

I think aot of the prob with labeling anything on the shell is typically its dark if your reloading mayb longer tubes should come with the kits so if shells upside down fuse doesnt stick out but ultimately its always gonna b on the user thankfully in this case lessons learned and no injuries or damage to property

[PYRODAN]

At least you still have all you fingers, and nobody got hurt.

[PYRODAN]

As a side note; I have about 30 Excal tubes and some fiberglass Lock-n-Load tubes I am not using. Most have never been used. If you are in NE Ohio you can have them if you are willing to come and get them. Or you pay for shipping, I am giving them away. Shoot me a pm.