3" ground bomb

[Mattp]

Someone on here mentioned recently they shot a couple ground bombs off.. and i cant stop thinking about that.. lol.. think i need to incorporate some next year.. question is.. do they literally just sit on the ground.. is it basically a 3" salute with no lift?? Will it blow a giant hole in my lawn??

[Pyro Dave]

You should never lay a ground bomb directly on the ground. It can produce projectiles, rocks especially become very dangerous.

They are meant to be hung from a string off an angled pole. Or in a pinch you can set them up on an empty cardboard box turned upside down.(This will make a mess, but better then being unsafe) One of the biggest rookie mistakes you see with ground bombs is people hanging them from the quickmatch.... once that burns it falls off and lands on the ground.

[RalphieJ]

Cabra morte (dead heads) were 3" to 5" salutes (depending on the distance from the crowd) hung from a landyard approx. 6' off the ground. An aerial salute of the same size was timed to detonate first, quickly followed by the ground salute. The idea was to catch the crowd off-guard looking up when the concussion of the ground salute hit them in the chest. One of these is extremely impressive, as you can imagine, but at one show, an Italian Celebration, 5 five-inchers where fired in sequence, which delighted most, and really pissed off the rest. This particular effect was developed in Italy over 150 years ago, although I haven't seen it done since 1982.

[displayfireworks1]

Got to 17:44 in this video going forward. This is what you want to do with ground bombs , although they should be called air bombs. you always want them suspended in the air in some fashion for two reasons. One is they are louder and two is they will not kick up dirt and rock .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9E0G09u-Q
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The ones in the video are specifically made for this I believe. You want instant fire with the electric match. You can easily alter any regular salute shell to do this by using an brass awl to make a hole in it and insert an electric match. Please note it is risky procedure.
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There was a fireworks accident at this facility with a woman, while I do not know 100% , it may have been with one of these products when an electric match was being inserted.

[Mattp]

Exactly why i was asking.. definitey makes alot of sense.. wasnt sure if maybe they had a flat side meant to go on ground.... wasnt too concerned with distance of flying rocks/dirt.. but didnt want to blow a crater in my grass.. seems like they are basically shells with no lift... funny that video was perfect as celebration is my go to supplier!!!

[cptnding]

And Celebration is where the accident happened. To me ground bombs are risky period, much less poking a salute shell to make one. Everything pyro is dangerous but at least with most things you have time to get it out of your hands if something goes wrong.
https://www.gofundme.com/Krissy-fireworks

[displayfireworks1]

If you feel experienced enough you can make them. If I remember correctly in the professional setting they were made with a large paper cup set similar to how cherry bombs start out only larger. The hole in the cup was covered with tape. On the site you pull the tape and place an electric match. We used them on the top of the old Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for the last Pittsburgh Pirates game before they demolished the stadium. A simple cardboard cup confinement will give you all the noise you need and less risk of shrapnel. Not sure who sells large cardboard cup sets , but they work great. You can also use the cup sets for creating special effects etc.
I have not heard an update on that worker injured in that event.

[cherrybomb1]

Someone on here mentioned recently they shot a couple ground bombs off.. and i cant stop thinking about that.. lol.. think i need to incorporate some next year.. question is.. do they literally just sit on the ground.. is it basically a 3" salute with no lift?? Will it blow a giant hole in my lawn??

I watched guys and gals shoot them off at the PGI convention this year in Iowa.I thought the whole subject about Perchlorate and Aluminum homemade salutes was taboo on this website!Lol.I talked to a few guys that brought them and they didn't have there 54 permit.They would put them in a portable magazine at the front of the ground salute area where a member of the PGI was and wait there turn...they would get a piece of string walk out too a structure made by 4x4...hang there salute, light it and walk back normally to the staging area.These things were LOUD...from what i saw you could make them as big as you want.

[displayfireworks1]

I have some of that on video I'll post later. For display purposes they do not need to be that large. You want to use this sort of thing next to the gasoline fireball effect and fire both at the same time. Or fire a large cannon next to it like I did in one of my recent videos

[Mattp]

Personally, I definitely do not plan on making anything like this .. lol.. id much prefer to purchase a few and incorporate them with my finale.. using a firing system while a few hundred feet away.. lol... and cb1.. i believe the taboo salutes conversations are regarding 1.4 products.. here in the 1.3 section as long as its legal were all good. . lol

[rreffner]

i think that was me who mentioned firing them. They were awesome but be aware they are extremely powerful. Literally a 3" salute going off. I hung mine from a clothes hangar I stuck in the ground, about 2' from the ground..... The explosive power that is usually 250' in the air being so much closer is pretty cool, and the concussion is quite fierce. I cant say for certain but if one went off in your hand, it wouldn't be a loss of fingers, it would be a loss of life. And to your original question, 2' off the ground, it did not leave a crater but left a 4' circle of grass-free dirt. Just too much power to set on the ground and be considered safe.
They rocked the valley though. Celebration has them (as you know) and for the price they offer a lot of fun.

[PyroManiacs]

Here is how we set up ours on the 4th...
https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/a128/KillaNinjaChuklz/0/5e716924-fa03-4bb9-942e-feaa54d6c132-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/KillaNinjaChuklz/p/5e716924-fa03-4bb9-942e-feaa54d6c132)

Here they are in action throughout the video.. If you want, you can skip right to a nice little segment of them starting at 13:30.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-V9rgIi0Ug

[Fulliautomatix]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-V9rgIi0Ug

Whoa! That was seriously impressive! The sheer volume of firepower... astounding, seriously, I think I'd be in shock if I were there in person. (and I just watched it from 13:00 to the end!)

[Supermanpyro8]

I personally have made M-80’s/cherry bombs for years. Even made a 4” shell loaded with flash powder. It was awesome. You don’t need your 54 to purchase perchlorate or German aluminum. You are only allowed to buy so much a year. Now that I have my 54 I won’t be making them anymore. To dangerous.

[displayfireworks1]

From the looks of the ones your purchase , it appears they all have a titanium cloud. I swear all salutes coming out of China have titanium. Even the ones in roman candles.
At Supermanpyro8, this is common when people with ATF license can purchase 1.3 product they find usually give up on manufacturing. Or, just make a little some-n some-n once in while. It is easier and more convenient to just purchase the product.

[rreffner]

From the looks of the ones your purchase , it appears they all have a titanium cloud. I swear all salutes coming out of China have titanium. Even the ones in roman candles.
At Supermanpyro8, this is common when people with ATF license can purchase 1.3 product they find usually give up on manufacturing. Or, just make a little some-n some-n once in while. It is easier and more convenient to just purchase the product.


Dave, for what its worth, Celebration Fireworks is still selling the dark salutes, of all sizes (ground bombs too). Theyre the only one ive been able to find that does so. Didn't know if you knew or not.

[Supermanpyro8]

QUESTION,,,, So on these ground bombs, they can’t just be salutes. What makes the huge fireball? I would love to add this to a show

[rreffner]

QUESTION,,,, So on these ground bombs, they can?t just be salutes. What makes the huge fireball? I would love to add this to a show

That?s small titanium flakes mixed in with the flash. They?re called titanium salutes.

[Supermanpyro8]

I guess I need to buy some titanium. Hell I still have 2lbs of flash made up. Thank you.

[Supermanpyro8]

That?s small titanium flakes mixed in with the flash. They?re called titanium salutes.
Any idea if a fine powder is better or a granular powder would be best. I have found a couple different titanium’s

[Supermanpyro8]

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3459&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3460&stc=1
This is what I found...

[rreffner]

Any idea if a fine powder is better or a granular powder would be best. I have found a couple different titanium?s

Not sure, personally it?s easier and safer for me to just buy the salutes I want since my manufacturing knowledge is practically nil. Might be worth a search or post over on the manufacturing forum to see, I?m sure the guys that frequent that would know best.

[PyroManiacs]

What makes the huge fireball? I would love to add this to a show

There are a couple methods, this is a video of them setting up the gas mine ones at a Celebration Firework's Demo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf36kO50YBk

[Supermanpyro8]

There are a couple methods, this is a video of them setting up the gas mine ones at a Celebration Firework's Demo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf36kO50YBk

That’s insane. Seems like a great size to do that’s not insanely big is to do the 6” mine.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I watched guys and gals shoot them off at the PGI convention this year in Iowa.

Yes... There were some obnoxiously large and loud ground salutes at PGI this year. In an unrelated story, a guy was shooting a large shell he made and it separated as it left the tube. The bottom shot/salute came out on the ground and went off. It shot gravel from the ground all around, hitting him in the face and arm. He got carted off in an ambulance to get put back together again. He's okay, but he's going to have some very unflattering permanent reminders of his PGI experience this year.

[cherrybomb1]

Yes... There were some obnoxiously large and loud ground salutes at PGI this year. In an unrelated story, a guy was shooting a large shell he made and it separated as it left the tube. The bottom shot/salute came out on the ground and went off. It shot gravel from the ground all around, hitting him in the face and arm. He got carted off in an ambulance to get put back together again. He's okay, but he's going to have some very unflattering permanent reminders of his PGI experience this year.
My son and i were there at a distance when that one happened...at first we thought he blew half his arm off by the way that they had it covered.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

My son and i were there at a distance when that one happened...at first we thought he blew half his arm off by the way that they had it covered.

Glad to hear you guys didn't get hurt. I think they need to shore up their safety practices over there. Clearly the guy was way too close to the shell when it went off. Then there was my near miss where we just got lucky the shell bounced the right direction. I'm going to have a chat with the lead safety guy before we get to Gillette next year. Being the 50th anniversary show, I can see things getting out of hand quick.

[cherrybomb1]

Glad to hear you guys didn't get hurt. I think they need to shore up their safety practices over there. Clearly the guy was way too close to the shell when it went off. Then there was my near miss where we just got lucky the shell bounced the right direction. I'm going to have a chat with the lead safety guy before we get to Gillette next year. Being the 50th anniversary show, I can see things getting out of hand quick.

I have my hotel reservation set and my vacation already approved for next August in Wyoming. The wife is even threatening to go!Lol

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I have my hotel reservation set and my vacation already approved for next August in Wyoming. The wife is even threatening to go!Lol

Lol.. OMG. I always ask my wife just to be nice. If she ever took me up on it, wow... I don't know what I'd do!