Unreliable ignition in Golf ball mortars.

[Double D]

I have noticed that some folks are reporting unreliable ignition of light 30 yard loads in there golf ball mortars.  I have not experience this problem.  My ignition is consistant and releiable.

I have some ideas what the problem may be.

How about we collect some data and see if can figure ths out.  If you have a golf ball mortar please provide the following information:

1. Diameter of your powder chamber?

2. Depth of your powder chamber?

3. Location of vent in chamber?

4. Diameter of  bore (ball) ?

5.  Do you get reliable ignition at 30 yards?

6. What is your 30 yard charge? (Weight and Grade)

7.  Does your 30 yard load cover the fuse entirely?

8. What is the maximum capacity of your chamber?

[Double D]

1. Diameter of your powder chamber?  1/2 inch

2. Depth of your powder chamber?  1.125 inch including ball seat. 

3. Location of vent in chamber?     Against bottom of chamber

4. Diameter of  bore (ball)  1.746

5.  Do you get reliable ingnition at 30 yards. Yes

6. What is your 30 yard charge. (Weight and Grade)  23 grs Fg

7.  Does your 30 yard load cover the fuse entirely  Yes

8. What is the maximum capacity of your chamber?  30 grs Fg chamber only not including ball seat
 

[Terry C.]

I can't really call my ignition at 30 yards "unreliable" as it always fired, but "inconsistent." But for the purpose of this poll I will stick with "unreliable."

I have always blamed this on my chamber size. My next GB mortar will have a smaller chamber.


1. Diameter of your powder chamber?  1 inch

2. Depth of your powder chamber?  1.25 inch

3. Location of vent in chamber?    Very close to bottom of chamber

4. Diameter of  bore (ball)  1.725

5.  Do you get reliable ignition at 30 yards. No

6. What is your 30 yard charge. (Weight and Grade)  24.2 grs Fg

7.  Does your 30 yard load cover the fuse entirely?  No, not quite

8. What is the maximum capacity of your chamber?  approx. 240 grs Fg
 

[seacoastartillery]

     You can see from our results on the " Walk the Walk" thread that Mike and I had some real difficulty with the range we obtained with our Mallet’s Mortar Jr., GB Mortar.  Lack of consistency in ignition seems to be the main problem with the resulting “Soft Pop” or  “Louder Pop” sound of the shot indicating  less power or more power respectively.  We will wait for the results of this survey before changing anything in order to improve accuracy.

Regards,
Tracy and Mike


1. Diameter of your powder chamber?         .500”

2. Depth of your powder chamber?      .500”  (1.355” incl. ball seat)

3. Location of vent in chamber?             .100” above bottom of chamber

4. Diameter of  bore (ball) ?               1.730”

5. Do you get reliable ignition at 30 yards?          No

6. What is your 30 yard charge? (Weight and Grade)   9.4grs.  FFFg

7. Does your 30 yard load cover the fuse entirely?       No

8. What is the maximum capacity of your chamber?   32grs.

[lance]

gosh, i shot two mortars, so bear with me. the first round was my Confederate mortar that i made on my poor little lathe. never had any ignition problems with it, and did  good with it on Walk the Walk. now when Tim came over, i used the Dictator and planned to use another style of black mortar, but never shot it. you can see it next to the Dictator in the walk pics. anyway, everything was very damp when Tim came over. we were next to the creek, very humid and fog coming in. the Dictator was wet inside and out, we couldn't even get BBQ lighters to work. but, we held the contest anyway, and had great fun too. i never made an effort to get the water out or dry things off, hey we were in combat and didn't have time. shot poorly, but shot every time. my fuse is 2mm viscoe, burns hot too. i was stubborn and stuck with fffg for both rounds. I can shoot balls in a straight line, even though wet and they fall different lenghts, they are straight. Tim saw me use "my" aiming stake and 15' string.............I will add: that i think for short ranges the Dictator needs fg to cover the fuse. i guess i'll find out playing BINGO!!!     C- is Confederate      D- is Dictator

1. Diameter of your powder chamber? C-5/8"   D-3/4"

2. Depth of your powder chamber? C-2.10" VERY DEEP, I KNOW.    D-1.25"

3. Location of vent in chamber?C- bottom      D-1/8" above

4. Diameter of  bore (ball) ?    C- 1.704"       D-1.715"

5.  Do you get reliable ignition at 30 yards?C- heck yes!  D-even wet too!

6. What is your 30 yard charge? (Weight and Grade)   C- 13g fffg goex     D-9g fffg goex  Please figure that out for me, it's driving me crazy!!!

7.  Does your 30 yard load cover the fuse entirely?     C-yes          D-no!!!

8. What is the maximum capacity of your chamber?  C- never filled it?    D-140g
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