Thundermugs in Spain-Traditional useage demonstrated

[cannonmn]

How many bangs do you count?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9MuOr495o

[Double D]

Neat!  Did you notice that some fell over and fired side ways and at least one blew apart.   

[cannonmn]

least one blew apart.   

I can't see that, how do you tell, what to look for, what time?

[Double D]

When the fired the smoke blast is side ways.  Not the blast out the vent,  the major blast goes side ways.  The first one is small at about 33 seconds another at 40 seconds. Something is blown and skips across the ground at 49 second. At 58 second one either blows up or parts of wad go flying.  The one at 1:23 might be a blow up also. You can see it bouncing of the building.  Might just be wads but sure looks like a blow up, especially that last one.   The sideways blasts come at the start and looked like smaller thunder mugs.  The later big ones looked okay other than the two possible blow ups...

Looks like fun otherwise!!

[Victor3]

 Yikes. Look at that guy right in the middle of it. I'd stick with nice safe anvil shooting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9isw0fKXAE

[DoktorD]

I'd stick with nice safe anvil shooting

 

Now THATS too close for comfort!!

Mat

[cannonmn]

I have to think if they had thundermugs blowing up and throwing metal, the local authorities wouldn't permit any more firing.  There's lots of smoke and I'm hard pressed to see anything well enough to identifiy whether a piece had fired normally or not.  I've never heard of a thundermug blowing up either for that matter.  People get burned and eyes get injured, vents burn out to enormous size with continued use, but blowing up, never heard of it.  Not to say it doesn't happen, I just have never heard of one such incident.

[Spuddy]

Are the large ones at the end comparable to the large mug that Dom makes?

[Terry C.]

Very timely topic. 

[RocklockI]

Sorry if this has been discussed B4 , but thunder mugs look to me an awfull lot like the chambers for old breechloaders .

Just wondering ?

[cannonmn]

but thunder mugs look to me an awfull lot like the chambers for old breechloaders .

The old chambers left around from obsolete early breechloaders were what was first used as thundermugs.  Then as they wore out, specialized devices were made with little improvements like powder pans and wide bases.

I covered all that in my article on thundermugs in The Artilleryman ca. 1986.  I'm guessing it is out of copyright now if anyone wants to scan it and put it on web, but check on that legality first, I'm not smart enough to know exactly how all that works.

[dan610324]

holy sch!!!t

[Blaster]

How many bangs do you count?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9MuOr495o

Anyone get a good accurate count of the number of bangs?

[Cat Whisperer]

almost half a gazillion.

[Blaster]

almost half a gazillion.

You Sir have just won an authentic (imitation) Cuban cigar as that's the same count I came up with.

[Cat Whisperer]

Why do I feel like a duck should come down on a string from the top of the screen and Groucho tooting the duck call?

[Double D]

Why do I feel like a duck should come down on a string from the top of the screen and Groucho tooting the duck call?

Tim,

I gotta wonder how many people who visit this board are wondering what the heck you are talking about.  I'd like to say, "I don't" ...but I do.  Then I am a geezer.   

[cannonmn]

Aside from the gazillions of ducks smoking cigars, back to thundermugs for a moment:

I was impressed by the sound on that video.  Admittedly the sound was reflected by the row of buildings, where if you had done it in open space it wouldn't be nearly as impressive.  Even so, looking at the muzzle blasts and the sound, it looked to me as if the folks who put that on had a lot of practice.  They knew how to load the devices to maximize the blast.  I suspect they have optimized the type of black powder they use, and further suspect it is fairly fine stuff, maybe FFFG or FFG.  I suspect they also use some stout wadding.  Remember DD wrote he saw stuff falling or bouncing off walls.  Those things may be wooden sabots used as waddiing.  I'd guess a wooden sabot with some flour or dry dirt on top of it would help get most of the powder burned in those short tubes.

If anyone has any contacts with Spaniards who know exactly what's done, let us know.

Maybe someone who speaks Spanish can search the web for the word (starts with "M") they used for thundermug, and hopefully find a description of how they load them.

[Double D]

http://www.web-valencia.com/valencia-fallas-mascletaeng.htm

[cannonmn]

Thanks for the link.  That setup relies mostly on "normal" fireworks, it looks like, rather than thunder mugs as we know them.  One photo of that series, no. 30 (I don't know how to link it here) shows some kind of hardware near the end of the fenced-off area, but I can't tell what it is.  The white things are probably sandbags to keep them from tipping over.  From the text, it seems like the mortars they refer to are used to launch firecrackers vertically.

[Double D]

The video title gives it away "mascleta oldstyle"

http://www.coastrider.net/editions/237/news_main.htm
A ‘mascleta’ for those who have not experienced one before is a display of coordinated noise and explosions, no pretty coloured fireworks here just an amazing barrage of concussive effects.

[Double D]

Here's Mascleta - Fallas 2007 new style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtzJcQd-g5M

If you like fireworks new style is interesting..

If you like cannons, well the thundermugs are better, hands down.
 

[GGaskill]

Mascleta - Fallas 2007

While there were a lot of air bursts in this event, it appeared that sound (and maybe smoke) was by far the primary goal of the presenters.  There must have been thousands of explosions in that exhibitition.

[cannonmn]

My first try at this post went "poof" so there must have been a no-no word in it, but if so I can't figger out what that was.

What I was trying to say was that I've gotten intrigued by this thundermug-string-firing practiced in Spain, and as you might guess, some day I'm a-gonna do it on a larger scale than I have.  We did one video with thundermugs fired rapidly but that was very lame compared to what I see on the videos.

I could see myself firing maybe 50 mortars in rapid sequence, and I'd use electric ignition since I'm not interested in developing quickmatch on a large scale.  The issue of making that number of mortars gets a lot easier when you allow electric ignition since that is usually done via a wire down the muzzle, so you don't need a vent of any kind.  I'm going to look into simple mortars that wouldn't work for firing a ball but would be fine for firing blanks which have much less internal pressure on firing.  Maybe sometime this summer when things slow down a little, I'll get it all together.

[Double D]

I have looked at the old style video several times now and the more I look, the more I think those aren't thundermugs, they are wrapped charges or or simple paper mortar tubes...that would explain those that appear to detonate...John I think we need to do some further research.  Want to stop by Cut Bank in your Lear jet and we'll pop over to Valencia and check it out.

[cannonmn]

DD, just did some further research, however little, and here's the result.  Look at the original video of "old style" at about time 1:54 and you will see all the mugs on the near end, that can be seen through the smoke, are still standing, so they are metal thundermugs, not firecrackers.  The other clue is that there are so many different sizes of devices lined up.  In my humble opinion anyway, everything shown in this video is a metal thundermug.  That's also why the smoke goes pretty much straight up in a cone shape.  If it were some kind of firecracker, the smoke would go out in all directions except down.

[Double D]

John,

I still say we need to go check it out ourselves...we could go on the GBO expense account, but I understand Graybeard has transferred all discretionary funds into GBO Stimulus program...talk about pork...he funded a program so Mrs Graybeard can buy hamhocks and beans so they can eat this week.

Seriously John that might be a neat thing to go see.

[cannonmn]

 

might be a neat thing to go see.

I fully agree but it would be more economical to see it in VA than in Spain.  I tellya before the summer's over I'll have a 50-mortar array set up to fire electrically.  I have the same feeling about this as I had when I first found out about anvil shooting, "I gotta do that."  So give me a couple of months and it'll happen.

[Cat Whisperer]

My first try at this post went "poof" so there must have been a no-no word in it, but if so I can't figger out what that was.
....

I've had two or three disappear in the last couple of weeks!   

[Blaster]

Here's Mascleta - Fallas 2007 new style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtzJcQd-g5M

If you like fireworks new style is interesting..
If you like cannons, well the thundermugs are better, hands down.

DD, many many thanks for posting that.    If this same display were available to attend here in the States, I'd drive anywhere in the USA just to experience it.  I love the feel of concussions and that has to be the ultimate.  That is the most spectacular that I have seen in my 72 years.
Blaster (yeah OK, maybe I am just a "little" older than you but so what?)