- The heading was a 40-50mm ball shell (I don't carry callipers)
- It was pasted with strips of kraft paper. Could have been paper or plastic hemis.
- The break was very quiet, just a muffled pop.
- There was no visible flash from the break. Didn't look like flash powder.
- They produced a completely circular ring of stars.
Their performance surprised me, as I was under the impression regular breaks from small shells were very difficult. The break was, however, completely round, every time. A powerful burst charge and weaker casing would presumably help facilitate this. Whilst the quiet burst backed up the weak casing theory, the lack of a bright flash suggested to me that flash powder was not the burst charge. I am doubtful that black powder could produce this quality of break in so small a shell, so I suspect the burst charge may have been H3 (would this, as a chlorate comp, be allowed in consumer fireworks?). My attempt at a similarly sized (40mm) ring shell with a BP burst did not work, although I've only tried once, and I suppose, as a shell, it could have broken side on Has anyone else had any luck with small ring (or other pattern) shells. Post replies in UK Pyrotechnics.
I would definitely recommend these for next year, especially if noise is going to be a concern. These are quiet, but are just as spectacular as a larger rocket, in their own way. They are also much cheaper. Apparently members of the UK Firework Review can read an article on them, but not me. Here is the American Black Cat site (American firework sites make me jealous!), as I couldn't find a UK BC site.
Black Cat "Ring Shell Rocket Pack"
Edited by Phoenix, 04 February 2004 - 09:41 PM.