50AE

In this case you are right. If the composition contains just a few grams of KClO3, it may need a prime.
The truth is, all my chlorate star mixtures have the chlorates as the dominant oxidizer, so I thought it that way.

For me, chlorate is both easy and inexpensive to make, I can compare it to the cost of my potassium nitrate. Perchlorate instead, costs me 20 euros per kg.
Chlorates are cheaper than perchlorates. But they are maybe harder to get hold of.

Cheers, 50AE

Hi and welcome to the forum. There is a wealth of info on here if you search and some very experienced people to back it up.

Barium chlorate will make some of the best green's and make ideal roman candle stars as they ignite easily, give a great green and have a large flame so look big in the sky However!!!! Did you know that Barium chlorate is very unstable and has caused many accidents in history?! Green chlorate stars can and do spontaneously ignite! Not something I'd want hanging around in my house.

I'll say this before someone else does. Fantastic effects can be made from the three main ingredients of gunpowder. Have you seen tiger tail stars? add a little aluminium powder and make streamers, a bit of sodium bicarbonate from the supermarket and you've got glitter too.

I wish you well in your pyro activities, but I think you'll find that the general consensus it to stay well away from chlorates or you activities could be very short lived!

Good luck and stay safe.



Maxman

Thanks

Well, of course I know that chlorates have done incidents before. And maybe you know that in the past, many "unsafe" compositions were used. Chlorates were mixed with Sb2S3, realgar, sulfur... Chlorate stars were primed with black powder... Chlorate burst charge was used with sulfur containing stars and etc...
What I know also, is that today the Maltese continue to use these dangerous combinations, which results in an "incident" per year.

I cannot aggree that all chlorate mixtures are so evil. H3 for example, is proven to be weakly sensitive to shock and friction. So why should a star composition containing barium chlorate and shellac be so dangerous.
I can't see a problem, after I've done isolating my working area from incompatibilities and static electricity.

I want to let you know that I'm not a beginner, I've read many info about chlorates and I know its properties. And if I missed something, I'll gladly read it as well.

I've made stars from the free components of gun powder and I can't deny, they're beautiful ! Glitters, flitters, strobes, spider stars, tigertails...I prefer them than most of the colored star compositions that exist But I'd want some color too, it's not useless to make some different stars.