Tea Bags as Paper Cartridges

Boolitcaster

Boolitcaster

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I have been playing around the last few weeks, trying to make paper cartridges for a Westly Richards Monkey Tail. Nitrating various papers left less than optimal results and I have finally moved onto recycling used tea bags.

They work really well, but are very fragile necessitating storage and handling in a protective wrapper. Sorry for my bad photography.
A thread is tied in one of the grease grooves to prevent powder migrating past the bullet and also to secure the bullet. I install a lubed oversize wad after loading the cartridge to minimize the possibility of the powder being contaminated by the lube.

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Craft time in this household is every day.;)
 
By nitrating I am assuming you mean soaking in Potassium Nitrate, perhaps soaking in Nitric Acid would work better.
If the paper is largely cellulose the result is flash paper.
Haven't tried it yet,do so at your own risk.
 
Yes, I was using potassium nitrate.
I am sure that nitric acid would have worked great, but I did not feel comfortable making it as there are some safety (and legal) concerns related to it's manufacture.
For that matter, getting even a little potassium nitrate was difficult enough.
 
"...Nitrating various papers..." Isn't required. Regular copier paper will do. Any paper will be blown out along with the bullet.
 
I've seen some guys on youtube using rolling papers. I was thinking of trying tissue paper, the type you would put a gift in before putting it in a bag.
 
Or cotton rag paper called Cotton Bond. It is the stuff of the original paper cartridges. There are too many chemicals in modern paper to get an even and sure burn.
 
You'l get odd looks, but head to the nearest "head" shop or places that sell bongs, tell the man you're looking to roll some big fat doobies. They'l have just what you need. The paper burns clean and already has a glue strip on the side.

Be careful if you take any Grateful Dead fans out for a day of shooting, man could loose a tooth or mustache that way.
 
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I am a fan of using Dressmakers Pattern Paper for wrapping paper patched bullets. By nitrating it, it is burned away upon firing, and it has a very good strength and durability. Cheap patterns can be found at yard sales.
 
There's a guy in one of the yahoo black powder groups I'm on that uses cheap dollar store wax paper he claims it works better than anything else he's ever used.
 
I shot a monkey tail briefly; used a cast slug, loose powder and a base wad punched out of a 1/2 thickness prelubed muzzle loading shotgun wad. That combination worked well and to my surprise there was no gas leakage. A word of caution on the paper cartridges. This particular gun had to be sleeved because it had two prominent bulges out near the muzzle of the gun. My best guess is that some of the paper from a previous shot had remained in the barrel resulting in pressure rings.

In reply to the poster who suggested using nitric acid to nitrate paper, that is a definite no go. Unless I am badly mistaken, paper is basically cellulose and nitrating it with nitric acid would probably convert it to nitro cellulose which is the base of smokeless powder. it is also exceedingly fast burning and not used by itself in ammunition because its burn rate is too fast

cheers mooncoon
 
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