Tap-a-cap

[dogtag]

I've had one for years but only used the caps for
dry firing. Never tried to mix up something to go bang.
Has anyone made live caps with this gizmo ?
If so, how'd you do it ?

[Major Tom]

No one has answers for you Dogtag. Me either. I don't even know what a "Tap-a-cap" is.

[dogtag]

I think you're right Major Tom.
It's for you to make your own percussion caps
from aluminum beverage cans.
It says to make bang material from strike anywhere
matches but I figured there had to be a better way.
Oh well. Thanks anyway.

[Major Tom]

Hey Dogtag, when you were a kid, did you ever make 'rockets' from used CO2 cartridges? We did! All you need is about 7 match books and make the hole in the cartridge a little larger to accept the match heads. Use a scissors and cut off the match heads and stuff them in the cartridge. stick a match stick in the hole and light it, then run! They go for hundreds of yards with a big WHOOSH!

[dogtag]

No, but we used to take two bolts and a nut (huge), put match heads
in the middle, toss it into the air. Came down with a bang.
Hooligans.

[Fred Pillot]

I made rocket motors out of CO2 cartridges and made little rockets to put them in. I mixed black powder and sawdust to control the burning. Sometimes they would blow up 40 feet in the air. Other time I would launch them out of a water pipe at a cinder block wall.

[S.A. Boggs]

You guys were pikers, we made hot air balloons out of the wrappings that were used for clothes from the dry cleaners and a glass bottle attached with strips of aluminum foil torn inside, powdered draino and water. This made a great deal of hydrogen and would propel the bag out of sight. If the statue of limitations is over, I will tell you a UFO story from 1969.
Sam

[Dick Hosmer]

We made mortars out of water pipe and what used to be called "double-voice" firecrackers (about the size - IIRC - of a 28ga. shell) with the fuse coming out the side. The first blast would launch the firecracker to tree-top height where the second explosion would occur. Scared the s**t out of some kids who thought they would take over our tree-house! Ah, the good old days!

[PhillipM]

You guys were pikers, we made hot air balloons out of the wrappings that were used for clothes from the dry cleaners and a glass bottle attached with strips of aluminum foil torn inside, powdered draino and water. This made a great deal of hydrogen and would propel the bag out of sight. If the statue of limitations is over, I will tell you a UFO story from 1969.
Sam

So that's what my dad was trying to do to my Goodyear blimp toy in the 70's. I remember the drano, he made a foaming mess in the backyard. Credit to pop for trying to get his kids blimp to fly.

[JB White]

We used a scratch awl to open the end of CO2 cartridges. Folded piece of paper allowed us to trickle about a 1/4 inch of Unique (stolen from under a friends Dads workbench) into the thing and a waterproof rocket fuse plugged the hole. A bit of candle wax made sure it didn't come out.

Tossing them down the alley on the 4th they went off like Silver Salutes/1/4 sticks. Not until later when we went to look did we see the shrapnel holes in the garage doors and anti-freeze running out from one of them. I don't think any of us have ever been down that block again.