ssingh wrote:Sight black spay-can is available on amazon.com :
I bought similar spay-can from Sydney today but haven't used it yet. But I think it would solve the purpose.
Caution on the sight black one of my highpower buddies started to see rust on his sight because the spray wiped any oil off and doesn't provide protection in humid climates.
I've used sight black but find the soot method gives a better result.
Dave
Certified Safety Instructor: Rifle & Pistol
They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
~ Ben Franklin
If you shoot Blackpowder, you don't need to blacken your sights...... a couple of shots the sights are black, the bench is black, your clothes are black, everthing is covered in smoke.
Camphor may be mothballs down under. In this US, mothballs are paradichlorobenzene, which I would strongly recommend not trying to burn.
The Ray-Vin SuperSmoker ( http://www.sbsdistributing.com/index.ph ... uperSmoker ) uses calcium carbide (usually just called "carbide") in a chamber into which is squirted a little bit of water. There is a spontaneous reaction which produces calcium hydroxide and acetylene gas which exits a small nozzle at the top. Cutting torches mix acetylene with oxygen, but when it burns in air it doesn't get nearly as hot and produces a very sooty flame. BTW, carbide is the stuff that is used in miner's helmet lamps - some years ago I was in Andamooka and they were still using that kind of helmet lamp in the opal mines there. I've been using a SuperSmoker for years without problems once I got used to the drill.
Roger
So you just have to buy replacement calcium carbide. I didnt see it for sale on the website?
Carbide is available on their site, but they won't ship it internationally - that page might be blocked - so you will have to find it locally. I found this on eBay.au and it might work: http://tinyurl.com/nqtcf45
Or burn camphor, masking tape or a sooty candle - just don't try to burn paradichlorobenzene.
They may not sell it mail order because of shipping issues. Calcium carbide s considered hazardous material. It's getting harder to find in the US, but it used to be carried by the better hiking & camping supply places for headlamps. My dad had a carbide headlamp, and the thing was amazingly bright.
It's might be a little overly energetic, but one possible option is to get a tube of "Bangsite". This is crushed calcium carbide, and is used in "carbide cannons":
This is also getting harder to find, but really good old fashioned toy stores used to sell the cannons, and of course, the Bangsite fuel to go with them.
I sent an email to someone selling the supersmoker to see if they can get the carbide in aus. I already use Camphor when shooting air and free pistol. This is fine because I only need it at the start of the match. Id also like to be able to use it for shooting different things where I need to apply it not just at the start of a match so the supersmoker could just be in my gear
Both Bangsite and granular carbide are widely available on the web, at least in this country - eBay has quite a few offerings. The Bangsite, tho', is almost a powder and I'm not sure that would work with the SuperSmoker. It would probably load up the cotton wad that filters the gas upstream from the nozzle.
To give you an idea of the granule size, this I what I recently bought from RayVin:
I must be missing something important. With candles and/or masking tape being so easy to find and so inexpensive, why do people go looking for more complications?
william wrote:I must be missing something important. With candles and/or masking tape being so easy to find and so inexpensive, why do people go looking for more complications?
Because masking tape and candles are crap. They are very slow to get a decent amount of black on the sights and if its windy they have Buckleys hope of doing anything. I have tried them plenty of times when I have run out of camphor. Even Camphor which puts out probably 10 times more smoke than a candel or tape isnt great in the wind because it isnt a directional flame
Old air pellet tin, camphor tablet, book of matches that fits inside tin and you're away laughing! Works in hot or cold weather, doesn't melt in the heat of summer, cheap as chips, lasts for years, not pressurised so can be taken on air plane and smells good. Sorry to our Murican friends, down-under we like simplicity ;-)
Ok I guess I will have to clarrify a bit more. All of the cheap options are a non directional flame that requires you to hold the sight above the flame assuming the wind isnt blowing the flame sideways. I would also like to be able to use it for shooting general purpose machine gun matches. Sometimes it would be good to blacken the sights after the match has stated. I dont have the option to get out a tin or masking tape and hold the weapon upside and chase the flame around.
I guess regarding issf sights we like a different amount of sight black because I have found the tape or candles terribly slow.
I think a ray vin supersmoker would give me the flexibility I need
David M wrote:If you shoot Blackpowder, you don't need to blacken your sights...... a couple of shots the sights are black, the bench is black, your clothes are black, everthing is covered in smoke.
The naked flame from burning camphor close to the black powder can make things a lot more exciting!
