Shotgun shell match case

[Goose]

I found some used shotgun shells while wandering last week, made a couple of match safes, nearly blew myself up! Just a warning I tried to overfill the case and when I pushed the lid on the matches ignited and went with a BANG no damage luckily enough, but it might have been different if it had been the screw type match case I have seen on the forum. The end blew off across the room and I needed new underwear but the pressure was released as the end cap blew off, not sure what would have happened if it had been a screw top!
Just a warning so no one else makes same mistake, or is there some way of preventing this?

 

[bambodoggy]

I found some used shotgun shells while wandering last week, made a couple of match safes, nearly blew myself up! Just a warning I tried to overfill the case and when I pushed the lid on the matches ignited and went with a BANG no damage luckily enough, but it might have been different if it had been the screw type match case I have seen on the forum. The end blew off across the room and I needed new underwear but the pressure was released as the end cap blew off, not sure what would have happened if it had been a screw top!
Just a warning so no one else makes same mistake, or is there some way of preventing this?

Use safety matches and glue a little strip of the lighting strip on the inside of the lid... this is what I did with my birchbark match case and I'm sure it'd work the same on the shotgun shell one....

Hope that helps and glad to hear you didn't hurt yourself matey,

Bam.

 

[Schwert]

The first matchcase I ever made was with 2--12g shotshell hulls. Filled one up, forced the other over and hammered it home....until pop, whoosh, wham...Mom yells down the stairs into a gray hovering cloud of smoke..."what is going on"...."Nothing".

Been a huge fan of real matchcases since.

Glad you are safe...my failure was due to the conical shaped filler at the base of the shotshell...matches were forced down that cone by my ill-advised attempts to join the cases with a hammer.

 

[Goose]

I have "reloaded" with fewer matches and it seems ok, I have the heads at the top too(if it will make a difference!) I didnt want to use safety matches as it is to stick in my bag till needed, safety matches and strikers seem to draw damp worse than strike anywhere type.
The kitchen was full of smoke, my wife still asked what the smell was two hours later
But I think Bam was just using it as an excuse to post another pic of his birch bark one!

 

[AJB]

Having been a photographer in a previous existence I have a house full of 35mm film containers, they make brilliant match boxes. Sometimes you can find short matches but it only takes a minute to snip the end of enough to fill one. They are light, as water proof as you need and you won’t cry if you loose one, and as said stick a bit of striker in the lid. Plus, in an emergency, the box itself can be used as tinder!

 

[Ogri the trog]

It strikes me (haha)
That it would be safer to cut the striker off the match-box and store it inside the container with the abrasive facing the outside of it. That way you can keep both matches and striker dry, in the same place, with no risk of match-head and striker coming into contact.

Ogri the trog

 

[AJB]

Yes, I stick the striker on the inside of the lid of a 35mm container and store the matches head down.

On a slightly different topic, I see many pictures of matches, the head of which, seem to be made up of two different materials. A red head with a lighter couloured tip. I think they might be American, any clues?

 

[bambodoggy]

But I think Bam was just using it as an excuse to post another pic of his birch bark one!

Darn it.....you've seen through my sinister plan yet again!!!!!!

 

[Schwert]

I see many pictures of matches, the head of which, seem to be made up of two different materials. A red head with a lighter couloured tip. I think they might be American, any clues

The red/white headed matches are our most common kitchen match. Diamond Match Company. These are commonly available in many states here, but some, sadly, have actually banned them. A 250 count box is usually about a buck.

They have a decent bit of match history on their site:

http://www.diamondbrands.com/matches/matchfacts.html

We once had blue/white or blue/light blue Ohio Blue Tips...but now they are part of Diamond and no longer made.

Canada has RedBirds, but I cannot remember the color scheme.