12 Gauge Safety Flares
- Thread starter Nobunaga
- Start date
I assume you saw the Orion 12g marine flare pistol, stupid little plastic orange thing they sell at Wal-Mart. The shells that come with it are 12gx2" shells and can be used in any normal 12g shotgun, although they usually don't cycle very well in repeating guns with tube magazines. I also wouldn't fire them out of long, choked barrels for fear of getting one stuck and having the heat from the flare screw up the tempering of the barrel. I don't know if it would actually do that, but I wouldn't try it.
As far as I know, 12ga flares only meant to be fired from a flare gun. I would not try to fire a 12ga flare from a shot gun. You could probably chamber it, probably fire it, but I would venture to say that it could damage the barrel. Likewise, I would not attempt to fire a 12ga 00 buck from my flare gun. 
No, I don't think it would damage the barrel unless it got stuck. I have had a rather ecciting experience with those flares and can tell you from first hand experience that they don't light up until well after the've left the barrel. Secondly, I would think it would be fine to fire them out of my 20" cylinder-bore 870, but I wouldn't try it with my 26" fixed choke Baikal SxS. Kinda like those .22lr Colibri rounds with no powder, they seem to work okay in a 16" carbine, but I wouldn't fire them out of my 24" Mossberg rifle for fear of getting the bullet stuck in the barrel. Difference is, .22 Colibris don't have 6 seconds of burning road flare stuff in them. I'm affraid that getting one of those flares stuck in a long shotgun barrel and having it burn like that would screw up the temper of the steel, and I don't think that's covered by my EAA waranty (haha, get it? EAA waranty!!! That's a killer.) As far as repeating guns go, they seem to cycle okay in my 870, but they don't eject with much force and stovepipe about one in five trys.
By the way, that is the same stuff as those red road flares that look like dynamite sticks. How can I tell? Number one, ever smelt a road flare before? The 12g flares smell exactly the same. Nine months and a few hundred bottles of Fabreez still haven't gotten that burnt smell out of my bedroom. Number two, look at one of those road flares some time, the older ones say Olin on them, the newer ones say Orion. Then look at one of those orange flare pistols. The older ones say Olin, the newer ones say Orion. Mine says Orion on it, bought it in January. Anyway, it's the same company, Orion Safety Products. And those flares aren't cheap by any means, coming in packs of three for $15.
Looking at their website right now, they have a new version of the 12g flare that's more powerful: 500ft peek altitude with a 7 second burn. They still fit the 12gx2" chamber on the flare pistol, but the're longer (bore-fitting tube extending from the front of the shell.) Actually they look like 3.25"-3.5", which means you could only use them in break-action guns or 3.5" chambered repeating guns.
Final thought: Aguila minishells will chamber in an Olin/Orion flare pistol. Bad idea. No, this one I do not know this one from experience, but God help the moron who does.
By the way, that is the same stuff as those red road flares that look like dynamite sticks. How can I tell? Number one, ever smelt a road flare before? The 12g flares smell exactly the same. Nine months and a few hundred bottles of Fabreez still haven't gotten that burnt smell out of my bedroom. Number two, look at one of those road flares some time, the older ones say Olin on them, the newer ones say Orion. Then look at one of those orange flare pistols. The older ones say Olin, the newer ones say Orion. Mine says Orion on it, bought it in January. Anyway, it's the same company, Orion Safety Products. And those flares aren't cheap by any means, coming in packs of three for $15.
Looking at their website right now, they have a new version of the 12g flare that's more powerful: 500ft peek altitude with a 7 second burn. They still fit the 12gx2" chamber on the flare pistol, but the're longer (bore-fitting tube extending from the front of the shell.) Actually they look like 3.25"-3.5", which means you could only use them in break-action guns or 3.5" chambered repeating guns.
Final thought: Aguila minishells will chamber in an Olin/Orion flare pistol. Bad idea. No, this one I do not know this one from experience, but God help the moron who does.
Capt. Charlie
Moderator Emeritus
Umm.....
Seriously, I have one of those orange flare gun thingys on my boat, along with marine flares and a couple of orange military smoke grenades. Hey, it's an old boat!
If you can find a web site for them (I couldn't), check with Blammo Ammo. They make every conceivable kind of shotgun round, everything from flame throwers to flash/bangs to flares, but they are expensive.
There has just GOT to be one hellofa good story behind that!
Seriously, I have one of those orange flare gun thingys on my boat, along with marine flares and a couple of orange military smoke grenades. Hey, it's an old boat!
If you can find a web site for them (I couldn't), check with Blammo Ammo. They make every conceivable kind of shotgun round, everything from flame throwers to flash/bangs to flares, but they are expensive.
Not really, just lots of me being stupid and breaking all kinds of safety rules. This happened few days after I bought the pistol, which was a few days after I turned 18 (this last January.) Dumbness #1: loaded it, with no real reason to do so, and left it that way. Dumbness #2: came back later and picked it up and, after making sure not to check if it was loaded or not, attemped the silent-cocking method. You know, pull trigger, thumb hammer back, release trigger, ease hammer forward. Well, my thumb sliped off the hammer and the gun went BANG. You remember in Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Holy Grail when that bullet was ricocheting around inside of that tank? That is exactly how a balistic flare acts when bouncing back and forth inside of a 15x15ft room. Now, at this exact moment my light burnt out. It wasn't hit by the flare, but I think it was just pretty old and the report from the gun finally killed the filament. Hmm, fooling with a gun, loud BANG and the lights suddenly going out, totally disorentation and confusion: I thought I just became a Darwin Award nominee. I think I finally realized that I wan't dead when the flare landed on the carpet right between my feet and lit up. SCARED THE LIVING EVERYTHING out of me to the point that I grew wings and flew. I flew, faster than the speed of light, halfway across the room and landed in a rather awkward possision on the other side of my bed. There was this distinct orange glow and lots of smoke and I thought to myself "Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid. Wait, the package said it only burns for 6 seconds right? *sniff sniff* Hey, these are made of the same stuff as road flares...Phew, it went out. Wait, something's still wrong...
...My carpet is on fire." Flew back over the bed, stomped the flame out, opened my window, and stuffed a blanket against the bottom of my door. The last thing I needed was for my Dad to smell the smoke. Oh, did I forget to mention this is my parents' house? My Mom was away on business and my Dad was sleeping (11:00pm this happened at.) Luckly my Dad is a very sound sleeper and the gun report didn't wake him up, but I knew he would smell the smoke if/when he got up to use the restroom. I took about an hour and a half for the smoke to clear/settle and I just lay there the whole time, suffocating in smoke, thinking about what I had done wrong and what the consequences could have been. The flare almost went all the way into the wall. I don't think I need to explain what that would have done. After my Dad went to work in the morning I proceded to cut the 2x2ft piece of burnt carpet out of my floor and replace it with a piece from the closet. Anyway, I use Fabreez in there weekly and you can still kinda smell the flare. My parents still don't know this happened.
I am extreemly lucky that very little bad came of this. I will never ignore firearm safety rules again. As they say,
COMPLACENCY KILLS!!!
I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had experiencing it.
--Caspianjesuschristishouldbedeadorinjail Sea Monster