Heavy sand?

G

gtofan

Guest
What constitutes heavy sand? I have the "playsand" from HD or the "High desert sand" from Lowes....is there a big difference from what Sinclair sells? Not bashing Sinclair but I have some sand on hand and if they are similiar in weight then I will use the play sand.

I also have the black diamond blasting sand from TSC but have that in my front rest.

If I mix the blck diamond with the play sand, will this still be legal for IBS or is it "sand only"?
 
What's

gtofan said:
What constitutes heavy sand? I have the "playsand" from HD or the "High desert sand" from Lowes....is there a big difference from what Sinclair sells? Not bashing Sinclair but I have some sand on hand and if they are similiar in weight then I will use the play sand.

I also have the black diamond blasting sand from TSC but have that in my front rest.

If I mix the blck diamond with the play sand, will this still be legal for IBS or is it "sand only"?
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sold as heavy sand is zirconium silicate. The zirconium gives it the extra weight. --Greg
 
"Black Diamond" foundry sand was legal 3mo ago......unless something's changed.

"Heavy Sand" from Sinclair feels more like lead shot than sand for weight.

al
 
Heavy sand

Tried regular construction yard sand, many yrs ago, and found it to break-down into powder, creating soft spots thoughout the bags. Changed-over to the "heavy sand" from Sinclair, and find it to be much better, and it does not turn to powder over time.
 
Pet Store

Go to your local pet store and ask for the Lizard Sand in the reptile section.It comes in a pound plastic bag and weighs around 25 pounds.
It is man made sand unlike playground sand.
Lynn
 
gtofan ...

gtofan said:
What constitutes heavy sand? I have the "playsand" from HD or the "High desert sand" from Lowes....is there a big difference from what Sinclair sells? Not bashing Sinclair but I have some sand on hand and if they are similiar in weight then I will use the play sand.

I also have the black diamond blasting sand from TSC but have that in my front rest.

If I mix the blck diamond with the play sand, will this still be legal for IBS or is it "sand only"?
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Read this before making any decisions: http://benchrest.netfirms.com/Filling Sandbags.htm. Your play sand and Hart's parakeet gravel may be all you're going to need. Speedy is Speedy Gonzalez.
 
Lynn said:
Is Parakeet Gravel legal in the rules?
Lynn
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Good question as it certainly is not sand ... but I am far from understanding all the nuances of the rules .... so will happily wait for some more clarification from someone a lot smarter ......
 
Round my part of the world, they've been separating rutile from beach sand for the last 50 years. I guess that titanium dioxide harvested in this manner is sand.
 
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John..

John Kielly said:
Round my part of the world, they've been separating rutile from beach sand for the last 50 years. I guess that titanium dioxide harvested in this manner is sand.
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the IBS rule on sand says non metallic. There are trace metals in all sands. Zircon sand is heavier because there is a lot of zirconium silicate in it. I guess you could use other metallic sands since the rules don't define "non-metallic" as it pertains to silica sands. I'd probably stay away from the radioactive types :) --Greg
 
Lynn said:
Is Parakeet Gravel legal in the rules?
Lynn
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The NBRSA rules don't define the size of the sand grain. We call a particle ... sand ... when the grains have diameters between 2mm and 0.05 mm. When the size of a grain is above 2mm it is referred to as gravel, below 0.05 mm it is called silt or clay. We usually say when you can still see the grain with the naked eye it is a sand grain. Go buy a box of Hartz Gravel'n Grit. Pour some on a table and measure it. Hartz Gravel'n Grit with the picture of the Parakeet on the box, which is commonly referred to as parakeet gravel, is technically large pieces of sand since they measure 2mm or less. If there are some larger, throw them away. As Speedy says: The bird gravel (or large pieces of sand) keeps the silica sand from packing itself into a solid as a brick state. I can't image anyone being inducted into the Benchrest Hall of Fame if they were a rule breaker. Can you?
 
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Three Words...

Heavy-Lock Sand

Keep your eyes in the Classifieds to find out more.

...Dave
 
Can I use the type of sand which is found in automobile weighting sand bags with success? I'm not sure what specific type or grain size it is, just looks like a "beach sand" to me.
 
I just removed the play sand from my edgewood gator bag that weighed 5.8 lbs and filled it with zircon from r.w.hart. The bag then weighed 11.4 lbs. The heavy sand from Sinclair is not zircon, I believe it is chromite. I know sinclair is more expensive for their heavy sand than hart is for true zircon which is to be the most expensive.

The article on 6mmbr is a very informitive article.
 
Something else that may be taken into account when selecting sand would be the shape of the grains. Mineral come in many different crystalline forms.

Zircon is described as being "tetragonal crystal system". It looks to me like it would be a good choice if you wanted your bag to stay on the softer end of the scale.

Cubes might also be softer.

Some of the black sand I've ended up with over the years of gold panning is on the course end of a sand scale. It is also made up of many different minerals and shapes. I would figure it for a harder bag.

I was just looking to salvage some sand out of a rear bag. I don't know where I got the sand but it looks like something mixed 50/50. In the bottom of the canning jar I put it in, it looks like black sand. Maybe silicon dioxide settled out. I didn't have to shake it like a gold pan very long until all the coarser and lighter in wight grains floated up (Maybe lizard sand? It's a dark grey.). It kind of looks like a winning combination in a way. The heavy stuff would settle in the bag lowering the center of gravity while the lighter courser material might float up into ears and cram up in them. The stuff looks a little to coarse for a strick definition of sand size though for NBRSA rules.

I think a geologist would use some sort of averaging for grain size if you wanted to lean on the definition a little. I would imagine very few places would have their grain sizes sorted in a way that would allow for geologist to stick to a definition without some sort of averaging to make their maps.

I wonder how Speedy's combination pans out?
 
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glp said:
the IBS rule on sand says non metallic. There are trace metals in all sands. Zircon sand is heavier because there is a lot of zirconium silicate in it. I guess you could use other metallic sands since the rules don't define "non-metallic" as it pertains to silica sands. I'd probably stay away from the radioactive types :) --Greg
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I think you may still be alright as I think some of the metallic sounding things in the sand are minerals in a crystalline form. I think you would have to use some form of smelting to change them into their metallic forms.
 
glp said:
the IBS rule on sand says non metallic. There are trace metals in all sands. Zircon sand is heavier because there is a lot of zirconium silicate in it. I guess you could use other metallic sands since the rules don't define "non-metallic" as it pertains to silica sands. I'd probably stay away from the radioactive types :) --Greg
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Yep definitely non metallic is stated in the rules. Thats why lead shot cannot be used. It might not be a ferromagnetic type of metal but it is metallic. So is Zircon, Titamiun etc. One day someone will wake up to this and ban that sort of sand. I wonder if that were to happen if any records shot on bags using that sort of sand would still stand ?
Andy.
 
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