Carbide lamps

M

Montana Pete

Guest
I remember seeing the use of carbide lamps to blacken rifle sights before a match. Military teams shooting the old "A" course would always blacken their sights with these lamps before going to the line.

These of course are used strictly with iron sights, such as Lyman receiver sights and front blades.

Does anyone know a supplier who still sells these lamps?

One would also have to be able to purchase some calcium carbide crystals to use to fuel the lamp. Are calcium carbide crystals covered by the smokeless powder shipping laws, thus requiring about a $22 surcharge for "hazardous cargo" or whatever?

Are there other products out there today, designed to do the same thing, such as spray cans of carbon dust or something?

This may not be the best place to ask, since I realize that bench rest shooters do not generally use the old traditional iron sights.

Thanks in advance--
 
a web search shows that a ray vin has what you want but i cant open the web site I just typed in carbide sight smoker
Larry sivils
 
Ray's site works fine - just logged on to it. http://www.ray-vin.com/
Ray and Ruby also sell carbide.

Yes, there are aerosol sprays that do the same thing. They are bulky, and messy if they leak.

Alternatives include using butane lighters, or lighting plastic spoons.

For more discussions on shooting highpower rifle (99.9% iron sighted), try the board at http://www.nationalmatch.us . Membership is required to read or post, but it is free.

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If you have a locale supplier of acetylene gas, you can get the carbide crystals from them. that what they make the gas from. This is how I got my last batch.
 
About a year ago i got a carbide lamp and a 1# can of carbide off e-bay Just do a search on ebay -something should come up. joe :)
 
Common Birthday candles work just as good and are like .02 a peice or less. A box should last a couple years. Or if your UP in YEARS just tak'em off next years B-Cake:D
 
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Yes, but..

Substituting anything for "carbide", as it's referred to in these parts, would knock you outta some real cool and dangerous stuff you can do with it. As some might recall, I had quite a bit of fun blasting a bird seed thieving squirrel. A Rube Goldberg use of "carbide" indeed.

birdfeeder.jpg
 
Plain old masking tape works great. Fold a few pieces about 6 inches long so they won't stick together and a lighter. Puts out great smoke but stinks a little. Jon
 
I have been using this one for bullseye pistol since high school(1970). This works much better than the lamp because there is no reflector to get in the way and the small size allows you to use just one carbide rock per lighting. I got it from Gil Hebard, don't know if they still carry them, or if the manufacturer is still around. As you can see there is no phone number on the paperwork, only the address. I think the one offered by ray-vin would be the closest and a good choice. YMMV

DSC01454.jpg
 
and you dont use water just a lump of carbide and an a spit ball//

larry sivils
 
RayVin's carbide smoker is made of delrin with an 'O'ring sealed water chamber. It isn't much bigger than the old aluminum one in the photo posted above, and is one of the neatest little gadgets I've ever used.

Mine's been gathering dust since I gave up shooting service rifles, but there are too many memories (good & bad) of using it while chasing leg points to let me sell it.
 
Wilbur said:
Substituting anything for "carbide", as it's referred to in these parts, would knock you outta some real cool and dangerous stuff you can do with it. As some might recall, I had quite a bit of fun blasting a bird seed thieving squirrel. A Rube Goldberg use of "carbide" indeed.

birdfeeder.jpg
Click to expand...

When I was eleven or twelve ( thirty years ago ) we would make tennis ball cannons with tin cans and use calcium carbide as the fuel. Great fun. Then we started to fill balloons with the gas and light the tied off end. Makes the coolest black mushroom cloud! It was the perfect summer until one off the balloons went off as I was leaned over it to light it. I lost all my eyebrows, eyelashes, as well as a lot of hair and I had one hell of a "sunburn". Scared the hell out of me, not being able to see for five minutes. Saddest part was not being able to blow up gophers any more when my folks bannished me from carbide....play safe.
 
Boys, at about the age of eleven and twelve are so ingenious with fireworks, potato guns, gunpowder, match heads, dry ice, you name it, we tried it. :eek: It's a thousand wonders that any one of us grew up with all our eyes, fingers, and toes intact. We didn't have any carbide to play with and no telling what we might have done if we had found some dynamite somewhere. Oh,, those were the days, but in spite of all our adventures, none of us grew up to be terrorists. :D

Later

Gene Beggs
 
din o mite

i found a case as a kid. yep - it did.

my folks were coal miners. i have grandads carbide light. dads light too. they still work.
 
Ray

ray porter said:
i found a case as a kid. yep - it did.

my folks were coal miners. i have grandads carbide light. dads light too. they still work.
Click to expand...

I bet that was a good time. Imagine this--me in charge of the dynamite inventory in the late 60's early 70's.;)

We used to use those carbide lites at nite to walk by when out coon huntin. Always had to have a piece of small wire to clean out the hole where the gas came out.

Dave
 
Why wouldn't flat black paint work? Brushed or sprayed on it works fine for me.
 
Sight Black

I don't know if it's still available, but it came in small spray cans and we got them at the gun shops. Otherwise, the smoke from a high sulpher match will blacken irons.
 
Fred J said:
I don't know if it's still available, but it came in small spray cans and we got them at the gun shops. Otherwise, the smoke from a high sulpher match will blacken irons.
Click to expand...

Birchwood Casey used to make that. I also saw a can of Remington Sight Black at the match this past Saturday.

Paint is really too thick and it can't easily be removed and refreshed like soot can.
 
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