On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 02:18:17 -0400,
rhys wrote:
On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 23:46:38 GMT, "Steve Schwartz"
wrote:

I have a little flare pistol on my boat (in New York State, Lake Ontario). I believe this is required by US Coast Guard.
Yep, same here, depending on the boat size. Probably Orion brand.

I was told by West Marine that we cannot take these to Canada as they
are "weapons."

Well, maybe they can be "weapons", but so can my fid if I jam it in an
eye socket. I am not aware that Canada gives a damn about flare
pistols...as long as it IS a flare pistol (plasticy orange things) and
not a sawed-off shotgun...which could be conceivably USED as a flare
pistol. G


Our flare pistol (well, one, we have a backup also) is an old USN issue
from WWII era, and while I don't think I'd want to be the one pulling
the trigger, (the breach looks none too secure for the higher pressures
of a 12ga shell) It *will* chamber, and I presume, would fire.

Is this true? Can this pistol be used as a weapon?

It was in the movie "Dead Calm", but I won't spoil the ending for you.
Sure, why not? Those shells are powerful enough to get to a couple of
hundred feet up, so I bet getting one in the nads at close range would
compromise fatherhood and lead to a blinding headache. Also, I recall
that older flare pistols were metal and generally heavier. They might
be able to take a real 12-gauge shotgun shell, and thus would make a
plausible weapon. Lousy aim, though.


Can it shoot regular shot gun shells?

Maybe once out of an Orion flare pistol, before it melted, blew apart
or fell to pieces. The "standard" modern flare gun is "light-duty"
only. A shotgun shell is more powerful by far than a flare shell. They
are, however, the same size, I believe.




Actually, flares of this type, are shorter than std 12ga shells, and
thus, most of the plastic doodads won't chamber a 12ga shell. Then this
company in Mexico (I think) started making mini length 12ga shells...

But the plastic flare projectors would last just long enough to blow up
in your hand. No way could the barrel or breech contain that pressure
level.

snip


--
Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock
To err is human...to really foul up requires the root password.