Quarter stick

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A quarter stick can hold 20 grams of flash powder, more or less. All similar modern-day large 'M' firecrackers containing more than 50 mg of powder are in fact illegal bootlegs, with no standards for either names, powder content, or powder composition, so an exact definition is hard to pin down. They are generally 3.5 inches long and 1 in diameter. Colors may vary. Some proclaim that Quarter sticks and M-80s are the exact same which is incorrect, as M-80s had use in the past as military simulators which were made to exacting specifications. Some even say an M-80 is equivalent in explosive power to 1/4 of a stick of dynamite; nothing more than fiction. In fact, a classic M-80 contains three grams of flash powder, while a quarter of a stick of dynamite would contain 35 grams of nitroglycerine. Furthermore, nitroglycerine is a high explosive, while the flash powder used in flashcrackers does not function as a high explosive, although it is classified as such by the BATF. Despite this, a "quarter stick" is still powerful enough to mangle a human limb if it explodes nearby. Explosive devices containing more than 50 milligrams of flash powder are illegal to manufacture, use, or possess in the United States without a license from the BATF.

• Picture of 1/4 Stick on Right.

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[edit] Articles inaccurately referring to large flashcrackers as equivalent to dynamite

• Commonwealth vs. Andrew J. Hammond, Third
• Four arrested in cocaine bust in Breck
• Lucky's Story
• Jury Finds Man Innocent in Bombing
• Minor traffic violation leads to dynamite, cocaine discovery
• Cops arrest men they say were filming bridge