Mortar shells aren’t usually illegal in my State. Although they’re covered with warnings about tip-over and not lighting them while standing over them, and not letting children light them, and not lighting the shells outside of a properly positioned and braced tube.
Basically the lifting charges on those mortar shells are about as powerful as an M80 firecracker. Sometimes even more powerful, depending on the size of the shell and the altitude it’s supposed to detonate at.
