Ball milling of the reactants before ignition in furnace caused a decrease in the ignition temperature and this made the VCS reaction possible under argon atmosphere. 15 h of milling decreased ignition temperature from 758 °C to 224 °C. For 7.5 h of milling it was 282 °C, and using excess amounts of Mg and B2O3 increased the ignition temperature from 282 °C to 314 °C.