Chrono Ballistic testing of homemade blackpowder!

[Fly]

Well my chronograft finally came in.My first test was a new homemade black powder I made from eastern cedar charcoal.

I have some more powder made up of black willow & silver maple I plan to
test later in the week.Now remember I said I was not going to corn this powder
just add a binder to hold the grains together.

I tested this powder in my Lyman GPR 54 cal rifle with 60 grains of powder by
weight.I tested it against Goex.I put 60 grains of goex on my gram scale &
it comes out to 4.2 grams.

I then measured out 4.2 grams of home made eastern cedar bp & put in viles.
The results below were shot first with Goex then home made, then goex & so on.

I ran a swab down the bore after each shot.

Goex 60 grains & 4.2 graims by weight. Homemade eastern cedar charcoal

1 shot 977 FPS 1shot 1600 FPS
2 shot 1446 FPS 2shot 1562 FPS
3shot 1400 FPS 3shot 1400 FPS
4Shot 1342 FPS 4 shot1526FPS
5Shot 1423FPS 5 shot 15.23FPS

I plan to test Blackwillow & Silver maple tomorrow if I get time.

Fly[smilie=s:

[Fly]

Let me correct something.I posted the 60 grains weight at 4.2 & it's 3.4.Sorry I had another
brain fade.Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Fly

[nanuk]

so.... the homemade powder outshot GOEX?

what happened with that first shot of GOEX?

[Fly]

so.... the homemade powder outshot GOEX?

what happened with that first shot of GOEX?

Don't know for sure on the first shot.It may have been oil in the barrel
when I cleaned it last & put it away.I think I will fire a test shot first
in this next test & run a patch down the barrel before recording shots.

I'm trying to keep every thing the same as close as I can.This was my first
try with the cedar charcoal & was really happy with the results.I knew it
was very fast by the burn test.

We will see where the silver maple & black willow stack up in the next
test.
Fly:popcorn:

[Fly]

This stuff is crazy.I shot black willow today.I plan to test it again tomorrow.Again today my first shot was way low reading.
I said I would shoot a sample shot before testing (an I did not).For some reason it's is just slower in these two test.So I WILL
tomorrow.Now here is the 5 shots with 3.4 grams of home made black willow.

(1) shot 9920 fps
(2) shot 1329 fps
(3) shot1504 fps
(4) shot 1233 fps
(5) shot 1267 fps

The ticks were eating me up so I quit early.I went & got some spray & hit that area very good to kill those dam things.
I also got a can of off with deet that should help.Man you can't beleave how many ticks there are in these woods.

Any way I plan to shoot one more test with black willow & then silver maple tomorrow & will post back.

Fly

[Omnivore]

Wow. Your first shot came out at nearly ten thousand feet per senond, huh? That's a might fast for a mere firearm. :-)

Anyway, aside from the data entry error; that's pretty cool that you're getting decent performance from home made. Kudos.

[Fly]

Yea thats pretty fast huh?Some times the chrono must blink I guess.I just record what it
said.I really thought black willow would be the fastest.

Fly

[Boz330]

Fly,
How far out are you putting your chrono? BP smoke will screw up your readings if too close. I found that I need to put it much farther out than with smokeless (20+ft). The readings you are getting are impressive albeit the deviations are pretty high if true. Not trying to be critical just suggesting.

Bob

[atom73]

Fly,
I too had some smoke problems when testing mine this weekend but moved the chrono back and it solved it. I posted the results in the original thread on home made BP. I was getting 1250 +/- 50 fps with 80 gr using 45 cal saboted 230 gr cast lead. I am sold on this stuff and will never buy bp at the store again. Why buy it when you can make it yourself and get the satisfaction of seeing a really neat scientific exercise work so well. I guess the race is on to see who can kill the first deer with a home-made bp charge and cast lead bullets. A little gentlemans challenge if you are up for it ;) Anyway, when I was first shooting this stuff and seeing the chrono results I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. Bet you felt pretty good too huh? Keep posting results.
Mike

[Fly]

Atom I'm with you my man, plus it's fun.I placed the chrono 10 ft out.This thing works best
with the sun over head.When I tested it the sun was behind the trees & the chrone in the shade.

I plan to go out again soon & test the willow again & then the silver maple.

Fly

[Fly]

Well today I tested my silver maple.I have always thought it was on par with black willow.Now I did move the
chrono to 18 feet from the muzzle, as I had it at 10 feet in the test before.

That may have slowed the fps some.

Silver Maple black powder

Shot (1) 1156fps
Shot (2) 1363
Shot (3) 1267
Shot (4) 1331
Shot (5) 1212

This tell me silver maple is right there with black willow.

Fly

[tacklebury]

Sweet. I'm really considering trying this. Almost impossible to get here now. 8(

[perotter]

Fly,

I am sold on this stuff and will never buy bp at the store again. Why buy it when you can make it yourself and get the satisfaction of seeing a really neat scientific exercise work so well.

Mike

After my second batch, 10 years or so ago, that is what I decided. No reason to even think of buying it.

[Fly]

I remember when I first posted about making my own bp we had guys coming on saying
there is no way a sane person would do that or you can never make it as good & so on.

I do really understand the concerns & the rest.But bp really gets a bad rap.If you take
the safety precautions & don't get lacks, then I feel safer than many other things we do.

I would not endorce anyone to try making it if they did not feel safe in doing it.I have made countless
LB,s for my fire works, for it is the back bone of the night effects you see every 4 of July.

But being a muzzle loader it go's hand & hand.If you have a outlet you can buy it from
close by, buy it.My problem is all the dealers that quit handling it & I would be forced
to buy the other stuff.

I would quit muzzle loading all together if that were the case.That's just my feelings on
this.

Those are JMOP on this subject & nothing more.
Fly

[Fly]

Well I have been waiting for the rain to stop, so I could test the Paulownia charcoal.Well this morning looked like the day.
I went down and set the chrono at 15 ft.That's where I will test it all from now on.

I only got off three shots till the black clouds started to roll in .I was some what disappointed in the readings.

Paulownia charcoal at 15 ft from muzzle with 3.4 grams of powder.

Shot (1) 1000fps
Shot (2) 1004fps
Shot(3) 1402 fps but "Black Willow"
Shot (4)1315fps

The reason I shot black willow on shot three was I wanted to know if the chrono was working alright.

I'm going to retest the Paulownia for it should be giving better speeds than that.I did on the one shot
but I want to be fair & do it with out a cloud in the sky.

Fly

[Boz330]

Fly, try moving your chrono out a little farther. I had problems getting good results till I was 20+ feet out.

Bob

[Fly]

You might be right.I'm waiting for a I can spend all day at the range on a clear day.We
have so much rain & flooding here it's hard to tell.

When I grt the chance I may retest ever thing over & test the distance again & see what
I come up with.

Let us know how that willow works.Boy this new Lyman barrel is starting to break in now.
My groups are really starting to get tight.This chono testing has let me put some lead threw
her.

Now I need to find another lead supply to stock up.
Fly

[Boz330]

It is the Brinkman as I type.
Just went out and checked it and the can is smoking but I can still see white wood through the hole in the top.

Bob

[Fly]

You must get that fire hot.It's like putting it in a blazing camp fire.If you don't have steam
coming out the holes in the top put on more firewood.Once you get it you will know what
to look for.
Fly

[Boz330]

I believe it is done. No smoke, steam or visible gas coming from the can. And I can only see black through the hole. It is cooling slowly now. Fingers crossed since this is the first time that I have made charcoal.
The BP I made as a kid I just used BBQ charcoal (pre-briquette charcoal). Of course that would have been hardwood which is probably why my BP was never too good. I had developed wetting it and that sure helped. I use to put it in pot pie tins and set it out on the roof to dry, worked pretty good with the heat up there in the summer.

Bob

[Fly]

OK then pull it from the fire & let it cool for about 45 min & open & let us know what
you have.WOO HOO!
Fly

[Boz330]

Wasn't done. Sealed up and back in the Brinkman. This an LP fired smoker so I have it turned up real high.

Bob

[Fly]

Boz I tryed that once & could not get enough heat.A turkey fryer might work but I don't
know about that one.If not get a 5 gal steel can & put that paint can inside it & pack ole 2 by 4
scraps around it.

Every time I see a new house being built I get all the scrap I can find for making a fire.
It burns hot & fast.
Fly

[Boz330]

I was afraid that you might say that, :violin: but it is done at this point so I'll finish up and see.

Bob

[Fly]

Man you play a mean fiddle!Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Fly

[Boz330]

Well I'll get a little bit of charcoal out of it but the stuff in the center of the can never finished.

Bob