Well, put up a bunch of willow to start drying. I'm definitely working towards this myself. Got a retort set-up for my dad's trash burner and hopefully will start making charcoal soon. ;)
Printable View
Well, put up a bunch of willow to start drying. I'm definitely working towards this myself. Got a retort set-up for my dad's trash burner and hopefully will start making charcoal soon. ;)
Bud it really does not have to be all that dry as some may think.The only
problem with green wood it just takes longer to cook.The heat as you cook it will
drive the water out.
I have cooked mine after a week drying time, with no problem.
Hope this helped Fly:coffee:
Well, it's about a 150 year old willow. Whole center rotted out, and giant branches started falling. I got the first batch hanging and drying in a shed which gets really warm in the sun, so I think it'll be ready soon. The rest is being stored up in the hay mow of my grand dad's barn. Wife said she didn't want me making it here, so I'm setting up my work area out there. ;)
Be sure to remove the bark!
Fly
With willow that is easiest done right after cutting. Just peels right off since it is still very flexible.
Fly have you done anymore testing with the eastern cedar? Just curious whether to give it a try.
Bob
No but give it a try.I know that stuff is plenty fast!I plan to start testing again soon
but it's been so blasted hot out I just been working on other stuff.Hey Boz I just remember
this sitting here.
I have never shot screened powder in my 1858 remey cause I have always used 30 to
35 grains & knew the volume of the screen powder was to great to fit in the cylinder.
Anyway I know alot of Remey guys shot 25 grains.So I filled a chamber to the very top to
see what weight of screened powder it would take.I then poured it in my Lee beam scale
thing.It weighed a little over 25 grains.I thought Hummmmm & poured it back in the cylinder.
I then layed a 1/8" lubed felt wad on top & pushed it in the cylinder with a Felt marker cap.
I then wondered if a ball would press down with out over forcing it.Heck NO PROBLEM
with more room to spare.That thing shot lights out.
Some of the best groups ever ,& not even corned!
Fly
My corned powder is somewhat denser than the non but I'm not sure how much difference it will make. A 40-65 case full of the corned weighs in at 52gr the non corned at 48. The velocity per weight is equivalent or a little better than Swiss. The Swiss is considerable denser though. I can get 73gr of Swiss 2F in the same case.
Been too hot around here as well to shoot. It has been moderating the last week or so but when I have time I'm trying to tune up for dove season (9/1). Opener of ML Deer is a little over a month and a Half away so that will be the next project. It will be interesting to see how the Hawken Ric finished for me does with the homemade stuff. Then I need to finish the 40-65 Roller and test it with the corned powder for the rifle season.
Bob
Guys....I just finished reading this thread which is akin to War & Peace, and I remembered why I spent so much time here.
It has been great reading and a tremendous amount of good solid information.
Thanks!
Well I love making my own & casting my boolits as well.It is just a passion of mind.But if
you do get into making your own BP.Never get care less & always make sure of no sparks
or excessive heat.
Fly
I may and probably will make a small batch or two Fly. Mostly so I know how. I have too many things going most of the time to make everything and still have time to shoot and hunt. I'm also blessed with local sources for factory BP and until it gets too hard to find or expensive, I'll just settle with knowing I can make it if need be.
A buddy of mine shoots LRML and follows many of the forums on such. He said there is a lot of info from the New Zealand long range guys because they are really having problems getting store bought BP. Apparently they are making some really good homemade BP. When you are shooting 800, 900, & 1000yds you better have consistent BP or you are spittin into the wind.
Maybe JeffinNZ will have some info on this.
Bob
Bring it on.I would love to hear what he has.Boz I have almost quit trying to make
faster powder,for what I have is plenty fast.I'm working on making mine as consistent
as I can.
I think to many of us get caught up with making the fastest powder out there.After
a point you ask your self why?
No, consistent powder to me means evevything in shooting.Get on your friend & have
him post some of his tricks.
My friend is on his way to Bisley for the world LRML shoot. He doesn't make his own but just told me about the NZ guys doing it out of necessity. I tried to get into the forum but got fed up with all of the hoops to be jumped through. More info than I want to give to get into a forum.
Bob
Well I'm keeping a log on the coal I make,how long I mill,the % Water I use before
pressing.So far it's pretty consistent.But I,m sure there is something more I can do.
Love making this stuff!
Fly
Fellow BP shooters:
I did it too!
This thread had intrigued me from the outset, and it had stuck in my mind. Should I? Could I? The curiosity became too much to bear.
Basically, duplicated the procedure that Atom73 had described, with a couple of changes. 150 grams KNO3. I used Spectracide brand from the wally-world. Sulfur 20 grams, I had these small 4oz bottles of "flowers of sulfur" in the dog meds kit, and it was pure and pretty well powdered already.
Earlier in the day, I had put a quart bottle of 91% isopropyl in the deep freeze.
As for the charcoal, that was a bit involved. Actually, just went down to the basement, and scavenged several 2x4 scraps and split them with an axe to form sticks. All of it white pine. Also scavenged an empty paint can, that had rusted. Just an empty I had, never had paint in it. Still servicable for a retort.
First I tried making the charcoal on the Weber Smokey Joe, but it just did not get there. That was Friday night. Saturday morning, while reloading some 308, I put the can on the turkey cooker base, that I use for smelting, and that worked a whole lot better. I could keep an eye on the can through the deck doors, every so often while reloading some other ammo. When the smoke got to very little, and would not light anymore, I shut it down.
Later, the charcoal was in various states. I hand selected pieces that were easlly snapped, and had the "look" of good charcoal. Being new at this, I just trusted my gut instinct. Other pieces that still had quite a bit of uncharred wood, stayed in the can.
I crushed the "good" charcoal in the bottom of a metal coffee can, with another 2X2 stick until it was fairly well "crunched". Then it went into a tumbler mill (Harbor Freight), and I just threw in a couple pounds of rejected 50 caliber boolits, and the charcoal on top. That went to spinning for about 4 hours.
Later, when checked, the charcoal was a very fine dust, but I sifted it through a flour sifter, and got a few hard bits of wood. Things looked fairly good, as the charcoal dust was very fine and powdery.
Also cooked some corn starch in a toaster oven for a couple of hours, till it got to the golden color, and sifted that as well. This was for dextrin binder.
Alright, so far so good. Did just as Atom73 said, and it all worked out. I mixed in 20 grams of the dextrin powder right after the sludge mix, but before the alcohol and ice bath. Another thing I found, it that the coffee filters did not stand up to my hard squeezing force so well. I found if I wrapped a double layer of cheesecloth around the coffee filters, I could really put the hurt on it and get out the last bits of liquid.
I riced the two balls of wet dough through a colander made of screen wire. Checking it with a ruler, I counted 11 wires per inch, so this would make a coarser powder, probably more on level of F to FF, rather than FFF. This is what I wanted anyway.
OK, lay it out to dry on wax paper sheets all night, and lay in the morning sun today.
A small sample, about 1/2 teaspoon put on a foil boat on a brick, and touched off. WHOOSHHH!! Smoke, and the smell. Well....I'll be dogged. It works! Several unburned grains, and I had my theories on that, in lessons learned at the end of this.
Next step, to see if it would actually propel a chunk of lead out of a gun. Well, I just happened to have a Knight LK93 in the gun locker, that has not been fired in over a decade. Inexpensive 50 caliber muzzleloader I got for the field almost 20 years ago now.
Measured out 80 grains of my product, and tamped a saboted 44 caliber J-bullet on top of my experimental load. Out behind the house, cap it, and aim, and BOOM!
What a feeling. It worked.
At any rate, a few things for the next batch.
1. The chilled alcohol also serves to absorb water from the sludge mix as well as cool it down. I only poured 1/2 quart into the pan, and think that next time I need to use the whole bottle. In fact, I think I will pre-chill a heavy aluminum kettle with the alcohol in it, and pour the sludge into this. Idea being to pull more heat from the water instantly to accelerate precipitation into the charcoal fines.
2. Ball mill the sulfur and charcoal together. I sifted the powdered sulfur with the milled charcoal, but still had sulfur bits that seemed to be "stubborn".
3. Get more ice for the ice bath. Again, more thermal sinking to accelerate precipitation.
4. Look at using a vacuum chamber to dry the powder even more. I have a A/C system pump from my days of converting cars from R12 to R134a, and it might have a positive effect.
5. Get some screens to grade the powder a bit better.
Here is a photo of my final product, made with basically stuff I already had around the house, with the exception of the stump remover.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imag...d1ff858d64.jpg
Great to hear it worked.I have never made mine as you & Atom do, so I
can not comment much other than the wood you used.White pine does
burn good, but the down side to it in guns, it burns very dirty.
It's used in pyro alot, but fireworks people don't care if it's dirty.Next
time try some eastern cedar if you can't get black willow.Eastern cedar
can be found at any Lowes or Home Depot.
Now your hooked[smilie=w:
Fly:veryconfu
Zardoz, welcome to the addiction. It is fun and there are several ways to accomplish the task. I was going to do it like Atom but wound up just milling everything together, wetting it and then running it through the screen. Making the pressed pucks and corning it is the method that I have done the most since I want to use this in a cartridge gun as well. I get better velocity per volume with the corned powder (it is denser) but your way and mine for a ML works great and is easier. Have Fun, this really isn't rocket science.
Bob
I may have missed it in this thread but adding 1% Dextrin is a help. It acts like a binding agent. Improves performance considerably from a green mix.
Boz330.... too lazy to look. Did you just mill everything together? Wet or dry? What tumbler? What media?
In any case, an info update will help prevent some kabooms from those who(like me, sometimes) start reading from the middle of the thread. Thanks ..... Lee
Well I'm not Boz But I mill it all together dry.I built a larger ball mill, but the Harbor Frieght
ball rock tumblers are what I started with & work fine for smaller amounts of powder.Fill
the rubber barrel half full of .50 cal lead musket balls for best results.Less will make mill time much longer.
About six hours milling is the norm with that ball mill.
Hope this helped! Fly