My homemade black powder

[Vettepilot]

keep it simple!! ......................figure out your pulley sizes to give the right rotation speed

I already did that; calculated for my motor speed, rollers, tumbler jar size, etc. and have the correct pulleys. But a DC motor variable speed tumbler might be more useful for other things, plus that brute of a DC motor would be tough to overload.

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Haven't gotten around to pulling the treadmill apart yet, but most of the motors I've seen from them are sealed. If I don't end up using it for a tumbler, I'll surely find another use for it. I make/create a lot of things in the ole workshop. I've got so many projects either in progress or planned I've had to declare a strict moratorium on thinking up and/or taking on any new ones!

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Common ailment of coal miners called "Black Lung". Don't breathe charcoal, (nor any other), dust.

Vettepilot

[LAGS]

Yep.
Wear a mask over your Covid Mask

[ogre]

Kid, faster burning it in a line. I don't have a chrono, so can't testify to that. Shooting Swiss, and zeroing my rifle, at one hundred yards, then switching to Sassafras homemade, the group raised about four inches. That was with the same measured weight of powder. As others have experienced, my powder is slightly lighter, by volume, than the Swiss. I don't know what would raise the group, other than bullets being faster, but I'm not an expert and I really wish I could play with a chronograph, for an afternoon, to do some accurate comparisons. What I really like, is how clean it burns and the type of residue it leaves. I usually swab after every shot, when trying to test and I've been breaking in a new rifle, and trying vastly different loads, bullets, patches and balls. But, to just see, I did load a tight patched ball five times, before it became too difficult, to load the next. Which was about on par, with Swiss. BTW, I don't use the heartwood, of Sassafras, either. I use from about 1/2 inch to about 1 inch limb wood, debarked and green, or debarked and dried. This is where I got the idea, to try Sassafras.
In this test, it was in the top five of about 80 woods tested, on burn times. http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fire...oal_tests.html

I would suggest that perhaps your powder is slower than the Swiss. My reasoning is that if your bullets are slower, your rifle will be recoiling higher when the bullet finally exits the muzzle, causing the group to printer higher.

[ogre]

I will be the first to admit that my knowledge is strictly limited. I know that if I shoot my revolver, freehand at a target at a given distance, and then shoot the same bullet with the same revolver, at the same target at the same distance, only faster, the faster bullets will group lower. So why not the same thing with a rifle fired freehand? That was my thought. Refer to the first sentence of this paragraph.

[Vettepilot]

When I first learned that a lesser load grouped higher with a pistol, I was intrigued. Not intrigued enough to test it analytically, but the science made sense.

My only actual experience was with a 30.06 rifle. It was sighted in with 180 grain bullets at 100 yards. When I shot "Accelerator"rounds out of it, (22 cal bullet of 55 grains in a sabot), it grouped 4" higher.

As they say;"Pistols are pistols and rifles are rifles." (Two different "animals".)

Vettepilot

[ogre]

Joe, on the linear burn rate, from my experience and all I've read; my thought is no, it is not a relevant test of the powder's energy. Some slower powders are high energy and some fast powders are low energy. Just the size of the grain (burn rate) can change the relevant energy, with the same powder. And, I realize I'm preaching to the choir. haha I'll be interested to hear the results you come up with, on the chrono. One question. What grain size do you lean towards, on your rifle powder? Factory recommends 2FF, on my rifle, and I've seen a lot of people run 3fff. I started making 2ff and the last few batches, I went more to the 3fff. I don't seem to see a big difference, but have so many variables. I've used three different molds, for mini's. and two for round balls. Did sight mods and switched from Swiss to homemade powder from several different charcoals. Finally have narrowed it to one charcoal, for now and one mold for mini's and one for round ball. All this summer I have just stayed with round balls, until I can get a good and repeatable group, at a given distance. The other day, I ran out of one batch of powder. I was shooting a pretty respectable 4" group, with ten shots, at one hundred yards. Minus the invariable two fliers, I seem to come up with.
The rifle is a .58 cal. repop of a 1861 Springfield Rifled Musket. I swear they did not make those rifles to be shot, for accuracy. It has taken me about a year, to get where I am, with it.

I share your frustration. I shoot the real deal but the rifling is really worn away from the muzzle due to the iron ramrod. Using GI loads I cannot get a "group" at all at 100 yards. I am content to keep all the shots on a man size target at that distance.

[Vettepilot]

I just cut 1/4" off the barrel of my .22 rifle, and cut a new recessed target crown on it because the previous owner was nasty, (very nasty!!), with his cleaning rod.

May or may not be an option in your case...

Vettepilot

[Eddie2002]

Don't mean to interrupt the discussion but I finished the batch of screened BP using Brazilian Pepper charcoal. The recipe was 270 grams Potassium nitrate, 40.5 grams charcoal, 35 grams of 90% sulfur powder and 6 grams dextrin. I've found that a small increase in the sulfur content seems to make my screened powder burn better. First try after eight hours of milling wasn't fast for the "Poof Test" so I milled it for another six hours in a larger container. This made the powder as fast as my last two batches made with Carolina Willow.

The Poof test is just dumping a 1/2 table spoon of powder onto a cinder block and touching it off with a propane torch. If I have to check my knuckles for singed hair the powder is fast enough to be used. Comparing it to a commercial powder is difficult because of the lighter density of the screened powder I manufacture.

Anyways the Brazilian Pepper past the test so far and didn't leave a lot of ash on the test pad. Right now the bush looks like a viable charcoal source that produces one to two inch diameter branches that are easy to debark when green. It's an invasive and is growing everywhere in my area so it will be a lot easier to harvest than any other wood I've tried. I need to get over to the range and test it against my willow BP and commercial stuff to see how dirty it is.

[Fly]

You science majors are making my head hurt!

Fly

[Nobade]

By the time tumbleweeds are big enough to think about making charcoal out of, they are covered in thorns and make my allergies go nuts. There is no way I'm going to get intimate enough with one to try that. The only good use of them is to set them on fire and watch them burn from a safe distance.

[LAGS]

I think the issue is.
For over 100 years , Willow Charcoal has seemed to be the best for Firearms Black powder.
But I too experiment with other charcoals to find a good Fall Back charcoal in case Willow is not available or others live in areas where Willow don't grow.
But we don't need the extent of trying to reinvent the wheel or build a better Mouse Trap.

[Vettepilot]

I've kind of wondered in passing myself about tumbleweeds. As was said, they burn ferociously and with little ash. They'd be a royal PITA to collect and process, but do seem to meet the criteria of fast growing, light weight, etc. The other thing is that they are prevalent in low rain areas where the other good woods aren't found.

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Ha!! Just had a mental picture.... a cooking retort stuffed as full as you could get it with tumble weed. Cook it up, open the retort....

and find ONE TEASPOON of charcoal!!

[LAGS]

The same thing happened when I tried to make charcoal out if cotton fabric.
The powder burned fast .
But it just isn't worth the trouble to make the small amount of that charcoal.
Plus you have to be careful that you don't turn your Charcoal into Ashes.

[Vettepilot]

One thing I've come across in my fun studies of this whole thing, that I don't see mentioned here. That is the temperature of cooking the charcoal. If I recall correctly, it's best to cook it at no higher than 600 degrees farenheit, though I'm betting that could/would vary with different woods.

Sure, you can grab one of the top 5 woods, throw it in a can in a fire, and mix it up 75/15/10, and get useable powder. But I find researching, learning, and exploring a subject is fun too. This thread itself is SUPER, and I've learned a ton right here. Thanks to all contributors!!!

Vettepilot

[John McCorkle]

One thing I've come across in my fun studies of this whole thing, that I don't see mentioned here. That is the temperature of cooking the charcoal. If I recall correctly, it's best to cook it at no higher than 600 degrees farenheit, though I'm betting that could/would vary with different woods.

Sure, you can grab one of the top 5 woods, throw it in a can in a fire, and mix it up 75/15/10, and get useable powder. But I find researching, learning, and exploring a subject is fun too. This thread itself is SUPER, and I've learned a ton right here. Thanks to all contributors!!!

Vettepilot

Interesting, what are the effects of cooking too hot, or I guess there is a min temp you need to cook at as well

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

[Vettepilot]

I'll have to cruise back through my research material, (and hope it wasn't on the computer that crashed, though I am fairly good about backing things up.)

As I recall, cooking at too high a temp cooked off too much of the volatiles, and made a weaker powder. Don't quote me on that though... I'll try to find where I read it.

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Well, this isn't where I originally read it, but here's more charcoal info than you want to know...

http://www.fao.org/3/x5328e/x5328e05...rbon%20content.

Vettepilot