My homemade black powder

[Eddie2002]

Welcome to the make your own bp thread Markopolo. I'm a screened bp guy myself. What type of charcoal do you use up in Alsaka?

[Vettepilot]

Welcome to this fantastic thread Marco polo. Tons of great INFO here.

Vettepilot

[Markopolo]

Lol.. you guys.. are too funny.. I been posting here for a long time in this thread... it was a spoof on a AA greeting... about my method of making BP... everybody was kidding about safety and such.. oh boy..lol

I love you guys...

[Vettepilot]

Ha! I didn't "get" the AA parallel inference before. Now I do... funny! I "resemble" that remark, in casting, loading, guns, tool buying, oh he'll, in a bunch of ways!

Vettepilot

[Eddie2002]

Just picked up a pound of stump remover and am working on another batch of screened BP. Found some willow charcoal from before and just didn't want it to go to waste. Making a 200 gram batch which is about the max my tumbler can handle.

[Vettepilot]

Hey guys! I discovered a "new" method for making black powder. Well, new to most of us probably. Here is an excerpt from blackpowderjournal.com, that is an excerpt from the "Virginia Gazette" circa 1775:

To make gunpowder by hand, take 14 ounces of salt-petre, 3 ounces of sulphur, 4 ounces of well burnt charcoal (I think pine the best) powder each article separately, very fine; then mix them in a large mortar; beat them continually, after moistening, for 12 hours; to grain it, have a sifter, with a sheepskin bottom, burnt full of holes, with a fork, the size you will have the grain; make the paste into balls, as big as walnuts; put them into the sifter, with a wooden ball, of about half a pound weight, which being moved to and fro, will force the powder through the holes, and form the grain; dry it well, on a linen cloth, or clean plank.

All this for slightly over a pound of gunpowder! Clearly, few persons would produce enough powder to help the colony overcome its great shortage. (end excerpt.)

What do you think guys; think we can handle that method?

Vettepilot

[LAGS]

the ratios of the chemicals seem off per what we use today.
But it still might go Bang.

[lead chucker]

first batch i made was with pine and it worked but was real dirty when shot so i used willow and alder and was a lot cleaner and performs just as good or better. Fun stuff to make and shoot. I use the 75-15-10 recipe.

[OldBearHair]

" with a sheepskin bottom," Hey yall, would a coon skin work? Heh heh, heh

[Vettepilot]

" with a sheepskin bottom," Hey yall, would a coon skin work? Heh heh, heh

I would say that a coon skin would be entirely appropriate, so long as you have enough for a cap too!

Vettepilot

Edited as always to correct what my computer "corrected".

[Vettepilot]

the ratios of the chemicals seem off per what we use today.
But it still might go Bang.

Yeah, as regards that, here is what that blackpowderjournal article said:

As many people have attempted to make Gunpowder, and some may have failed for want of knowing the proper proportion of the several ingredients, I have sent you that which, from a great number of experiments, has been found to be best, and is copied from the New Chymical Dictionary, translated from the French.

The suggested formula called for seventy-five parts of saltpetre, fifteen and a half of charcoal, and nine and a half of sulphur. Those ungrounded in "arithmetick" were instructed to use twelve ounces of saltpetre, two and a half of charcoal, and one and a half of sulphur per pound of powder.

Many people still have trouble with "arithmetick".

Vettepilot

[Fly]

I don't think to much of it. I suggest for get using pine. As lead chucker said it very dirty. I have used it in fire works but who cares how dirty fire works burn.

Fly

[Vettepilot]

I was just kidding about actually using the info. It is word for word from an article written in 1775.

Vettepilot

[Tracy]

Many people still have trouble with "arithmetick".

Vettepilot

Yep. I made a video about making a batch of black powder where I had a limited amount of charcoal, so I weighed it out and measured the proportions of KNO3 and sulfur accordingly. You would not believe the number of negative comments from people who could not get past the fact that I didn't use e.g. 750 grams KNO3, 100 grams sulfur and 150 grams charcoal.

Other popular comments were "you should have used marbles," "can I use activated charcoal?," and obsessing over a tenth of a percent impurities in the sulfur I used.

ETA: Actually on second thought, I don't think it was a limitation in quantities of a component; it was a limitation of what my scale could weigh in one shot. End results were the same, regardless.
I was using a scale that weighed to 1000 grains, so I weighed out 1000 grains of KNO3, 200 grains of charcoal, and 133 grains of sulfur. That broke a lot of people's brains; they couldn't handle it even knowing that the proportions worked out to 75-15-10.

[Dieselhorses]

Yep. I made a video about making a batch of black powder where I had a limited amount of charcoal, so I weighed it out and measured the proportions of KNO3 and sulfur accordingly. You would not believe the number of negative comments from people who could not get past the fact that I didn't use e.g. 750 grams KNO3, 100 grams sulfur and 150 grams charcoal.

Other popular comments were "you should have used marbles," "can I use activated charcoal?," and obsessing over a tenth of a percent impurities in the sulfur I used.

ETA: Actually on second thought, I don't think it was a limitation in quantities of a component; it was a limitation of what my scale could weigh in one shot. End results were the same, regardless.
I was using a scale that weighed to 1000 grains, so I weighed out 1000 grains of KNO3, 200 grains of charcoal, and 133 grains of sulfur. That broke a lot of people's brains; they couldn't handle it even knowing that the proportions worked out to 75-15-10.

Somewhere in this thread I posted a conversion table from .5 lbs up to 10 for all three components.


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[Eddie2002]

Decided to shake the dust out of a Monarch cap lock in .50 caliber that's been sitting in the closet for about a year. The poor thing had been Bubba'd to an extreme and ended up in a pawn shop where I found it. Anyways it came as a carbine with a 18 inch barrel which is perfect for powder testing. I turned it into a Hawken type trade rifle with copper nails and steel furniture just caused it was so ugly. Loaded it up with a light load of 50 grains by volume of my latest batch of home grown and threw a few balls 20 yds with great success. Sunk the balls a good 1 inch into some cedar used as a backboard, guess I'm really hooked. The load was equivalent to 37 grains of commercial 2F.

[Vettepilot]

Good for you! I've yet to make any, but I have all the tools and such gathered up now. As soon as "life" quits screwing with me and I get the time, I'll be making some myself. Can't wait! Actually, I might be able to make a small, first, experimental batch here pretty soon I hope. I'm going to draft my brother in law into helping me cast up the ball mill media... I'll cast, and he can screed the tops of the tubes and reload my custom casting block full of half inch copper tubes.

Vettepilot

[Eddie2002]

I've already made about three pounds and just had the urge to knock out another 1/3 pound to check that my process still works. I'm only making screened which is all I'll ever need for my front stuffers. One change I made was with the charcoal, I didn't use air float, just some finely ground willow charcoal and I mixed all the components in the ball mill for a full 12 hours. I figured that a longer final milling would grind the charcoal up just as well as air floating it separate would, it seemed to work. Next I need to check the home grown against a reduced load of commercial and try to match the wood penetration.

[Vettepilot]

I am going to do screened for my first batch. After that I will be doing pressed as I want very durable powder, and I might do some BPCR as well as use it for my muzzle loaders.

Let us know how your comparison goes.

Vettepilot

[Vettepilot]

Yes, that is what I meant. I go to rough, off-road areas to shoot and don't want the grains to revert to powder when severely shaken. Also, for various reasons, I would like to get the density somewhere close to commercial. I have a hydraulic press and one of Fly's dies, so why not?

Vettepilot

Edit/add: I did go "whole hog" when I bought supplies though, and have Dextrin, Red Gum, Gum Acacia, and Glutinous Rice Starch to try out as binders when doing screened powder. I have not seen the Glutinous Rice Starch mentioned here, but my research indicates it is an excellent binder for screened BP; quite possibly the best. Other research found where a fellow did extensive testing of various powders, and the powder prepared with red gum and alcohol was the most powerful. Lots of things to test and try, and it's all good fun!