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Thread: My homemade black powder

  1. #181
    Boolit Master



    Charlie Sometimes's Avatar
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    I think it is a LARGE amount of static that causes problems, not what we experience in handling small quantities in reloading. I would think plastic is better to protect against moisture anyway.

    I'll look up the Vita-Mix and compare to a unit I saw in Kmart the other day that would grind coffee beans ($16). It seals everything away from the motor and air exposure.

    And I'm not fooling with anything but these 3 basic components- simplicity is best in my book. Needing another component to make a special priming powder would be defeating the purpose if it should become hard to come by.

    Finding a local supplier of BP is impossible anymore, because of the dang the shipping fees and regs. I'll just make it myself then.
    Last edited by Charlie Sometimes; 03-13-2011 at 09:50 PM.
    USMC 1980-1985

  2. #182
    Boolit Master



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    OMG! Vita-mix is not even a comparable unit- BIG money!
    Not something I will be considering, but they do make a super-HD unit.
    USMC 1980-1985

  3. #183
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Guys, if you are really curious about the power of your various powders Dixie Gunworks used to sell, and probably still does, a powder tester. Looks like a pistol with a spring loaded plate covering the barrel. They used to have them in both flint and cap lock.

    I once had a piece that was re-published from the Confederate government explaining to farmers how to percipitate saltpeter out of cattle manure. I don't know how much making the powder was a cottage industry, but making saltpeter was.
    Wayne the Shrink

    There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!

  4. #184
    Boolit Master EOD3's Avatar
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    Static electricity (or any other kind for that matter) is not what bites your butt. Most people understand (probably all or most of the people here) that electrically generated heat requires a curtain amount of resistance to generate heat at a given point. Resistance to current flow is what cooks fuses, and starts fires.

    Caution is a good thing in any case...

  5. #185
    Boolit Mold
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    Great Thread and a lot of great contributors.
    I was wondering all through the 10 pages about pressures, so I appreciate Wayne mentioning devices exist,(or did) and if I recall correctly in Phil Sharps 1947 bible there was a statement made about BP producing a pressure no greater than 12,000 to 14,000 PSI because the pressure kills the "fire" limiting pressure.
    The reason I ask is that the info pertained to common factory made BP powder and Presures could be greater, or less, with different mixtures when home made.
    If I'm wrong about where I read that it will take six weeks to find it in my library, anyone know?

  6. #186
    Boolit Master

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    Here's a link to a study of how & why BP work:

    http://www.pyrobin.com/files/black%2...6%20bowden.pdf

    For example, cover tests in areas like- friction, sulfurless, impact, sparks, etc. One practical use of the study, might be for picking charcoals to use.

  7. #187
    Boolit Master

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    I have Phil Sharpe's 1937 book. A couple of things he writes about BP, is of his friend the lost 3 fingers & gained facial scars when making a 1 lb batch & about an excellent commercial BP that had charcoal made from peas.

  8. #188
    Boolit Master



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    Thanks for the link- will save and read it over.

    Peas? Sweet, no doubt.
    Dried peas would sure be easy to find.
    Next it will be Corn, Lima Beans, or how about Pinto Beans for the extra gas?
    As Sylvester would say, "Suthferin' Succotash!"
    USMC 1980-1985

  9. #189
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    CM: from what I have gleaned from others who seem to know what they are talking about, the softer/lighter the raw cellulose, the better the charcoal for BP.

    CornCob would probably work

  10. #190
    Boolit Master



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    Wonder if someone has ever used dried corn, made hominy out of it, dried that, and then turned it into hominy charcoal? That would be fluffier, and better for you, too.
    How about Orville Redenbacker's Popcorn charcoal?

    LOTS of options to tinker with, isn't there.
    USMC 1980-1985

  11. #191
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    wouldn't it pop in the retort????

    might make a bomb?

  12. #192
    Boolit Master

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    I think that it was pea vines or pods that were used & not the seeds. I think I read that somewhere once. But, right now I'm not sure. The seeds may not be porous enough.

    With charcoal the things that is wanted:
    1. The pores for the KNO3 & sulfur to go into.
    2. The chemical residues that is left after the char process. This is what pure carbon doesn't provide.

    These 2 things being the same batch after batch is what is sought after.

  13. #193
    Boolit Master



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    Talking KNO3 & Charcoal- two peas in a pod!

    Quote Originally Posted by nanuk View Post
    wouldn't it pop in the retort????

    might make a bomb?
    Pop it first- in a hot air popper (remember, no butter or salt ), then put it in the retort. I know burnt popcorn is pretty nasty, but might be good for BP charcoal.

    I think you are right, perotter. Probably the pea vines, maybe pods, too. I do think I have read that somewhere, myself. The charcoal must absorb/bind with the KNO3, and help lock everything together.
    USMC 1980-1985

  14. #194
    Boolit Master

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    I was wrong. It is the seeds. Here is a thread on it & details about charcoal:

    http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/in...p?topic=3390.0

    Here a a patent for it.
    http://www.google.com/patents?vid=US...powder&f=false

  15. #195
    Boolit Master



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    That was fast- I didn't even have time to search WHERE I had read, forget WHAT I read!
    Well, that shoots the theory of the density or the porosity in the foot, don't it?

    The willow charcoal was charred to yield the maximum amount of creosote retained in the charcoal.
    The carbonized peas were used to slow the powder down for use with heavy elongated bullets.
    Willow charcoal is not as fast as the buckthorn alder used in the very fast, very hot-burning sporting powders. But behind heavy projectiles it still produced gas temperatures high enough to produce baked fouling in the bore. Use a small percentage of a charred starch and you "temper" the combustion a bit. Charred peas, or any other starchy material, and you have a charcoal that can be ground to an extremely fine particle size that produces almost no ash (mineral content). You could do essentially the same thing with charred potatoes.


    So I guess the "light and fluffy is faster, heavy and dense is slower" actually correspond to burn rates in BP?
    Last edited by Charlie Sometimes; 03-27-2011 at 10:35 PM.
    USMC 1980-1985

  16. #196
    Boolit Master EOD3's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by perotter View Post
    I have Phil Sharpe's 1937 book. A couple of things he writes about BP, is of his friend the lost 3 fingers & gained facial scars when making a 1 lb batch & about an excellent commercial BP that had charcoal made from peas.
    Does that mean "snow peas" can be used to make "white powder"?

  17. #197
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by EOD3 View Post
    Does that mean "snow peas" can be used to make "white powder"?
    I don't think that it would make a "White" powder, but I would think it would be much less temperature sensative in the winter....

    kinda like Hodgdon Extreme... same power no matter how dang cold it gets.

  18. #198
    Black Powder 100%


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    The best Black Powders are made today and yesterday by using a certain wood to produce the charcoal. It also requires a certain process in it's making that is more than building a campfire and using the burnt pieces left over. Swiss Powder, Wano powders all use the blackthorn alder. It even matters as to what the size of the tree used is and what time of the year it is harvested. Now this is pertaining to the best powders made today. Goex powder uses a maple wood and the new Diamondback powder made in Brazil uses a native type of tree for it's charcoal. The quality of the charcoal is a very important step and is probably more important than the wood used. I read where a guy made a BP that went bang with Kingsford Barb-B-Que briquettes. I am not saying that it was even a cannon grade but it worked although he did say that ignition was difficult.
    Shooter of the "HOLY BLACK" SASS 81802 AKA FAIRSHAKE; NRA ; BOLD; WARTHOG;Deadwood Marshal;Bayou Bounty Hunter; So That his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat; 44 WCF filled to the top, 210 gr. bullet

  19. #199
    Boolit Master on Heavens Range
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    The kind of wood indicates what kind of charcoal is used. By observation thus far, if the wood burns in a fireplace real good, like oak, hickory, mesquite, etc., then it should NOT be used to make a quality gunpowder. Maple is a very poor fireplace wood, at least it is around here, and so would be a candidate here. I am sure there are others, but which ones? Like CS said, the time of tree harvest would be paramount as well. Perhaps that is because of the required moisture content of the wood before frying, i.e., a production efficiency problem. ... felix
    felix

  20. #200
    Boolit Master
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    OK guy's here is my buddy's form.I would say he has done more testing than
    anyone over the last ten years.Check his test data & also he has a sec on
    the different ways of making it ect.
    http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fire...oal_tests.html

    Fly

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check