Yes Mimosa wood has some qualifications for making BP such as fast growing soft wood. Green or dead it snaps in two easily. It may turn out to be too "dirty" to use. I am curious but alas, archery deer season is here and I will not have time to devote to making black powder or inventing my partially made gas check maker or doing any machining with the lathe or Bridgeport mill. Casting boolits and HiTek coating them. Actually powdercoated my hand forged hog knife made of 5160 that will rust even if you breathe on it. Joe, with Hi tek Coating will be glad to see another use of Old Gold.
If one should get tired of looking at Old Gold it can be polished off and it won't be rusted underneath.
speaking of "dirty", any way to specifically control that? As in, anything that can be tweaked to modulate how dirty a powder does, or does not, burn?
Joe using fireworks powder is a terrible idea. If you do not know what kind of powder your using
you may end up blowing your gun a part. Flash powder is used a lot in fireworks. Flash powder
is very powerful & will blow a black powder fire arm up. I wish you had not posted that, for some
one reading this thread might try it.
Fly
Say Fly.... that Juniper in OK that you spoke of.... is it "Alligator Bark Juniper", or "Shaggy Bark"? We have both kinds in Northern Az., but mostly the Shaggy. Here it is the "Alligator Bark" that smells just like Cedar.
Can anyone post pics of the different types of Willow please??? (Leaves, bark, etc.)
Fly, how much for a Die shipped to Az.?
Lastly, it seems like hardly anyone is achieving the density of commercially produced powders, even with MORE than the mathematically calculated proper force applied when corning. Why is that?
Thanks,
Vettepilot
Ok, thanks! Hopefully I will be able to order one after the first, though I am not in a big hurry as my press is in storage 350 miles away. I am gathering the goodies to jump into this though, thanks to all you great guys and this fantastic thread.
Any ideas on that density question?
Vettepilot
Yes, I had noticed your post about your success. But so many others have mentioned that even with supposedly sufficient press forces were only achieving 60 to around 75% of commercial densities.
For my personal shooting, it probably won't be a significant issue as I probably will only use it in my muzzle loader. I did shoot some black powder substitute shot gun shells I had loaded last weekend though, and that was a real kick in the a##! Lots of fun. Also, I can only assume that denser powders would be more durable in handling and storage. And besides, I'm curious and always seek answers and knowledge. (That's why I love this thread, and everyone's contributions. I've learned a lot, even though I had been informally studying the subject for 6 months to a year before I happened across this thread.)
Thanks,
Vettepilot
Vettepilot, I was able to get around 60%-65% density when compared to commercial powder like Geox with screening which is fine for using in my muzzle loaders. I tried compressing and corning but didn't have a good enough hydraulic press setup to get the pucks compacted enough to make a difference. If you decide to make screened BP powdered dextrin is available at drug stores sold as a laxative and beats trying to make it consistent batch after batch.
For charcoal I'm using Carolina Willow which is an invasive brush type tree that grown in wet soil. Just about any type of fast growing willow seems to work well according to the general consensus. I ended up googling different types of willow to identify what grows locally and found that a patch of Carolina Willow is on my property.
Fly, Sorry to hear about you not being able to sell your puck mold on this site any more, never got one when I had a chance.
I have finally read this whole thread, have committed to doing this and spent a good bit of money rounding up supplies, and now it appears the thread is falling apart. Major bummer!
Oh well, I will continue, and I am a stubborn "cuss" and believe I will succeed, save money on powder, and have the fun and satisfaction of doing it. Thanks again guys for all the testing, info, and entertaining reading.
I have some pictures to download and post from my vacation. I can't believe it, but I think I might have scored some Black Willow right here in Arizona if my research is correct. I will post the pics soon to see if you guys can make a positive ID for me.
Fly, I hope you decide to stick around. You are a distinct asset to the forum. God I hate politics!! If you don't mind me asking, what ram to sleeve clearance do you use on the dies? .002---> .003" ??
Thanks for your help and replies all,
Vettepilot
Maybe the thread is slowing down a bit , Because we are spending all our time making Powder from what we learned in this thread already.
It is a Fun Pastime.
Some fellers here mentioned it being bow season. A lot of hunting going on or getting ready to go hunting. What is the process for slugging your muzzle loader anyway?
I do a cerosafe or epoxy cast.
It is not the same as doing it for a barrel open at both ends but it gets you an idea of what your barrel bore size is
The way I do mine is a piece of brass rod as close to bore diameter as possible. I use a piece about a 1/3 barrel length. Drop it into the barrel. then drive the slug into the barrel. I go about a foot. Leave enough room so the rod can get a run against the slug to drive it back out of the bore. Be sure to lube the bore first. I use a light oil.
This method is for a barrel with breech in.
swamp
There is no problem so great, that it cannot be solved by the proper application of high explosives.
Hmmm, that sounds a bit scary, though if your plug is sized correctly it would work.
I would use Cerro Cast. It doesn't cost much and is easy to do.
If using that first method, I would do it how I have done other guns; use tubing to cast an appropriate sized slug, larger than the bore. Then chuck that into a lathe and turn it down to a safe size for slugging. Maybe 2 thousandths max over suspected groove diameter....
Just my thoughts...
Vettepilot
I've used a soft lead slug screwed onto my ball puller and a steel ram rod. Lube the bore with some resizing wax from my reloading setup and gently tap the slug into the bore. Got to get the size of the slug just right and it doesn't work well on a rough bore. It's a little bit of pucker doing it if you get my drift.
Why do we care about the groove diameter in a muzzle loader? Everything that gets loaded has to fit the bore properly, and as soon as the gunpowder gets lit it's going to fit the grooves. The bore diameter is everything, and that's easy to check with pin gauges.
Well, I knew of this semi-secret spot that actually has water year around, even with the drought here in Arizona and we hit that spot on our little vacation. Sure enough, it had Willow trees, and I (think) it is actually Black Willow. I brought a decent supply of it back to cook up, along with some Shaggy Bark "Common" Juniper.
From the pics I researched on the net, I think I got Black Willow, but I am hoping you guys can verify for me what it is for sure. Here's some pics. The only "flower/seeds" I could see looked like brown dried out versions of the little fuzzy white ones Black Willows get. Mostly all were gone and the leaves are starting to turn as it is autumn. Thanks in advance for any input on this!
Vettepilot
Attachment 229200WILLOW.jpg (For some reason you have to click on the last one, (WILLOW.jpg) and a good pic of the leaves will pop up.) I messed up loading the pics somehow, and it doesn't show a thumbnail pic...
Last edited by Vettepilot; 10-21-2018 at 09:16 PM.
Looks like willow to me.. if you do harvest the willow, save the bark. It makes great arthritis medicine.
Any technology not understood, can seem like Magic!!!
I will love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.
Well, I am sure it is some species of Willow. I want to try to ascertain if it is the vaunted "BLACK" Willow.
Thanks for your reply,
Vettepilot
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 |