Made my first batch of Black Powder

[Mike 56]

My powder looks like ff but it does crack when you shoot it. I can't wait to try it in my 31 cal 49 Colt and my Walker just for grins.

[Whiterabbit]

350 grams?? what language is that. lol I savvy the 1/3 can though. lol

Well, i ended up with about 350 grams??? I diddnt weigh it, but it will about a 3rd of a old 4064 metal can.

That's pretty wild, 350 grams is .75 lb.

[AlaskanGuy]

Well, i am pleased... He he.... Now if it will just shoot.....

[Mike 56]

It will shoot.

[tacklebury]

Lemme know how that Buckstalker likes your home brew.

[AlaskanGuy]

Will Do TackleBury..... Loving the gun.. Gotta get some rings though.. but otherwise, it shoots fine.. My eyes need scopes.. LOL

[tacklebury]

Cool. If you like weaver quadlocks, I can send you a set. I have an unopened package I got from a clearance rack at Wally world.

[Mike 56]

What are weaver quadlocks?

[AlaskanGuy]

They are rings that have a hole in the base so you can use your regular rifle sights....

[Texantothecore]

I just tested my gunpowder and it looks rather like Brush Hippies first batch, slow. Not sure where to go from here.

[Nobade]

I just tested my gunpowder and it looks rather like Brush Hippies first batch, slow. Not sure where to go from here.

Sounds like it is time to go back and examine every step of your process, and see where it can be improved. My first attempts weren't all that impressive either but I kept at it and tried to improve things on every batch.

-Nobade

[Boz330]

I just tested my gunpowder and it looks rather like Brush Hippies first batch, slow. Not sure where to go from here.

Shoot it and see what it does, especially if you can chrono it. My 1st batches were screened and for what I was doing it wasn't getting much velocity. That was fixed when I corned it.

Bob

[Texantothecore]

Bob,

That was one of the questions which I had: whether corning would affect the speed. Thanks for the info.

The charcoal I think is good as it is from Eastern Cedar and the only thing I can think of which might be bothering it is the use of garden sulfur which is 10% clay. I did not adjust the sulfur content upwards for the 10% clay. Future batches are going to be run with pure sulfur to eliminate any problems which might result from the clay.

I suspect that the amount of grinding media is enough to grind the mix but may not be sufficient to pound the sulfur and KNO3 into the charcoal for incorporation. So I am going to add media until the ball mill is closer to being maxed out for weight as it appears that the mill will handle it without any problems.

So, I still have a way to go. This is such a good project.

[Boz330]

Corning makes the powder denser so it weighs more per volume. If you weigh the powder instead of using the volume measure the velocity should be pretty consistent with store bought. I ran one test where I weighed store bought (Kik I believe), screened, and corned powder and ran those loads across the chrono and the difference in velocity wasn't enough to argue about. The volume was another thing altogether, the screened was almost twice as much. That test is in the sticky above somewhere and has been so long ago I don't remember exactly the results. The CC in that test was Sandbar Willow. Black willow is slightly better and I'm going to work with Tree of Heaven next. Initial tests showed an improvement in velocity in the cartridge rounds I tried it in.
The clay in the sulfur was probably the issue, but I'd still give it a try anyway. It is all part of the learning curve. You really don't need the sulfur but it lowers the ignition temperature. I'm eventually going to try some that way since most of my powder is used in a cartridge gun.

Bob

[Texantothecore]

The powder lit off very easily so I am less worried about the sulfur content than the incorporation at this time. Apparently a lot of people use the garden sulfur and it has been reported that it works pretty well as a binder instead of dextrin.
The powder burned rather merrily so I suspect that I am just about there, but I have a ways to go.

It burned faster than Brush Hippies's first batch but definitely did not go pfft.

[Fly]

You can get very good sulfur from Hobby Chemicals.It is cheap & last for ever.One other
thing I might add in making your charcoal.Be sure it is cooked good.That can slow it down also.

Fly

[Texantothecore]

Thanks Fly. I have thought about recooking it and may do so. I also had a number of batches which were kept outside during wet weather and this may be one that picked up some moisture.

The 36% cc to wood yield has made wonder if it was fully cooked out. My expectation was about 20% yield which makes me wonder whether it was completely processed or whether I messed up on that process. I do remember that for all batches, they were removed when the smoke stopped.

Good leads here, thanks.

[Fly]

Ya there is no reason eastern cedar should be slow.I have used it alot with my fireworks, & shot
it my guns.It is not as fast as black willow but still very good.If you measured every thing right
& ball milled long enough then that may be it.

Fly

[Texantothecore]

I am going to confirm my scale's accuracy tonight and may put in some bulk rice for a few days to see if the problem is water as Houston has been extremely wet during the last 3 or 4 months.

We'll find out just what is going on and fix it.

[tacklebury]

Got the rings in a box but missed USPS. Being on overtime a bit lately. Will try tomorrow to make it there.