How dirty is homemade black powder

[Sleeping Dog]

I made some black powder and tried it out in my 38 SPL revolvers. It worked quite well, but it was very messy. It was much more than American Pioneer FFFg. I even had a coating over the outside of the gun, and the cylinder was much harder to turn. I was wondering how you can tell if my BP is burning fully or if this is unburned powder/unnecessary residue. How do I know if this is normal?

I definitely need to corn the BP so I get a more consistent sizing. I don't know if that will improve the burn a lot.

[MrHarmless]

From my cursory research on black powder, if you've concocted the perfect black powder, only about ~40 percent of the mass is actually converted into gaseous propellant.

Given you're not an industrial factory, there are going to be some inconsistencies in the process that lead to less efficient burn. But one way to actually tell the efficiency is to weigh a set amount, burn it, then weigh whatever remains, which will be tricky.

Getting the corning process down to something repeatable will definitely help. You might want to machine a die, maybe special order some sizing screens.

[martinibelgian]

American Pioneer is NOT black powder, it is a substitute...

[indian joe]

I made some black powder and tried it out in my 38 SPL revolvers. It worked quite well, but it was very messy. It was much more than American Pioneer FFFg. I even had a coating over the outside of the gun, and the cylinder was much harder to turn. I was wondering how you can tell if my BP is burning fully or if this is unburned powder/unnecessary residue. How do I know if this is normal?

I definitely need to corn the BP so I get a more consistent sizing. I don't know if that will improve the burn a lot.

there are people making their own that is equal velocity to the best commercial stuff and generally cleaner burning - if yours is dirty and low energy compared to goex, then suspect the charcoal first - there is a forum with 160 some pages just a few clicks away - its all there !

[Boz330]

What Joe said. You definitely want to corn it. That will make a difference as will the wood you use for the charcoal. I have used willow, both Sandbar and Black. But my go to wood is Tree-of-Heaven. Burns cleaner for me and produces a little more velocity. Look on the Muzzle loading pages for the thread Joe referenced.

Bob

[Castaway]

The fact your cylinder had trouble turning isn’t an indication of how dirty the powder is but more of an indication you were lacking on lube. All black powder will foul to the point a cylinder will bind if the wrong lube is used or your bullet isn’t carrying enough to do the job.

[John Boy]

To minimize un-burned powder on ignition, it is a factor of the quality of the wood used for charcoal .... with no bark and issuance the retort temperature making the charcoal does not exceed 320C that would burn off the glucose in the wood... Alder Buckthorn branches collected in the Spring is the basis for excellent charcoal

[DAVIDMAGNUM]

In this era of supply chain issues I have been shooting some Elephant 2F that came with a previously owned firearm. I found a cartridge and load that is accurate at 100 meters and knocks the rams over. HOWEVER, talk about deep dark thick crunchy fouling. Holy carbon bond Batman! I have to clean the rifle every 10 shots or bullets start keyholing at random impact points. This is a pistol caliber lever action rifle. The same bullet and lube will run Swiss 2F for 150 rounds (max so far) without any cleaning or loss of accuracy. So.......even if the home brewed Holy Black is dirty it may still be accurate and usable.

[redhawk0]

As long as your ingredient ratios remain constant...the only real variable is the type of charcoal used. Some woods contain additional "impurities" that will effect burn rate. I suggest you read the 160+ thread in our forum and determine what wood you'd like to try. There are links in there that have some great burnrate tests. Read through those as well. Like many, I've been using Tree of Heaven (it seems like it's everywhere). It burns pretty clean....well...as clean as Holy Black can burn anyway.

redhawk

[greenjoytj]

This is a pistol caliber lever action rifle. The same bullet and lube will run Swiss 2F for 150 rounds (max so far) without any cleaning or loss of accuracy.

What Boolet, what lube, what range for the accuracy test and what barrel length?

I’ve just fire 15 shots then pull through a few wet patches. I haven’t tried a long run of many shots since my first outing with my 24” M73. 50 shots Goex 2fg LEE 452-255 cast bullet 20:1 alloy and home made Emmerts Improved lube. Upon clean up the barrel showed most fouling in the last 6” of the barrel. So now I just wipe after 10 to 15 shots.

My Ruger NV’s get tight after 30 shots depending on humidity and temperature sometimes more.

[Winger Ed.]

I've read that in the old days, English black powder burned the cleanest because they used willow wood for their charcoal.

[DAVIDMAGNUM]

What Boolet, what lube, what range for the accuracy test and what barrel length?

The firearm is a Uberti 1873 Winchester chambered in 44WCF (44-40) with a 24in barrel. I cast from the Accurate Mold 43-220CC with a 30-01 alloy. Lube is DGL , Starline brass, CCI#300 primer and 2.45cc of Swiss 2F. I get 2moa out to 200 yards. I like DGL, it is (to me) softer and more oily than SPG plus the last time I bought some a lot cheaper. Winchester large pistol primers increase group size and cause a hard dry fouling to develop ahead of the chamber. During very hot weather I will blow through the barrel at the end and beginning of a 10 shot course of fire. The lube is sufficient and I get a good lube star on the muzzle. However shooting silhouette after 10 shots the rifle gets set aside while targets are reset, the next relay shoots, targets are reset again then I shoot. That is a lot of time for the hot barrel to "cook dry". My son and I have shared the rifle shooting relay 1 then relay 2 for pistol caliber and then again for rifle caliber. That is 160 rounds plus sighters. After all of that the barrel looks like a couple fouling shots have been fired. To say that I am impressed with Swiss 2F and DGL in the 44WCF would be an understatement.