My homemade black powder

[Texantothecore]

The most common problems are:

Smoking
Bench grinders
Cutting torches
Basically anything that could throw a spark.

[Jugband]

i can keep it working no matter what i can make powder,flints,bullets
its the best thing i can think of for when the SHTF

True, you can likely keep a flintlock going for a long time after there are no more stores operating, if you get into flint knapping, and live where there are a lot of flint rocks, which aren't just everywhere but also aren't too uncommon.

So long as a spring didn't break in your rifle, you'd be in business if you could only get black powder and lead.

But here's something to consider... when was the last time you saw any sulfur nuggets laying around on the ground? You can char your own charcoal, and you can make potassium nitrate out of any number of things, including cow patties and straw, or human urine, given enough time. Female contribution to the war effort in the revolutionary war was largely saving their urine and collecting that of men, for production of saltpeter to produce black powder.

But sulfur only occurs around volcanic activity and it usually must be mined, like coal, unless you can get into the deposits left from geysers in Yellowstone.

So you'd better consider migrating to Montana if you want any hope of making your own black powder after an apocalypse... there are other places that don't have geysers but have sulfur springs... which also bring sulfur to the surface in hot water... they exist but are not common to find in the USA. Do you know of any near you, offhand?

Also, lead must be mined. Reclaimed range lead and wheel weights both contain antimony and too much tin for black powder balls which need to be pure lead, or very close to pure.

Your prospects of getting lead without mining it are better than those of getting sulfur, since pure lead is used for flashings by roofers and plumbers, plus it was used in water pipes during the first half of the 20th century. You could probably scavenge for suitable lead, but it still would probably be a problem.

The alternative is to visit the rotometals website, or someplace else that sells pure lead, and just start stockpiling some lead each month, until you get several hundred pounds you can bury in your back yard, creating your own personal little lead mine for later. Or find a marine salvage yard to try and buy salvaged keel weights from sailboats.

One way or another, any notion that a flintlock will keep you shooting food and marauders for 30 years after there are no more stores (or they are all government-controlled) is going to need to take sulfur and lead supplies into account.

[Col4570]

I suppose that if ingredients for BP where unobtainable Crossbows would be the way to go.Necessity is the mother of invention and pretty soon man would be up and running especially if he needs to protect his group and put Meat on the Table.

[wicket]

There are about 350 million guns in the country, and who knows how many rounds of ammunition considering all the hoarding that's been going on. It's hard to imagine a scenario where folks are going to need to manufacture black powder to hunt and protect their family group. If society collapses we'll all be trapping rats for food long before we run out of smokeless ammo.

[Texantothecore]

On the other hand, bp is 25.00 per lb locally. You can make it for about 2.50 per lb.

[WallyinIN]

I had some free time this afternoon so I grabbed my latest batch of powder a scale and powder measure. Measured out fifteen 100 grain charges and weighed them out. The average was 99.6 with a spread of 7 grains. This batch was polished for 6 hours. Anyone else comparing volumes and weights on their homemade powders.

Wally

[aephilli822]

On the other hand, bp is 25.00 per lb locally. You can make it for about 2.50 per lb.

where do I get the materials to do it at that price?

[Fly]

I have Wally. I don't polish mind cause I,m just to dam lazy I guess (wink). But for my revolvers I shoot
30 grains. My corned not polished powder weight is about 27 to 28 grains from a 30 grain volume. I can't really tell much difference
from it 28 vs 30 grains in the pistols.
Fly

[Texantothecore]

where do I get the materials to do it at that price?

Potassium Nitrate:www.dudadiesel.com
Charcoal:
Lowes or Home Depot. Fence staves turn into good Charcoal
Sulfur:www.skylighter.com
Dextrin:
Kroger corn starch baked. Also skylighter sells it cheap.

[Nobade]

I get me KNO3 and sulfur from www.ihaveadotcom.com

Good guy to deal with. Even has willow charcoal if you don't want to make your own.

-Nobade

[WallyinIN]

Between Ihaveadotcom and seatle pottery, my costs are $2 /lb. Charcoal doesnt cost anything just time and an evening around the fire.

Wally

[Avenger442]

Thanks guys for the Ihavea.com can always use another source.

I'm lucky Duda Diesel is just down the road from me. Can drive there and back for less than the shipping. Sulfur and prilled KNO3 from that source in five pound bags is cheap. Not crazy about the prilled KNO3 because of the extra step of putting it through the blender to grind it up. I tried to put it through the ball mill first but it was eating the lead off the balls. Fly suggested the blender and it works great. So far it has been black willow charcoal. About to do a batch of read cedar charcoal. I have probably over bought for my needs but being a newbie I wasn't sure how much I would need. I guess there is always the fire works hobby to use it up in.

Wish I could get some time to sit down and actually load some black powder cartridges for the 44 and 45. I have been casting bullets and have to coat them with the Hi-Tek coating. I have been reading Lyman's Black Powder Handbook & Loading Manual trying to learn as much as I can before I start. I did get a chance to measure my powder against some 2f Elephant. Measured out a load of Elephant weighed it and used that weight to get a load of homemade. It fits in the shell case with enough room for the bullet. Still looking at wads and grease.

Fly
I might get a chance to do some of the mimosa if I can just keep myself in town long enough. Family issues have kept me out of town about two to three days a week for the last two months. I though when you retired you were supposed to get to do what you wanted to do. I guess life happens and you have to deal with it best you can.

[Texantothecore]

Avenger,
I took 3/4" id copper tubing and cut 1" lengths and filled the copper tube with lead. Best grinding medium ever. I also figured out that if you take all your ingredients, throw them in the mill and run them for 24 hours you will have really nice airfloat powder. It also keeps the kno3 from forming a large ball. It just works.

[Atlast357]

I get me KNO3 and sulfur from www.ihaveadotcom.com

Good guy to deal with. Even has willow charcoal if you don't want to make your own.

-Nobade

The site you listed above , has the best most concise steps for BP making, I have seen. Simple to understand not complicated.

Thanks for the post Nobade.

[Boz330]

Avenger,
I took 3/4" id copper tubing and cut 1" lengths and filled the copper tube with lead. Best grinding medium ever. I also figured out that if you take all your ingredients, throw them in the mill and run them for 24 hours you will have really nice airfloat powder. It also keeps the kno3 from forming a large ball. It just works.

That is what I did as well. The lead balls just forced the powder to the ends of the mill where it stuck. The HF mill is round so there wasn't anything to keep the balls tumbling. With the copper tubing and lead that isn't a problem.

Bob

[Fly]

I did almost the same. I used stainless steel tubing. I never thought of copper? Great tip.

Fly

[Texantothecore]

I had two batches of kno3 which formed into very hard balls of about 2 lbs per ball. I had to take them apart with a 2 lb hammer. Turns out they were airfloat but I didn't like the looks of the kno3. After thinking about it for a while it occurred to me that throwing everything in without first grinding everything to airfloat separately might work. It works beautifully. Charcoal, kno3, sulfur and dextrin go in at the same time and it grinds up perfectly in 24 hours. I will probably try to use a shorter time in the future but whipping up 2 lb batches has become easy and it is much faster than pregrinding everything.

I am using a Model B Thumler with 13 lbs of copper tube/ lead grinding media and the grinding media is far superior to the lead balls and 45/70 bullets I was using before.
If you use a tubing cutter to cut up the copper tubing into 1" lengths, place them underneath a bottom pour pot, open up the flow abou 1/4 to 1/2 turn, it takes about 15 mins to make 13 lbs of grinder media. The aluminum base of the pot absorbs heat quickly enough that you don't have to put anything underneath it to keep the lead from spreading from the bottom. The first lead solidifies when when hits aluminum and seals it nicely. Couldn't be easier.

[Texantothecore]

Ace hardware sells copper tubing by the foot so you don't have to buy 10 foot lengths most of which will never be used.

Straight sided grinding media, such as lead filled copper tubing will grind faster and finer than lead balls and if you have a smaller ball mill it would be worth your time to make some up specifically for it:
1/2" id by 5/8" or 3/4" might be very useful in one of the Harbor Freight ball mills.
3/8" id by 1/2" might also work well. Try it and report back on your success.

[Texantothecore]

Another project I would like to do is use one of the cheap (24.95) grain mills from Amazon. You can produce flour by making multiple grinds each time decreasing the size. The reviews of people who found it to be inadequate are people who tried to make flour on the first pass through the mill. You can't do it that way. Multiple runs are the rule.

[Fly]

The grain mill sounds good if only the charcoal, & kno-3 are ground separate & the mill is washed out completely
between the separate grinding of the two. You have a good idea but the mill I think you are referring two is steel.
We do not need sparks.

Fly