OK guys.... here goes.... getting back in to black powder after years and years of 'heavy magnum' smokless shoulder killing rifles and pistols..... I guess...here...I am 'coming back home' to where I jumped into reloading...casting....shooting...
OK...OK...yea... 40 years plus, but old black powder in a pistol now, to me... at 65 or so...(OK...OK...PLUS) is again fun....
So... know I have time...and little money....'go figure'... I want to again make my own black powder.... I did in the third grade...yep... used my 'home made' to win my 3rd grade science project fair.... "a volcano' of mud with a hole in it...stuff with 'my home' made black powder and "FIRED IT UP"... won first price hands down.... Principal ate my butt out for smoking up the gym...but... well...screw him.....God rest his Christian soul in his grave....60 years on....
So now, with 20lbs of store bought saltpeter..(potassium nitrate) and powdered Sulfur...store bought too...OK...OK...got both from SEED RANCH website...we used to have to get saltpeter from the Commissary. Granulatged and low purity....but we made it work...
SO know guys... QUESTION TO MY FELLOW Black Powder compatriots is....
What is your best mix? 75-15-10? 75-13-12? Nitrate_Charcoal_Sulfur....???? Got something better?
I know...grind each separately.... mix well... add Isopropnoyl and mix well again and then spread to dry. Break clumps and blend easy..... ready? yea?
What do you guys like the best.... best BURN rates and pressures and velocities? I do 75-15-10.
Got any better ideas? Any tips for the 'home boys' who do it ourselves?
thanks gents....limme know!!!
Nose Dive
Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.
PS....
http://www.seedranch.com... had lots of neat stuff....ND
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I have spent several hours reading the 80 Pages and gee.. think alot is discussed and I learned alot... So....
My question is still... what is the major opinion of the best mix? 75_15_10 or other?
Also... I do my final 'solution' mix with Iso and make it gooy for sure. Have always had good ignition and burn after drying and 'powdering'.
And...new suppliers of materials beat the heck out of a military commissary. see above. so...next question is ....
Any method to 'slow burn' rates and help pressures? 'BUDDY" told me 'baking soda' will help ignition and slow burn rate.... yea sure.....I add "mothballs" to my gas tank to increase gas mileage..... (heard that one before?)... only if you can buy 'old' naphthalene mothballs. (don't waste your time and money....I made gasoline for 30 years...if you want to add naphtha to your gas...buy it as a liquid and pour it in) (again, don't waste your time and money....it won't be cost effective....just buy the ETHYL or HI TEST gas at the pump...it is better)
So... with new and high quality materials...(see above resource)... am looking to help my old Hawken 'style' rifle to push things out to 200 or 300 or so... I was wondering if there is any 'new' chemistry for our old mix of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur.
OK...OK...OK...'leave the ole man alone'..... "if you want 'new powder'...go to smokeless".... I know...I have reloaded for 40 years and have seen things come and go and 'new' things come along and help our hobby and technology. GOEX...yep.. a good product... but...I don't make GOEX and do make BP and what I make today....is much better than what I made in the third grade. (see above)....
My cousin took 5 of my GrandDad's nitroglycerin pills....ground them up and added them to his BP Mix. Yes...he did it. Pills were for GrandDad's heart. Clandestine to say the least. I really couldn't tell any difference and when we shot the rifles we didn't die...nor did GrandDad.
When my cousin suggested we add some 4064 smokeless to our mix...well... 'common sense' prevailed and I left the project... Now..don't get me wrong... my cousin was a great guy and won a Silver Star in Nam and came back to USA ...well...unsettled and died young. I remember the day I picked him up from the airport in Dallas. Yes...the old...LOVE FIELD.... He spent a few weeks in 'decompression' in Germany and landed in Dallas. He was in full uniform and was...well...semi-sober. But...he looked great and was fully talkative and functional. Back then, you could go to the gate and see everybody get off the plane. I met him and we hugged and there were about 10 or so military guys getting
off the plane too. A few Airmen..few Marines...few Army guys.... So...we walked down the concourse to baggage claim. We picked up his duffle bag and were walking to the parking lot when a few guys met the Marines, two of them, in front of us and spit on their battle ribbons on their uniforms...and...well guys...then....needless to say...the preferable 'kit hit the fan'.... My cousin knocked both of the 'spitters' to the ground with his duffle and the marines jumped on them. Two other guys walked up the the two Airmen behind us and they decked them. This little melee went on for a few minutes and I grabbed my cousin and dragged him away by the belt and threw him against the wall and quickly, grabbed his duffle and pushed my cousin and duffle out on the street in front of taxi's and busses. He fought to get back in and, luckily, an officer in uniform grabbed my cousin and let him know 'all was under control' at baggage claim. We made a very speedy, tactile retreat from baggage claim and made to a 7-11 and with Schiltiz beers and Winston's, we made it safely out of Dallas County. No arrests.
Very close call that day....
Geeee... sorry... where did I go here? I just need some ideas on slowing BP down a bit and not blowing my old Kit Hawken rifle from blowing up.... I really don't want to add 'just a bit of 4064' to the mix and 'see what happens'.... (dead cousin's idea)
Nose Dive
Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two