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Thread: My homemade black powder

  1. #4101
    Boolit Master
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    HighUintas, cool! So, did they all seem to light well? And, did they seem more clean? It would make me think you upped the oxygen and leaned the fuel down. That would make me think the linear burn rate should be really fast; at least to the point of optimum burn efficiency.
    I'll be interested to know if it changes with different charcoals. I need to settle on one wood and I think it's gonna be Sassafras, more than likely; and then try all these little tricks and see if you can tweak it to be as hot, strong and clean, as is possible, on a very consistent and repeatable basis. Keep up the good work and keep us informed! You seem to definitely have gold fever. I have as yet to hear of a cure...

  2. #4102
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    Quote Originally Posted by DoubleBuck View Post
    HighUintas, cool! So, did they all seem to light well? And, did they seem more clean? It would make me think you upped the oxygen and leaned the fuel down. That would make me think the linear burn rate should be really fast; at least to the point of optimum burn efficiency.
    I'll be interested to know if it changes with different charcoals. I need to settle on one wood and I think it's gonna be Sassafras, more than likely; and then try all these little tricks and see if you can tweak it to be as hot, strong and clean, as is possible, on a very consistent and repeatable basis. Keep up the good work and keep us informed! You seem to definitely have gold fever. I have as yet to hear of a cure...
    I do have black gold fever!

    I think they all ignited just fine. The oddball speeds I occasionally get are either due to the Chrono picking up the wad or smoke and light changes. I thought the one odd measurement of 1342 from yesterday seemed like it had more recoil though. It was the same charcoal that I had originally made, so it burns a bit more dirty than I'd like, but not too bad. I didn't notice any difference with dirtiness going to 78/12/10.

    I made a modification to my mill that I think will help prevent clumping. I'm currently milling my kno3/charcoal mix (15:1 ratio to avoid explosive risk). I didn't dry it before milling. I attached a roller bearing on the end that the jar kept wanting to migrate to and then just leveled the mill to prevent the chems from wanting to separate to one side in the jar away from the media. I'm about 16 hours in and no clumping. And as I type this, I realize I let it go way to long.

  3. #4103
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    I think I have experienced the patch problem, with my chrono, too. I was getting some speeds of '26' or '35', etc. I found several patches real close to the chrono, so moved it out from 13 feet, to 18 feet and they seem to not do that any more, but it seems like the speeds were fluctuating more, as well. I'm thinking about moving it to four or five feet, and try that. Maybe shoot higher away from the lenses. I've wondered about the smoke several times, too. But, I started covering the shades with a white tee shirt, too. So any smoke or patch will have to cross the lenses, within less than a foot above, to read them.
    I have also felt that sweet spot you talk about, with the high speed. Sometimes recoil will just feel like it was different. Not sure what that is all about. My rifle recommends a .015 patch. They are too tight. I use a .010 and they seem far better. But once in a while, I will get one that moves on the ball, and exposes an edge. I'm pretty sure that affects some of the accuracy. Maybe one out of 20, but still, it happens. Good luck with the experiments!

  4. #4104
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    I love how intensely you guys are experimenting and analyzing. Interesting stuff! Keep up the good work.

    This is just the best forum thread ever on BP, and Cast Boolits is a great site in general for sure!!

    While waiting on some parts to finish anodizing yesterday, I machined up a nice base for my pressing die. Pictures later when I get a chance.

    Vettepilot
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  5. #4105
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    Quote Originally Posted by HighUintas View Post
    Here are two pictures of velocities. The first is from last time, using a 75/15/10 ratio and the second is from today using a 78/12/10 ratio. Other than that, the load is the same and the process used for making the powder was the same.

    The average velocity is in the pictures. I threw out #6,7, and 20 from the average in today's results because they were so far off from the other measurements and they happened concurrently with other errors. #4 and 5 were not included because one was a magnum primer and the other was a 83.8gr charge. I had to compress that one quite a bit!

    It looks like I might have gained around 25fps, but it's hard to say for sure with some of the measurement errors.

    I'll be doing that ratio again next time and reducing the amount of time I mill the 3 component mixture to 30 minutes.

    Attachment 286560

    Attachment 286561
    thought I posted this already but its gone

    for me its hands down the first batch - you have 27?FPS spread - thats ok
    second batch is 106? FPS spread - that will work close in but it will wreck you at longer ranges

    Could be about 500 other variables at play too - the fun part is it will take the rest of our lives shooting to figure this stuff out

  6. #4106
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    Quote Originally Posted by DoubleBuck View Post
    I think I have experienced the patch problem, with my chrono, too. I was getting some speeds of '26' or '35', etc. I found several patches real close to the chrono, so moved it out from 13 feet, to 18 feet and they seem to not do that any more, but it seems like the speeds were fluctuating more, as well. I'm thinking about moving it to four or five feet, and try that. Maybe shoot higher away from the lenses. I've wondered about the smoke several times, too. But, I started covering the shades with a white tee shirt, too. So any smoke or patch will have to cross the lenses, within less than a foot above, to read them.

    I have an RCBS chrono with a cable to the readout unit on the bench - I shoot at maximum cable length (20 feet)
    always pick a spot under a shady tree to setup cuz this thing goes nuts if the unit is in sunlight or even light dappled shade.


    I have also felt that sweet spot you talk about, with the high speed. Sometimes recoil will just feel like it was different. Not sure what that is all about. My rifle recommends a .015 patch. They are too tight. I use a .010 and they seem far better. But once in a while, I will get one that moves on the ball, and exposes an edge. I'm pretty sure that affects some of the accuracy.
    darn right it does - cut the patches a bit bigger gives you more wiggle room

    Maybe one out of 20, but still, it happens. Good luck with the experiments!
    .........

  7. #4107
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    So here's my pressing die base, with modified die. I added the thumbscrews to the die to hold the base in. If that keeps me from fumbling one time and dumping everything on the floor, it will have been worth it! Plus it will be nice to not necessarily have to load it on the press.

    I just don't know though... will my mallet be good enough to bust up pucks??

    Vettepilot
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20210725_162906.jpg   20210725_162845.jpg   20210725_163418.jpg  
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  8. #4108
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    That is great looking VP! You'll have to let me know how it works. I would like to get a bottom plug machined for mine.

    Oh how I wish I would have taken up metal working a long time ago!

  9. #4109
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    Oh, once ya know, it's a sickness. Just like guns or anything else one gets into!

    Thanks,
    Vettepilot
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  10. #4110
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    Vettepilot, if it doesn't work, it's missing a great opportunity!

  11. #4111
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    I tried out my short mix of the 3 components today after milling the individual components for an extended time.

    Results ended up being that velocity was about 1250 on average. Slower than before. But there were 3 variables that changed.

    I annealed my brass. First time I've done that for the 45-90. On the previous test, I was on firing number 3 without annealing and the brass was getting tough. Decreased neck tension after annealing could have caused a drop in velocity.

    I didn't dry my pucks as long as usual, but my drop in weight was the same so I figured they were dry. Maybe not?

    The humidity jumped up a lot while processing my powder. Maybe it was more damp than normal?


    Even if none of these variables had an effect on the velocity, it's possible that my mixing just didn't work! I'll have to try again...

  12. #4112
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    It's just a gut feeling, nothing scientific, but I'm not a fan of separate milling of ingredients personally. Everything I've read and studied indicates the most intimate incorporation humanly possible, of all three ingredients via grinding or milling, is key.

    If you really want to play at increasing power, you might look into the CIA wet method. I saw a YouTube vid whereby a guy doing that had measurable power increases over the dry method we use. Who knows, maybe it's true?

    https://pyrodata.com/PyroGuide/index...CIA_method.htm

    Vettepilot
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  13. #4113
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vettepilot View Post
    It's just a gut feeling, nothing scientific, but I'm not a fan of separate milling of ingredients personally. Everything I've read and studied indicates the most intimate incorporation humanly possible, of all three ingredients via grinding or milling, is key.

    If you really want to play at increasing power, you might look into the CIA wet method. I saw a YouTube vid whereby a guy doing that had measurable power increases over the dry method we use. Who knows, maybe it's true?

    https://pyrodata.com/PyroGuide/index...CIA_method.htm

    Vettepilot
    I agree on needing to mill all 3 together to get the best results with our mechanical milling methods, but I still think that particle size is what matters as long as the 3 are mixed homogenously. Something that was stated in those mad monk files about Swiss powder making was that the kno3 hardness/sharpness helped to grind the CC and sulfur particles down to the smallest they can with that milling method.

    I might just get lot of sandbags and barricade the thing extremely well and mill all 3 together regularly. I don't think 100-130g of fine meal is going to get through a double layer of sandbags.

    Even as it is now, I'm 25fps faster than I was with the lead media and the combined mill time is only 3 minutes. Not bad

  14. #4114
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    I was just doing more reading on the CIA method, and most pyro guys seem to feel it does not add any power; perhaps actually being a bit less powerful. When I get a chance, I'll try to find that YouTube vid I saw again.

    Vettepilot
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  15. #4115
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    I'm still wanting someone who lives in the boonies to load up a canister with 100 grams of green meal and media and set it off with a fuse to see how big a potential bang we are talking about here.

    The drum is here for $25:

    https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VCNG97C

    Steve

  16. #4116
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    Quote Originally Posted by maillemaker View Post
    I'm still wanting someone who lives in the boonies to load up a canister with 100 grams of green meal and media and set it off with a fuse to see how big a potential bang we are talking about here.

    The drum is here for $25:

    https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VCNG97C

    Steve
    Considering the fact that the end will sometimes fall off those containers during use I would doubt you would be able to produce much of an explosion at all with one. Now a PVC pipe with screw-on ends, that would be another matter.

  17. #4117
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    Yeah, I don't think it would be all that dramatic. But I would like to see it done too!

    Let's do a "fund it", I'll contribute a few bucks...

    Vettepilot
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  18. #4118
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    I'd support a trial with the HB barrel. I'm just now rolling my first batch using the small HF rock tumbler. Sure don't have much faith in that lid even staying on! How many use this tumbler and is the lid trustworthy? I have 3 pounds of media and 200 grams of mix, plan to run it 34 hours.

    Back the original thought, I'll chip in to support a demo of a charge in the small HB barrel, as long as it is recorded!

  19. #4119
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    What's an "HB barrel"?

    I've run a good number of cleaning batches of brass and pins in my HF tumbler. Never leaked nor broke open. Watch, now that I said that, the very next batch will make a huge mess...

    Vettepilot
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  20. #4120
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    I can get out to deserted country quite easily. If someone drop ships a HF tumbler jar to me, I'll go try to blow it up, and record it.

    Vettepilot
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

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