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Thread: My homemade black powder

  1. #6421
    Boolit Master
    dtknowles's Avatar
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    Make my powder, cast my bullets, reload my primers, and anneal the brass for long life. With a big enough supply of the chemicals and metals I no longer depend on anyone to shoot.
    Tim
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  2. #6422
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    Quote Originally Posted by dtknowles View Post
    Make my powder, cast my bullets, reload my primers, and anneal the brass for long life. With a big enough supply of the chemicals and metals I no longer depend on anyone to shoot.
    Tim
    I made guncotton once, years ago, when I had access to analytical grade nitric and sulfuric acids........I found out that ping pong balls were easier and cheaper.

  3. #6423
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vettepilot View Post
    Well, congrats!! You shot powder you actually made. That's huge, isn't it??

    I just totally love shooting things the government and government caused market vagaries can't take away from me and/or price out of my reach!! My own cast boolits, my own powder, and I'm working on making my own primers/caps too! Yeah!

    Congrats again! You'll definitely get it all refined.

    EDIT: Whoops, I just noticed that wasn't HWooldridge that posted about shooting. Oh well, congrats to dtKnowles as well!

    Vettepilot
    I shot some of my first batch in a borrowed front stuffer - but I’m primarily focused on cartridge powder.

  4. #6424
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    I made my super cheap brass milling media over the weekend. I tried two method of filling 40 S&W cases with lead. First I tried casting into the case. I heated them on a hot plate then poured the metal in. This wasn't the best method as I had a lot of clean up to do to get the excess lead off the sides of the cases. I also had to stake the metal in place as the cores came loose after cooling. A roll crimp die would have worked too but I don't have one for this caliber. To stake I used a chisel right on the case mouth to make a dent.

    The second method was pressing. I used my shop press to load one 375 ball and one Kaido 36cal conical into each case. This worked out just about perfect and if I pressed right to the mouth it would cut the excess lead off. These were in there firm and I didn't feel the need to stake.

  5. #6425
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    NICE!!

    Yeah, it was a bit of a challenge casting lead into my 1/2" copper pipe sections for sure, but I got it done. I'm very happy with them as media, though it kind of choked me up to use up that much of my very hard won wheel weight lead. I forget now how many pounds of it, but I had to make a bunch of media to half fill my custom 6" x 6" x 9" mill jar!!

    I used the wheel weight lead because it's harder/more durable. I was going to heat treat them too, but never got around to it. They don't seem to be wearing down any...

    Vettepilot
    Last edited by Vettepilot; 11-21-2022 at 05:16 PM.
    "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, have neither."
    Benjamin Franklin. (A very wise man!)

  6. #6426
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    For crimping the end of cases cast like that.
    I just used a Socket Wrench and a mallet.
    Just find a socket that fits kind of over the case and give it a tap.
    It compresses the case and kind of rolls it over a tad.

  7. #6427
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    Steve;
    That looks excellent, to me! When you use them, let us know how they work. I may just drop the lead balls and do that. I've thought of it for some time. I could just use the lead I'm using now and forget about switching to harder lead. Thanks for the picture and advice!

    LAGS;
    That sounds like a good feasible idea, as well! Thanks for the heads up!

    I just got finished pressing 34 pucks of the Sassafras powder I made over the weekend. She's drying as we speak! Everything fell in place this time, and I think I nailed it. Or tacked it, anyway.

  8. #6428
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    I also think .
    If you are going to fill cases with Molton lead.
    You might try putting Soldering Flux inside of the case walls.
    Once filled with lead and maybe warmed up with a propane torch.
    The lead is then going to solder to the case.
    The same would go for using copper piping filled with lead.

  9. #6429
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    Well, I lucked out I think. I cast the WW lead into my copper pipe sections, and they stayed tight/together. Didn't use flux. But the pipe sections had curled edges because I took the time to cut them with a pipe cutter, and really beared down on that puppy when cutting in order to purposely curl the edges.

    Lots of good ideas here. Great thread, and great participants!!

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

  10. #6430
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    I have a few zinc wheel weights........seems that I could melt some of them and pour into empty brass and have a harder milling material. I have never melted zinc though. Not exactly sure what I would need.

  11. #6431
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    Molton Zinc would be great to use .
    It is a Little lighter than lead , but considerably harder than WW lead.
    It melts at a higher temperature , but is easy to melt.
    I have cast round balls out of Zinc.
    But it is much harder to cast in a Boolit mold.
    You have to have the Zinc hotter than lead.
    You have to have the mold very hot.
    Then it cools down slower than lead.
    Then when it cools , it is very hard to cut off the spru because of the Zinc being harder.
    But casting Zinc into brass casings or copper tubing will work good enough.

  12. #6432
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    Has anyone tried purifying their charcoal by giving it a water bath? Obviously it doesn't need it, but some people online said it helps. Not sure if there's any merit to it.

  13. #6433
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    Steve;
    I myself have never heard of it. Do they say what the benefit is supposed to be? And, would you wash it before or after grinding? Or, do they bathe it to eliminate dust?

  14. #6434
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    Quote Originally Posted by DoubleBuck View Post
    Steve;
    I myself have never heard of it. Do they say what the benefit is supposed to be? And, would you wash it before or after grinding? Or, do they bathe it to eliminate dust?
    It's supposed to give it a lower ash content and remove some minerals. It could be BS, but I'm always looking for a cleaner burn.

  15. #6435
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    O.K., gents, I have been reading with GREAT interest and have a few questions, so bear with me, this is a new interest. Please note, I have NOT read the entire thread (I will), but that is another day.
    1. Concerning consistency of the charcoal, has anyone used cardboard/paperboard? It would seem that this material would be the most consistent for making this ingredient.
    2. What is the purpose of 'corning' a pressed and dried cake when you can choose the grain size by sifting the wet ball through a screen of the chosen/appropriate size? Seems an unnecessary step.
    3. Could one use ball bearings in a vibratory tumbler to 'ball mill' the ingredients? I can't imagine that chromoly bearings would impact enough to create a spark, and wonder about lead contamination of the powder as well as the work area (lead dust).
    Lead Forever!


    The 2nd amendment was never intended to allow private citizens to 'keep and bear arms.' If it had, there would have been wording such as 'the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. -Ken Konecki, July 27, 1992

    John Galt was here.

    "Politics is the art of postponing an answer until it is no longer relevant". (From the movie 'Red Tails')

  16. #6436
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    I am not a BP expert.
    But I think making charcoal out of paper or cardboard will produce too much Ash.
    I tried making powder with cotton fabric that was cooked.
    It did work but not really any better.
    Corning your powder raised the density.
    It makes the powder more solid even after grained and screened.
    Now as far as using any kind of steel balls or ball bearings to mill your powder.
    I would not do that.
    The chance of it making a spark of any kind is just too great.
    IE.
    What if by chance there is a piece of sand that got dropped in your powder before grinding it.
    That crushing between steel balls will cause a spark.
    I have not had any issues with the lead balls contaminating the powder with lots of lead.
    For the most part, lead sticks together when deformed or hitting each other.
    But brass or copper Media would work and eliminate all lead in your powder.

  17. #6437
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bloodman14 View Post
    O.K., gents, I have been reading with GREAT interest and have a few questions, so bear with me, this is a new interest. Please note, I have NOT read the entire thread (I will), but that is another day.
    1. Concerning consistency of the charcoal, has anyone used cardboard/paperboard? It would seem that this material would be the most consistent for making this ingredient.
    2. What is the purpose of 'corning' a pressed and dried cake when you can choose the grain size by sifting the wet ball through a screen of the chosen/appropriate size? Seems an unnecessary step.
    3. Could one use ball bearings in a vibratory tumbler to 'ball mill' the ingredients? I can't imagine that chromoly bearings would impact enough to create a spark, and wonder about lead contamination of the powder as well as the work area (lead dust).
    The ball bearings surface isn't conducive to sparking,at first anyway, it's the fact they're hardened.

    Hardened shot can shatter and the energy released generates a lot of heat. Banging hardened shot together is asking for an accident, hence why marbles are also a bad idea as they too can shatter with enough energy to light off powder.

    Also, steel is gonna rust like mad. It's gonna be soo bad. That alone would eat at the service life a significant amount.

    Ceramic is up in the air. Some swear by it, others figure it like marbles. I dunno, I've no first hand experience with it.
    Last edited by Brimstone; 11-24-2022 at 09:27 PM.

  18. #6438
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bloodman14 View Post
    O.K., gents, I have been reading with GREAT interest and have a few questions, so bear with me, this is a new interest. Please note, I have NOT read the entire thread (I will), but that is another day.

    2. What is the purpose of 'corning' a pressed and dried cake when you can choose the grain size by sifting the wet ball through a screen of the chosen/appropriate size? Seems an unnecessary step.

    There is a lot of weight difference between the same volume measure of screened compared to corned, and corned lacks a bit of the weight of commercial of that same volume measure.

    Corning or compressing into pucks can be an unnecessary step if one is not concerned about the weight disparity between the screened powder and commercial. If you add the additional volume of screened powder required to equal the same weight of commercial then you will likely get very near the same results. This can easily be done in a rifle or single shot pistol as there is plenty of room for more volume of powder.

    There is not enough room in a cartridge or the cylinder of a revolver to be able to even closely reach the same power level with screened as you will with more dense commercial powder. Even the more dense home made corned powder normally falls slightly short of the density of commercial, but not by all that much.

    I read probably 200+ pages of this thread before I jumped into the ball game, and even then I was still behind on the count. I struggled and read and researched on my own a lot, only to find out that much of what I had read elsewhere on the internet was not all that accurate and in many cases, completely wrong. This thread has lots of knowledge tied up in it's hundreds of pages. Most of it is informative and constructive and one should take careful notes, in my opinion.

    I tossed a lot of my ill gotten "knowledge" about making good Black after reading the results of members of this thread. I now make decent Black. Might not be as good as some, but it is right up there. Close enough for me to commercial powder. The velocities I have recorded in my revolvers using my corned powder proves that I am not too far behind the commercial stuff.

    One should read as much of this thread as they can before going forward very far into home made powder making as it certainly will help avoid making inferior Black. Plus, there are lots of good variations and types of equipment tried and proven here that can help make ones production much more enjoyable.

    Be safe and enjoy.

    Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving
    Last edited by HamGunner; 11-25-2022 at 12:33 AM.
    73 de n0ubx, Rick
    NRA Benefactor Life Member/VFW Life Member

  19. #6439
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    Doublebuck, I hope you're doing well and your sassafras is growing fast!

    I'm excited to hear how your powder does that you just pressed.

    Happy and safe Thanksgiving to all.

  20. #6440
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    If my memory is correct, Swiss doesn't graphite their powder, correct?

    They do tumble their grains damp to get the "glaze". Has anyone had any successful attempts at glazing their powder by tumbling the grains damp and not using graphite?

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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