MidSouth Shooters SupplyReloading EverythingInline FabricationRepackbox
Load DataLee PrecisionTitan ReloadingWideners
RotoMetals2

Thread: My homemade black powder

  1. #6761
    Boolit Master



    HamGunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Ozark, Missouri
    Posts
    520
    Duda Diesel is where I get both my pelleted Potassium Nitrate and flour Sulfur. Seems to work just fine and fairly fast delivery.

    I use an electric coffee grinder to grind down the pellets until they pass my #40 screen. And like I had posted just recently, I had much better results with very little clumping of the combined ingredients in the mill by toasting the Potassium Nitrate in cookie pans in the oven under low heat for an hour or two before mixing in the final mill. The drier the ingredients are, the better for the final mill.
    73 de n0ubx, Rick
    NRA Benefactor Life Member/VFW Life Member

  2. #6762
    Boolit Buddy FrankJD's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2022
    Location
    NJ via TX
    Posts
    309
    I just ordered enuf of both to start a new revolution ... LOL!
    The .45-70 is the only government I trust.

  3. #6763
    Boolit Master



    HamGunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Ozark, Missouri
    Posts
    520
    Quote Originally Posted by FrankJD View Post
    I just ordered enuf of both to start a new revolution ... LOL!
    Great deal. Sounds like you will soon be in production and like the rest of us, hooked big time in another endeavor of shooting fun.

    I will be excited to hear how your BP turns out. It seems at the time to be a slow and very nasty process of production, but for me, it is a labor that I love. Be sure to wear a mask when messing with the nasty dusty stuff.

    And outside as much as possible.
    73 de n0ubx, Rick
    NRA Benefactor Life Member/VFW Life Member

  4. #6764
    Boolit Buddy FrankJD's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2022
    Location
    NJ via TX
    Posts
    309
    Quote Originally Posted by HamGunner View Post
    Great deal. Sounds like you will soon be in production and like the rest of us, hooked big time in another endeavor of shooting fun.

    I will be excited to hear how your BP turns out. It seems at the time to be a slow and very nasty process of production, but for me, it is a labor that I love. Be sure to wear a mask when messing with the nasty dusty stuff.

    And outside as much as possible.
    Yep, hooked on rolling my own and yet I haven't made a thing so far other than acquiring a lotta "stuff". I'll be starting off with chemicals - KNO3 and sulfur - from Skylighter, along with AF willow charcoal from FireworkCharcoal. I cast up a hundred or so .530 balls using Lyman #2 alloy for a bit harder than pure lead. Got - screens in 20, 30, 40 mesh and a gaggle of strainers, ceramic burr grinder for the KNO3, HF dual drum ball mill, a coupla hand grain grinders for the puck grinding and for later when I'm making charcoal, mixing bowls and other incidentals. Just awaiting the 20 ton press, puck dies, press psi gauge. So yeah, I'm diving in the deep end. Hope I can swim.
    The .45-70 is the only government I trust.

  5. #6765
    Boolit Grand Master Nobade's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    SE WV
    Posts
    6,217
    You are well on your way!

  6. #6766
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Posts
    3,702
    Quote Originally Posted by HamGunner View Post
    Great deal. Sounds like you will soon be in production and like the rest of us, hooked big time in another endeavor of shooting fun.

    I will be excited to hear how your BP turns out. It seems at the time to be a slow and very nasty process of production, but for me, it is a labor that I love. Be sure to wear a mask when messing with the nasty dusty stuff.

    And outside as much as possible.
    Have you fellers looked at the ag supply places ? the last lot of KNO3 cost a tad under $1 a pound = Greenhouse grade soluble 99% . Anywhere around irrigated small crops (grapes,vegies etc) should have it - they run it through the drip lines - quality is tops.

  7. #6767
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Northwest Arkansas
    Posts
    668
    I'm with Joe on the Ag Supply's. I was ordering online from SeedRanch.com It was 99% pure and fluffy powder. I'm still using the last 10 pounds I bought of it.
    I bought my last KNO3 coming up on two years ago, from a local feed seed and fertilizer store. While ordering fertilizer and lime for my farm, I talked to the owner, and he said yes, he had 98.9% pure prilled, in bulk. Anyway, this was after hours, and he gave me feed sack and a scoop shovel and he let me get a scoop out of the stack, basically for a beer. I think I actually bought the beer and gave him 10 bucks, but I probably saved more than I spent and who's counting? I still have the sack in a sealed plastic bin in the shop. My wife and I used some on the garden last summer. I'm going to have to grind the prills, but that can't be too hard. That bulk would have been close or over a dollar a pound, at the time. Today, if they even have it or can get it, I wouldn't be surprised it is three dollars or more. But, still cheaper than what I would think you can order it on line and ship.
    Sulfur is another thing. Almost anywhere there is oil or natural gas, there is sulfur and a mountain of it. If you shop around, you can buy pure sulfur very reasonably. So much so, you might want to go ahead and buy 200 pounds or a ton. Take your trailer.

  8. #6768
    Boolit Buddy Brimstone's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    155
    Quote Originally Posted by FrankJD View Post
    Yep, hooked on rolling my own and yet I haven't made a thing so far other than acquiring a lotta "stuff". I'll be starting off with chemicals - KNO3 and sulfur - from Skylighter, along with AF willow charcoal from FireworkCharcoal. I cast up a hundred or so .530 balls using Lyman #2 alloy for a bit harder than pure lead. Got - screens in 20, 30, 40 mesh and a gaggle of strainers, ceramic burr grinder for the KNO3, HF dual drum ball mill, a coupla hand grain grinders for the puck grinding and for later when I'm making charcoal, mixing bowls and other incidentals. Just awaiting the 20 ton press, puck dies, press psi gauge. So yeah, I'm diving in the deep end. Hope I can swim.
    That's what I like to hear.

  9. #6769
    Boolit Master



    HamGunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Ozark, Missouri
    Posts
    520
    I am sure there or plenty of other sources, but I just checked around with a half dozen different places and I find Duda Diesel to still be about he cheapest for chemicals and they normally are not out of stock. They have Potassium Nitrate prilled at 99.8% purity, Technical Grade for right around $2/lb. per 10 lbs. Their milled Sulfur 99.5% purity for $1.25/lb. per 10 lbs. Larger quantities are somewhat cheaper.

    I found that Phils General Store had crystal and pre-milled Potassium Nitrate for just a bit more. It was Greenhouse grade (won't clog sprayers, etc.) which is likely plenty good enough. Below is the grading of chemicals chart:

    Grades of Chemicals
    Grade Description


    Agricultural Grade

    This is one of the lowest grades of chemicals. Because the chemical is put into the dirt (usually for a fertilizer), there are very minimal requirements.


    Tech / Industrial Grade

    Technical/Industrial grade chemicals are produced with high purity for commercial or industrial use.
    Last edited by HamGunner; 01-25-2023 at 10:35 PM.
    73 de n0ubx, Rick
    NRA Benefactor Life Member/VFW Life Member

  10. #6770
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Northwest Arkansas
    Posts
    668
    Ham
    I went to SeedRanch and they are $30 for 10 pounds. I think I paid $18 last time, but if anything, it looks like Duda may have went down in price. They used to be higher than Seed Ranch. I'm amazed it is actually only $2 per pound. Last fall, my supplier of fertilizer said they expected it to have no peak, and some of it was already out of stock. It cost us almost double to go over our place, from the year before. Glad to see someone holding fair prices.
    As far as the prills, I have read that the '1.5%' less pure on what I bought for the farm, is a binder for the prills. Don't know if that is true, but after reading about purifying it, I thought if I had any question, I would just purify what I need.
    Last edited by DoubleBuck; 01-25-2023 at 10:47 PM.

  11. #6771
    Boolit Master



    HamGunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Ozark, Missouri
    Posts
    520
    I bought several bags from Duda Diesel last year for a bit higher price if I remember right. I thought I better buy a decent supply as I too thought the price was just going to keep going up.

    As for the Prilled, well I doubt the small amount of binder in it will hurt me enough to want to pay an extra $1.50/lb. for the milled stuff. At 99.8% purity, the Prilled surely can not have enough binder to matter for my use.
    73 de n0ubx, Rick
    NRA Benefactor Life Member/VFW Life Member

  12. #6772
    Boolit Master almar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    580
    I purified some prilled from duda last year. Didn't make any difference.
    “It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.”
    ― Winston S. Churchill

  13. #6773
    Boolit Grand Master Nobade's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    SE WV
    Posts
    6,217
    Yesterday I got an email from Hort Americas saying they have potassium nitrate on sale for $77/50lb. I bought a bag of it from them last year and it was very good. Not Haifa brand but it comes from Chile and is the same stuff, clean and looks like fine sand instead of prilled.

  14. #6774
    Boolit Master



    HamGunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Ozark, Missouri
    Posts
    520
    I just checked their site and Hort Americas website says that they are out of stock of the K-Plus at $77/50 lb., but they do show Multi-K Haifa at $72/50 lb. in stock. If either one of those are of high purity, that is a really decent price.
    73 de n0ubx, Rick
    NRA Benefactor Life Member/VFW Life Member

  15. #6775
    Boolit Grand Master Nobade's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    SE WV
    Posts
    6,217
    The multi-K is what I have been using for years. It is very good, but only get that and not the other versions that have other things in them. The one in the green bag is pure.

  16. #6776
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Northwest Arkansas
    Posts
    668
    That is a decent price. Shipping and tax to where I am is $1.92 per pound. (25 Kilos)
    10 pounds from Duda Diesel with tax and shipping is $38.98, to where I live. So, $3.90 per pound. I called them about 50 pounds, because they don't quote the price. One bag is $85, but you have to fill out a government form, to purchase it and then they contact you on current shipping cost.

    Ham, when I was talking about the prilled, I was talking about the commercial from the local farm supply. He said it was 98.9% pure, if I recall. He said they probably put a bit of a binder in it to keep the prills firm so they will broadcast from a 6 ton spreader. Either way, like you, I wouldn't think 1% would adversely affect our use. I get 1% cat hair in my powder, every batch. It's free, so I use it.

  17. #6777
    Boolit Master



    HamGunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Ozark, Missouri
    Posts
    520
    Quote Originally Posted by DoubleBuck View Post
    I get 1% cat hair in my powder, every batch. It's free, so I use it.
    I do not have any cats, but I do have two dogs. I also find a small bit of pet hair in my batches of powder somehow. Even though my dogs do not even come down to my hobby shack downstairs, I still somehow manage to get a trace of pet hair in the works. Probably just falls off of me into the meal.

    And yes, it costs us nothing, so we might as well use it.
    73 de n0ubx, Rick
    NRA Benefactor Life Member/VFW Life Member

  18. #6778
    Boolit Master
    dtknowles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Southeast Louisiana
    Posts
    4,858
    I bought a kit from "Skylighter" to make black powder. My powder seems slow.

    I did some weight checks today.

    I measured 50 grains by volume (no compression) of my results and some Goex powder I have on hand using my adjustable powder measure. I made the powder into 1 inch dia. and 0.25 inch thick pucks using a rig I made and a bench vice. I then ran it through some screens I have gathered. My powder that I call 2f and 3f are pretty close to the Goex powders I have.

    my meal weighed 24.9 gr.
    my fines weighed 27.9 gr.
    my 4f weighed 38.3 gr.
    my 3f weighed 40.2 gr.
    my 2f weighed 42.1 gr.
    Goex 3f weighed 48.8 gr.
    Goex 2f weighed 46.8 gr.

    My powder is 90% ish of the Goex powders I have but I don't think it has the same power or speed.

    I expect that the charcoal that comes in the Skylighter kit is not the best.

    I think the powder is weak and slow because burn tests and chronograph tests are not what I would think were good.

    I tried loads in a 50-70 that I did not chronograph but seemed not up to my normal loads using Pyrodex. I can't chronograph those without upsetting the neighbors.

    I also tried loads in 38 S&W and .22 RF in pistols and was only getting velocities in the 400 to 500 FPS range.

    I am going to upgrade my charcoal and be more careful measureing the ingredients.

    One other thing. I did use 2 percent dextrin in my meal and I barely dampened the meal when making pucks but I am ending up with more fines than useable powder. My pucks are real hard and I am breaking them in a mortar and pestle. I just bust them I don't grind them but still too much fines.

    Looking for ideas.

    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

  19. #6779
    Boolit Buddy FrankJD's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2022
    Location
    NJ via TX
    Posts
    309
    Quote Originally Posted by dtknowles View Post
    I bought a kit from "Skylighter" to make black powder. My powder seems slow.

    I did some weight checks today.

    I measured 50 grains by volume (no compression) of my results and some Goex powder I have on hand using my adjustable powder measure. I made the powder into 1 inch dia. and 0.25 inch thick pucks using a rig I made and a bench vice. I then ran it through some screens I have gathered. My powder that I call 2f and 3f are pretty close to the Goex powders I have.

    my meal weighed 24.9 gr.
    my fines weighed 27.9 gr.
    my 4f weighed 38.3 gr.
    my 3f weighed 40.2 gr.
    my 2f weighed 42.1 gr.
    Goex 3f weighed 48.8 gr.
    Goex 2f weighed 46.8 gr.

    My powder is 90% ish of the Goex powders I have but I don't think it has the same power or speed.

    I expect that the charcoal that comes in the Skylighter kit is not the best.

    I think the powder is weak and slow because burn tests and chronograph tests are not what I would think were good.

    I tried loads in a 50-70 that I did not chronograph but seemed not up to my normal loads using Pyrodex. I can't chronograph those without upsetting the neighbors.

    I also tried loads in 38 S&W and .22 RF in pistols and was only getting velocities in the 400 to 500 FPS range.

    I am going to upgrade my charcoal and be more careful measureing the ingredients.

    One other thing. I did use 2 percent dextrin in my meal and I barely dampened the meal when making pucks but I am ending up with more fines than useable powder. My pucks are real hard and I am breaking them in a mortar and pestle. I just bust them I don't grind them but still too much fines.

    Looking for ideas.

    Tim
    As a newbie pilgrim to BP making, and have yet to make my first batch, I can only opinion from what I've learned in this thread.

    Are all the chemicals ground to air float?

    If you used the charcoal from Skylighter it's hardword rather than willow, pine, cedar, etc.

    Why are you using dextrin if you're making pucks? The idea behind compressing pucks is that the sulfur will plasticize and become the binder.

    After breaking up the pucks, they must be ground and then screened/sifted to get 1F, 2F, 3F granules. In my case, I want only 3F and the rest would be reused for another batch.
    The .45-70 is the only government I trust.

  20. #6780
    Boolit Mold Pioneer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2023
    Posts
    12
    I processed about 100 pucks a few days ago. Used a hand cranked grain mill to grind them. I ended up with probably 60/70 percent fines. Might fetch a coffee grinder with ceramic burrs and try again.

Page 339 of 404 FirstFirst ... 239289329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349389 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
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