My homemade black powder

[LAGS]

@ Hossfly.
I think I will put the thermometer in the Quart paint can the next batch of balsa that I cook.
Just to see what it really takes to be consistent.
I have my gallon retort set up for it already.
But I don't think I will ever go to a PID set up because , I don't make that much charcoal at one time.
I usually choose to cook the charcoal off with scrap wood from trimming my trees rather than using propane.
Not because of the cost.
But more to get my yard cleaned up.
And , going back to basic methods gives you an out if gas or electric prices go thru the roof even more.

[super6]

Man, the last 100 or so posts makes me think your way ahead from where I started, Been reading every post, Keep on trucking!

[DoubleBuck]

Seeing the opinions on wood/charcoal gives me information, ideas and shortcuts to better quality. I value all the opinions of all of you who have taken the time to make, test and report on your findings.
The Plum wood does not surprise me as being dirty. I have used Peach and Apple, and found them to be the same. Useable? You bet, but I have also made better. Now, the time of cutting never came into the equation, or many other variables that could skew the tests; but when I read other's reports, it makes jumping on something not tried an easier decision to, or not to do.
There are many great informational posts on this forum that have helped me on my quest. A big one is Linstrum's ash assays. Knowing the cleanliness of a wood, before you take the time to debark, cut, cook and process it; along with the wasted materials is really priceless.
Posts on cooking; processing; milling; sizing; polishing; binding; storing; shot speed comparisons, etc., etc., all have made our craft competitive with the best the world has known. Maybe not Gospel, but certainly informational. Thanks to all of you.

[Doc Hickok]

Dose anyone know how to contact a member named Fly

[LAGS]

I have a question for flintlock shooters.
Would it make a difference if I made the 4f flash pan powder with a higher sulfer content.
Something like a 75/12/13 ratio
The higher sulfer content lowers the ignition point , so it might be more reliable.
Or would another ratio like 74/14/12 do better ?

[Trapper-Jack]

Lags
My wife and I each shoot a flintlock. The priming powder I have been using has 10% sulfur. It is the fines from my screened 2f powder. I have no problem with it catching a spark. In fact I believe it is easier to ignite than the Goex 4f.

[LAGS]

In my flinter, I use Goex 4f.
And I sometimes have problems with the ignition.
That is why I asked about using a different ratio powder.
I take my homemade powder , and anything smaller than 3f and remill it and make more 2f and 3f.
But I wanted to make up a batch of powder just to grind into 4f with maybe more sulfer to get it to flash even better than my standard powder in 4f.
But now that I made some powder with Willow charcoal and am going to do a batch with Balsa wood charcoal , I may end up with a better flashing priming powder in the 75/15/10 ratio.

[Linstrum]

Dose anyone know how to contact a member named Fly

Doc Hickok, the last post I can find by Fly was 11-14-2020. It was here on this thread, # 3151 on page 158. Go to that post and click on Fly on the far left side up at the top, and it will take you to his information profile. From there it may have contact information. YMMV, good luck!

[Brimstone]

I was eyeballing Apple chips and thinking hmm I wonder. I figured it'd be like Plum. My cousin who's also at my side for much of the testing and theory crafting on the subject was eyeballing Brazilian Pepper bush. This stuff grows like mad around here, got a bush 20 feet behind my house the neighbor has been cutting back for years to no avail.

Then I found someone else posted here and lives maybe 20 minutes away who tested it already and posted the results. I couldn't be bothered to try, it's not my intention to cook toxic plants in my retorts. The neighbor burned the thing last year, smelled like pine with a bit of an eye watering effect and he just stood next to the toxic burning bush like Moses or something.

I was expecting to see his mug on the news with a headline "Florida man burns toxic bush and goes on naked rampage through small town" but he seemed just fine the next day.

Has anyone tried Carolina Buckthorn? It's supposedly identical to Buckthorn Alder.

[jmh54738]

Linstrum, have you detailed your ash assay process, if so, What post #. If this is something that I can repeat, I will test the ash content of my Quaking Aspen.
jmh54738

[DoubleBuck]

jmh54738;
I'm not Linstrum, but was reading the forum and listening to a Razorback baseball game. His post is #4192 on page 210. It is some great information.

[DoubleBuck]

Off topic question for you muzzle stuffer shooters;
A friend of mine built a Thompson Center Renegade kit rifle, about 30 years ago. It came with a wooden dowel ramrod, with a pressed fit brass threaded end, and had a brass jag attached. He had only shot very few shots, and was running the jag down the barrel. At the bottom, it got tight, stuck, and a hard pull made the PRESS FIT!!! brass come off the ramrod, which has been stuck for that 30 years. He made a wall hanger out of it and I talked him into giving me the rifle, to get that jag removed and cleaning the rifle up, to set him back up with it. It is a beautiful little rifle and I bet it will shoot great.
My question is, has anyone experienced a like situation, and if so, how did you remedy it? I looked into removing the breech plug, and don't relish going there as it may be nearly welded in, from time and corrosion.
I do believe that if the threads are the same (1/4" x 28), I can put a grease zirk in place of the nipple, and pump that mother out, with grease. That may take a minute, and most of a tube of grease, but I can't seem to come up with a more simple solution. If I could adapt something to that nipple hole, I think hydraulic pressure from something would work as good or better, but I can't think of something to adapt to it. Like a power steering hose adapted down, or something. We talked about dribbling a few grains of powder in the flash hole and try to shoot it out and I've thought of trying to somehow glue the ramrod back in the brass fitting, let it set up and try to pull it, but I'm thinking that is a real long shot of working.
Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. If anyone has experience unscrewing a breech plug, that would be a simple fix, if it is doable. Thanks in advance.

[LAGS]

I would try the grease gun removal first.
Then if that does not work I would try to remove the breech plug.
But then , I have the barrel vise , barrel blocks that I made myself , and the Breech plug tool that I use with a 20" crescent wrench.
I pull All the breech plugs on the TC's that I buy to rebuild.
I have done about 50 barrels so far.
And Only One was locked in where it stripped part of the threads on the barrel and breech plug.
But using the Zerk fitting and grease gun is an easy option to try if you don't have the tools to pull the breech plug.
The one barrel that got stripped will be repaired eventually.
I will get another breech plug.
Probably off another used rifle that I will buy that has a barrel that is in such a bad condition that Bobby Hoyt can not restore the bore.
But that hasn't happened so far.
I will have to have someone shorten the barrel a bit and rethread it for the breech plug since I no longer have a lathe.

[Brimstone]

HAH yes I have had this issue just a few months ago. Jerkjerkjerk smacked in the face by my own fist and yep the jag, patch and bolster all stuck down the far end.

I pulled the cleaning screw off my drum and used a rubber nuzzle hooked to my air compressor to pop it out, I soaked it in water for 20 minutes first as I should have done with the hard fouling to begin with.

I've done the same when I went send down a patched ball and then powder. It acts just like a Co2 discharger only it doesn't fit in my range box. I really need to get a Co2 discharger...

[LAGS]

I have used the air compressor method before.
Sometimes it works , sometimes not.
Depending on what is stuck in the bore.
Funny thing is.
You would not believe how many rifles I have bought over the years that had a load and ball in the chamber.
I guess that is why they sold them so cheap.
On all rifles that I rebuild.
I Always put a cross pin in the ramrod to prevent the tips from pulling off.
Lucky that I do because.
I sold a Renegade to "Armoredman"
The first day we took it to the range, he had a dry patch get stuck on the ramrod and stuck the rod in the bore.
Lucky I had given him a T Handle that fits the other end of the ramrod and we With both of us holding the rifle , were able to pull the ramrod back out.
If the tip wasn't pinned to the ramrod , the tip for sure would have pulled off.

[jmh54738]

Thanks, DoubleBuck, for Linstrum's post location. I am currently burning off a carefully weighed 100 grain sample of coarse crushed Quaking Aspen charcoal. The ash is snow white. I will have an ash % tonight.
jmh54738

Edit: The ash weighed in at 5.4 grains, which equals 5.4%

[Brimstone]

Most of my powders come out at 80 to 85 grains in a 100 gr measure for corned powder.
A few batches came out a little heavier but never up to 90gr per 100 gr volume measure.
My powder is pressed with a Fly die on a HF 20 ton press , so I don't see how I can get the density any higher.
My screened powder with a binder stays around 65 to 69 grains per 100 grain measure.
But still shoots good

As the press cake bleeds air and the pressure drops, are you following up with immediate action?

I find I need to work the lever after 2 minutes to reapply maximum pressure. I do this 3 times on my 12 ton press with my 3" die column and after the 3rd time it really doesn't lose any more air in a reasonable time so I break the column down and prep for corning. I would say not more than 10 minutes of keeping the pressure on.

I just threw 3 different batches all made under identical operation, on the same tools, and all ring in 1 for 1 from the meter to the scale. 50gr on the Lyman 55 rings in 50gr on the scale. My CVA measure varies a bit from charge to charge but that is what measures do.

[LAGS]

When I press my pucks with a HF 20 ton press.
I press the pick at full compression for two to three minutes.
Then jack it down to full pressure again for another two minutes.
Then a third time.
When dry , the pucks are pretty rigid and snap when cut with wire cutters.

[Inebriated Eremite]

LAGS my take on your primer powder from earlier I think it's less about how well the powder lights and more about not glazing, not using graphite, and keeping density low which all results in faster burning pan powder. I would think using a light wood like Paulownia and compressing the pucks to 1.5 that has a ratio around 76/14/10 and corned to 4F unglazed I would think would make an amazing pan powder. But this is coming from a guy who uses the same powder in the pan that was used for loading.

[HamGunner]

Has anyone tried Carolina Buckthorn? It's supposedly identical to Buckthorn Alder.

I tried Carolina Buckthorn (Frangula Caroliniana) last year. It showed low ash level and I think it was <3%, but it's speed was slower than my Black Willow or Sassafras so I have not done anymore testing on it. It certainly was doable for BP, but I can readily find plenty of Sassafras and Black Willow locally a lot easier than finding the Carolina Buckthorn. Where I did find it, it was growing all along some Forest Service roads, so it likely is around, just hidden from sight a bit.