My homemade black powder

[2TM101]

Well, gosh! It seems like using toilet paper as a source of charcoal is about the best thing to come along since, since what? Since toilet paper was invented! That, and sliced bread

Jake just did sliced bread. Its about as good for black powder as it is for food.

[2TM101]

I fully agree! The ideal would be to measure in moles... but that's too much to ask!

Last time I measured chemicals in Moles was 1979. I can barely remember that even being a thing.

[HighUintas]

DB, I like your measure of powder efficiency. It makes sense to use if you're looking to find the optimal powder and charge for a specific gun/ball/patch.

I have been wondering while watching the progress on TP black, has anyone tried to cook the TP low and slow to leave behind creosote and make brown powder?

Everyone tried very hard to do so with wood charcoal, because it created a faster and softer fouling powder.

Does it not matter for TP since there's so little ash? Does it not actually have any residual creosote to begin with?

[DoubleBuck]

HighUintas;
The fouling I found from the TP powder was soft and actually pretty light. I thought it was very clean. My first single roll batch was slow cooked with low temp., and it had lots of creosote in it. When I pulled it early, it was dark brown colored and there was liquid creosote collecting around the vent on the retort, and lots in the bottom and sides of the retort, inside. The paper felt damp and would break apart with your fingers. I think from the texture of it, that had I tried; it probably would have milled to powder, right then, but I cooked it 10-15 minutes longer, not being sure how it would react and not wanting to make a mess and have to start over.
The second batch of three rolls in a gallon retort and one roll in a quart sized retort, cooked at the same time; I cooked slow at low temp but it still came out a little darker than brown. I pulled them just after the flame from the vent started to decrease and was still blue with orange tips. The creosote had 'baked on' the inside of the retort, but would not flake off, like it was burnt. The paper was not damp feeling but also did not feel brittle like it was over cooked at all. I have not shot any of that powder as yet. It is waiting on me to check it out, and I am anxious to get it tested.
That was the long answer but I think the short answer would be; it seemed to me to cook just about the same as wood. And, the reaction seemed to be very similar as well. Both of the powders came out very light grey compared to most of the wood I have cooked. My next batch, I'm going to shut it down with the paper still in that brown stage, and see if it will mill to air float. I think it will.
I hope that answered your questions. I think it has a high amount of creosote in it, if cooked right and the fouling was nice and greasy. I think on the one test, I shot (without looking) about 10-12 shots without swabbing and they all loaded as easy as if I had swabbed. As far as ash goes, there just about is none, from my observations. The math said .0038%, if I recall, on the paper and I didn't ash any of the charcoal. At that time, I didn't think it was necessary. I wish now I had, to see if there was a difference between the paper and the charcoal, in ash content. I'll try to remember to do that, next time.
Cook up a batch and let us know how it comes out for you!

[Brimstone]

Greasy residue is precisely what I go for with my powder. Feels like face paint, same creamy texture. Makes all the difference in the bore.

[HamGunner]

Nice day, so I done some more chronograph testing on all my home made powders. Sassafras, Wal-Mart Great Value Ultra Strength TP, Sam's Club Member Mark Ultra Premium TP. and my first batch of Golden Powder, which I will toss in here as well as on the Golden Powder thread.

All fired in my Pietta .36 cal. 1851 Navy pushing an 80gr. ball and ignited by my home made caps. Twelve rounds (two cylinders) of each fired for the test using a load of 22 gr. (measured, but not weighed) for all, except for the Golden Powder, which I did not measure as I just filled the cylinder with the Golden Powder, compressed with the ram, filled to the top again and seated the ball on top of that.

Sassafras 3F averaged 846 fps. with an ES of 61 fps. SD of 22.
Great Value TP 3F Ave. 869 fps. with an ES of 43 fps. SD of 15.
Sam's Club TP 3F Ave. 891 fps. with an ES of 42 fps. SD of 15. The first cylinder full of this powder gave Ave. 908 fps. with 19 fps. ES and 07 fps. SD.

Golden Powder 3F Ave. 568 fps. with an ES of 56 fps. SD of 20 fps. Again, I topped off cylinders, compressed with ram, re-filled cylinders and seated ball. Did not weigh or measure the Golden Powder loads. This Golden Powder does shoot very clean. Might make some good plinking powder. The accuracy was noticeably decent.

Not much new info on the TP testing. They both seemed to be very close in results, but one cylinder full of the Sam's Club TP powder did give probably the best ES and SD of any testing of this Pietta, ever. Maybe just a fluke, but perhaps this TP charcoal powder can be made to shoot. TP has once again beat out my Sassafras, which up until now had been my best so far.

Note: On the test below, I used factory caps and actually weighed the charges. I did get more velocity in that testing session, so either the loading or the caps, or both, likely made some difference in the two tests as far as velocity goes, but this test did give good comparative potential I suppose.

[HamGunner]

Well, it got up to just over 50 degrees today and was overcast. Perfect day to do some chronograph tests of powder as my Chony likes bright cloudy skies the best. I tested Goex 3F, my Sassafras 3F, and my recent batch of 3F Great Value Toilet Paper.

I used my 1851 .36 Cal. Pietta Colt navy reproduction that was imported by Navy Arms in 1976. I fired six shots through the Chrony at about 15 ft. to make certain that it was going to work and also to foul the cylinder and bore so that all testing would be done with the revolver fouled. I then shot six shots of each powder twice, for 12 shots of each powder, but I shot one cylinder full of each of the three powders before testing each powder a second time. Below are the average of 12 shots of each powder.

Each test was loaded with a weighed charge of 22 gr. ignited by a Rem. #11 cap. I used my cast 80gr. .375 dia. Ball seated directly onto the powder with no card or wad. I used Lambs Tallow / Beeswax level with the throat of the cylinder for lube.

Sassafras 3F Average velocity 906 fps. ES 49 SD 16
TP 3F Average velocity 930 fps. ES 39 SD 14
Goex 3F Average velocity 938 fps. ES 29 SD 10

The TP powder was cleaner burning than either of the other two. I think Goex probably had the most noticeable fouling.

This was my first tests done on 01-24-24

[2TM101]

Sassafras 3F averaged 846 fps. with an ES of 61 fps. SD of 22.
Great Value TP 3F Ave. 869 fps. with an ES of 43 fps. SD of 15.
Sam's Club TP 3F Ave. 891 fps. with an ES of 42 fps. SD of 15. The first cylinder full of this powder gave Ave. 908 fps. with 19 fps. ES and 07 fps. SD.

Golden Powder 3F Ave. 568 fps. with an ES of 56 fps. SD of 20 fps. Again, I topped off cylinders, compressed with ram, re-filled cylinders and seated ball. Did not weigh or measure the Golden Powder loads.

The small amount of Iron Oxide & Charcoal that makes Golden Powder into Crimson Powder makes a significant difference, should bring it up to be the equal of the TP loads, especially if you use TP charcoal. Should be easy as there is very little Charcoal in crimson, like less than 2 percent.

[HamGunner]

2TM101 I am waiting on some Red Iron Oxide to arrive and then I will certainly give it a try.

[HighUintas]

You guys are awesome. Thanks for continuing to share your efforts. I really enjoy seeing the progress and learning from everyone.

I'll get back to it at some point! I've been busy troubleshooting one of those newfangled smokeless cartridge guns

[Graysmoke]

I had a chance to do some range time with my TP powder. I still have to use abt 10% more to equal factory powder, and not as clean as factory. It was cleaner than red cedar char though, still can’t meet factory density when weighed. I puck it with only enough water to stop dust when stirring, dry it then grind it so lost cause I’ll just use more by volume still shoots and costs less and gets the job done! WIN WIN!
Graysmoke

[Graysmoke]

I know what you are saying Joe, I watch Jakes videos and see him get volume and weight the same. I never got that with factory powder always 76 to 78 gr weight to 80 gr measure had to throw 5 measures to average out and weigh my loads for working toward best accuracy so only patch n ball were the variables. I have to think we are not so far off kilter with what we are doing. Still a great way of cutting the cost of my hobby along with making caps, cutting patches and using homemade lube!
Graysmoke

[Pellethuntr]

This thread is stuffed full of excellent information. I have read through around 1/4 of it so far and have learned a ton!

I am sure the answer to my question is somewhere in the 395 pages here but I have not found it yet.

What size sieves should I get if I want to keep 1F, 2F and 3F powder? I have powder mixed, pucked and ready to go through the grain mill just not sure what optimal sieve size is!

[LAGS]

I bought the screening sieves in
10 , 20 ,30 ,40 , 50 ,and 60.
That allows me to sort out 1f, 2f, 3f and 4f.
What won't pass thru a 20 will be 1f
What won't pass thru a 30 is 2f
What won't pass thru a 40 is what I call my 3f
But some guys say if it won't pass thru a 50 are still 3f.
What sits on the 60 is what I use for 4f.
If it passes thru a 60 , then that is dust and can be prescreened after wetting or repressed into pucks.

[Sandro_ventania]

This thread is stuffed full of excellent information. I have read through around 1/4 of it so far and have learned a ton!

I am sure the answer to my question is somewhere in the 395 pages here but I have not found it yet.

What size sieves should I get if I want to keep 1F, 2F and 3F powder? I have powder mixed, pucked and ready to go through the grain mill just not sure what optimal sieve size is!

The choice of sieves was based on what I found... so I do it like this. Sieves 16, 20, 50 and 80. Between 16 and 20 I consider 2F, between 20 and 50 3F, between 50 and 80 4F... what passes through the 80 is fines, dust and I save it for the next batch. A curious thing is to observe the difference in speed between 3F and 4F... they don't even look like the same powder.

[Pellethuntr]

So for my purposes I should get:

12-16 for Fg

16-20 for FFg

20-40 or 50 for FFFg

My main concern is getting good Fg and FFg, I don't have a purpose for FFFg currently but I am sure I will in due time.

[Sledgehammers_at_Dawn]

This thread is stuffed full of excellent information. I have read through around 1/4 of it so far and have learned a ton!

I am sure the answer to my question is somewhere in the 395 pages here but I have not found it yet.

What size sieves should I get if I want to keep 1F, 2F and 3F powder? I have powder mixed, pucked and ready to go through the grain mill just not sure what optimal sieve size is!

Thank you for asking this! You beat me to it by a few hours! Thank you all that responded!! This helps a lot.
I just finished a batch of dry milled Golden Powder. It makes fire and smoke. Now to load it in something. Most of the information was obtained from this site or pushed me in the direction by this site. Thank you all for that.

[LAGS]

I agree with your new opinion on the F and 2F screen sizes Joe.
But like you said , There are no Rules.
It is basically what works for what you shoot.

[Kenny R]

Hi everyone!
My name is Kenny, and I’m pretty much a lot like most of you on here.
I picked up the sport of muzzleloading about 8 years ago, kinda on a whim.
I own my own electrical business of about 30 years, here in Delaware.
I did some work back then for an older gentleman, named Tom. He had a fascinating collection of flintlocks and percussion rifles. When he showed me around his shop and explained everything about the guns, I immediately wanted to get involved. Within a weeks time, he sold me one of his favorite rifles, A Lyman Great Plains 50 cal. Tom took me under his wing and showed me the ropes of muzzle loaders. And I gotta tell you all, I was hooked, and still am!
Luckily for me, I have access to farmland where I can shoot to my hearts content. In no time at all, I was making my own BP, carefully following the recipes of different people on YouTube, who had some great knowledge. One of which is named “Brush Hippie” (if anyone has heard of him) That was about 8 years ago, and I’ve noticed his presence isn’t much anymore. He often referred to “fly” a lot when explaining his techniques. I noticed that “fly” is a member here too. That’s awesome.

Sorry to ramble on, but I’m just now getting back into the sport (after about a 5 year hiatus) and finding out a lot has changed, and becoming difficult to get things. One of which is the #11 primer cap availability…. Needless to say, I am now making my own caps (thanks to 22lrReloader). I am also casting round balls, and fine tuning my BP, which I must say is pretty darn fast (homemade black willow).
And thanks to this thread, I am getting a ton of help, Thank you all!
I will probably be involved here in the future picking everyone’s brain too lol. A ton of information and old school knowledge on here!
Take care guys, and thank you for your time )

[Brimstone]

Welcome to the rabbit hole Kenny.