My homemade Golden powder!

[Nobade]

Yesterday I made a batch of crimson powder with charcoal, and got some interesting results. It flashed super fast, so I figured I'm good to go. I loaded up 10 rounds of 32 H&R mag for my little rolling block rifle, and not one of them worked correctly. Two stuck bullets in the bore, and the rest were very weak. Quite similar to the results I got with CP in my 32 cal Cherokee rifle. Hmmm.... So, maybe it needs to age a bit? The CP worked great in the 30-30. So I spread it out on a tray on top of the refrigerator to age or dry or whatever it needed to do. Just now, about 32 hours later, I tried it again in the cartridges and it worked great. Lots of power, very similar to black powder. So I guess the lesson is to not get in too big a hurry to test your powder?

I did modify my grinding technique. I had tried previously to make pucks with this stuff. That wasn't much fun, the puck stuck in the die and when I went to break it up it crumbled. But what did work well was keep stirring it after it's cooked, so you end up with maybe 1/4 inch clumps. Looks like Grape Nuts cereal. Then run that through my grain grinder like I do for black powder, and it comes out nicely granulated. It could be screened at that point, but I haven't done that yet.

It looks like we're really on to something here with this stuff, a viable black powder substitute that is easy to make and not terribly expensive at about $5/lb.

[MUSTANG]

My efforts let it sit for a couple of days to "Air Dry". I am thinking that I will try some in a Dehydrator I bought last week for use in our 2024 Garden Produce. Dehydrating at 100°F to 110°F should get me a baseline for comparing testing - even if we have big ranges of Humidity across the Year.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Yesterday I made a batch of crimson powder with charcoal, and got some interesting results. It flashed super fast, so I figured I'm good to go. I loaded up 10 rounds of 32 H&R mag for my little rolling block rifle, and not one of them worked correctly. Two stuck bullets in the bore, and the rest were very weak. Quite similar to the results I got with CP in my 32 cal Cherokee rifle. Hmmm.... So, maybe it needs to age a bit? The CP worked great in the 30-30. So I spread it out on a tray on top of the refrigerator to age or dry or whatever it needed to do. Just now, about 32 hours later, I tried it again in the cartridges and it worked great. Lots of power, very similar to black powder. So I guess the lesson is to not get in too big a hurry to test your powder?

I did modify my grinding technique. I had tried previously to make pucks with this stuff. That wasn't much fun, the puck stuck in the die and when I went to break it up it crumbled. But what did work well was keep stirring it after it's cooked, so you end up with maybe 1/4 inch clumps. Looks like Grape Nuts cereal. Then run that through my grain grinder like I do for black powder, and it comes out nicely granulated. It could be screened at that point, but I haven't done that yet.

It looks like we're really on to something here with this stuff, a viable black powder substitute that is easy to make and not terribly expensive at about $5/lb.

Did you use the formula on page one?
Potassium nitrate 64.3
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 32.1
Charcoal 1.8
Iron oxide (red) 1.8

I think I have a good feel for how long it takes to be ready once it starts to turn a little yellow. My plan is to add the iron and char once this stage is reached so that it's easier to make.

[2TM101]

So I spread it out on a tray on top of the refrigerator to age or dry or whatever it needed to do. Just now, about 32 hours later, I tried it again in the cartridges and it worked great. Lots of power, very similar to black powder. So I guess the lesson is to not get in too big a hurry to test your powder? .

Cheap food dehydrator on Amazon. I got one originally so that I could break up my BP pucks after one day instead of a week. GP/CP is even more sensitive to moisture than BP and it helps a lot.

[Nobade]

Did you use the formula on page one?
Potassium nitrate 64.3
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 32.1
Charcoal 1.8
Iron oxide (red) 1.8

I think I have a good feel for how long it takes to be ready once it starts to turn a little yellow. My plan is to add the iron and char once this stage is reached so that it's easier to make.

Yes, I did. I mixed everything in together from the start. I think that by the time it starts to turn yellow it may be too late to add the other ingredients since it's already started the polymerization.

I'm going to shoot some more today, but that has to be the cause, too wet. Funny that it burned so well unconfined.

One shot was particularly interesting. It stuck the bullet in the bore and melted the mouth of the cartridge case. I could hear it burning in the chamber, it must generate some pretty high temperatures for a moment.

[HWooldridge]

Brass melts at 1700 F so that’s at least what the chamber saw momentarily. However, it was probably due more to dwell time, i.e, a normal shot is also very hot but the flash is over and done more quickly. Your squib took longer to burn.

[Nobade]

Now I am really thinking that this stuff needs time to age. I ran the latest batch that didn't work in the 32 rifle in the dehydrator all night. I shot some this morning in my 1860 Army revolver. It worked, but not any better then the powder without the charcoal. Then for grins I tried some of my original GP that I made once I figured out how to make it turn yellow. The last time I tried it, it was pretty weak. Today it was at least and maybe even more powerful than the crimson powders. It has been sitting out exposed to the air, no special treatment other than sitting for about a month. I am going to let the other batches age for a while and see if they change as well. There may be some sort of reaction going on slowly, over time here.

The other cool thing was I fired five cylinder fulls, so 30 rounds, with no lube at all and there was no foul out in the barrel and the cylinder still turned easily. I'll probably add a little lube next time, but this is some amazingly clean shooting powder.

[Sandro_ventania]

Yesterday I made a batch of crimson powder with charcoal, and got some interesting results. It flashed super fast, so I figured I'm good to go. I loaded up 10 rounds of 32 H&R mag for my little rolling block rifle, and not one of them worked correctly. Two stuck bullets in the bore, and the rest were very weak. Quite similar to the results I got with CP in my 32 cal Cherokee rifle. Hmmm.... So, maybe it needs to age a bit? The CP worked great in the 30-30. So I spread it out on a tray on top of the refrigerator to age or dry or whatever it needed to do. Just now, about 32 hours later, I tried it again in the cartridges and it worked great. Lots of power, very similar to black powder. So I guess the lesson is to not get in too big a hurry to test your powder?

I did modify my grinding technique. I had tried previously to make pucks with this stuff. That wasn't much fun, the puck stuck in the die and when I went to break it up it crumbled. But what did work well was keep stirring it after it's cooked, so you end up with maybe 1/4 inch clumps. Looks like Grape Nuts cereal. Then run that through my grain grinder like I do for black powder, and it comes out nicely granulated. It could be screened at that point, but I haven't done that yet.

It looks like we're really on to something here with this stuff, a viable black powder substitute that is easy to make and not terribly expensive at about $5/lb.

Talvez você esteja usando um fogo muito alto. Um fogo mais baixo, a partir do momento que a água seca, para que a polimerização aconteça mais devagar, talvez seja uma resposta. Um fogo alto pode proteger o GP, mas ainda esconder alguma umidade? Eu não consigo ver vantagem no uso do carvão. Nobade, achei muito estranho você ter um projeto preso.

[MUSTANG]

Now I am really thinking that this stuff needs time to age. I ran the latest batch that didn't work in the 32 rifle in the dehydrator all night. I shot some this morning in my 1860 Army revolver. It worked, but not any better then the powder without the charcoal. Then for grins I tried some of my original GP that I made once I figured out how to make it turn yellow. The last time I tried it, it was pretty weak. Today it was at least and maybe even more powerful than the crimson powders. It has been sitting out exposed to the air, no special treatment other than sitting for about a month. I am going to let the other batches age for a while and see if they change as well. There may be some sort of reaction going on slowly, over time here.

The other cool thing was I fired five cylinder fulls, so 30 rounds, with no lube at all and there was no foul out in the barrel and the cylinder still turned easily. I'll probably add a little lube next time, but this is some amazingly clean shooting powder.

Generally; what was the humidity during the 30 days you mentioned?

[Nobade]

Generally; what was the humidity during the 30 days you mentioned?

Pretty high. Winter in west virginia, so near 100% in the mornings down to maybe 50% during the day.

[Nobade]

Talvez você esteja usando um fogo muito alto. Um fogo mais baixo, a partir do momento que a água seca, para que a polimerização aconteça mais devagar, talvez seja uma resposta. Um fogo alto pode proteger o GP, mas ainda esconder alguma umidade? Eu não consigo ver vantagem no uso do carvão. Nobade, achei muito estranho você ter um projeto preso.

Sandro,
Too much heat is possible. I do lower it as soon as the water is gone, but will try making it even lower to see what happens. And I agree, the charcoal doesn't seem to help but I am going to let this batch sit for a while and test it later to see how it does. There are so many variables here to play with, it's fun to make one change at a time and see what happens.

Sandro Muito calor é possível. Eu baixei assim que a água acabar, mas vou tentar torná-la ainda mais baixa para ver o que acontece. E eu concordo, o carvão não parece ajudar, mas vou deixar esse lote descansar por um tempo e testá-lo mais tarde para ver como ele faz. Há tantas variáveis aqui para brincar, é divertido fazer uma mudança de cada vez e ver o que acontece.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I made my first batch of crimson the other day. I did add my pigments after the first hint of yellow since I have a good feel of how long it takes after that. I found that if you leave a little bit of the white stuff on the side you can watch that change color while your main batch is cooking.

The GP turned hard as a rock very quickly. The CP didn't do that. Even 24 hours later it's not totally hard. Because I'm impatient I tried to grind it and it gummed up my grinder badly. I had to cook it off to clean it. It will flash, a little quicker than my GP but not as fast as BP.

I'll give it another day and see if it gets more solid.

I made a batch of old reliable screened corn starch powder and it's still not totally hard either. I think the humidity is high. We had a very warm day yesterday in Michigan 60F today it's about 38F.

[barrabruce]

I thought I would take apart a couple of 30-30 cases I loaded with GP.
I had filled to top then tapped on bench top 10x then filled to the top again and seated a pp’Ed bullet.

The powder is compacted hard and felt like a solid compressed flour.
Scraped out it was all very fine sandy powder as it came from my coffee wizzo /bango grinder.

I couldn’t get the other bullets out without damaging them so I thought I will shoot them as they are.

Hopefully I haven’t made a potential bomb out of this.
Thoughts???

The little bit of left over fine powder I mixed with a few drops of hot water and mixed with a wire bent into loop.
This I added and stirred in until it looks like fluffy biscuit crumbs.

It’s been set aside to dry hopefully.

Temps are in the low 30c degrees and 66-95% humidity.
See how that works.
My powder ends up very hard chunks if I use a mortar and pestle, and turns into a very fine sand like clay powder.

Anyhoo I will age this and see if it works better before I go and put iron in it.

Cheers

[deces]

Following.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Today I did some burn tests with my Crimson using the Super Sneaky Steve method of combining the pigments late in the game. My carbon wasn't ball milled because if I have to do that what's the point right? My GP and CP were both dehydrated for a few hours before grinding. The CP needed this step to not gum up the grinder. After dehydrating it went crunch and made good powder.

The CP burns much faster than the GP. GP burns like Pyrodex in air, not impressive but I'm hoping it shoots good. The CP is more of a pain to make so I don't think there's much motivation for me to make it other than testing.

I've got 65 grain batches by weight ready to go for my rifle test. Same weight for each powder.

The CP is was comparable to my not quite super dry screened willow. My pucked and corned Balsa was scary fast, but also a pain to make because I can only make 1/4lb in each harbor freight drum because of the fluffiness.

Video coming soon.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

https://youtu.be/CMTMno1rUMY?si=246pAJJv-GrvzcbQ

Burn test, GP vs CP vs BP.

[Lostinidaho]

Super Sneaky Steve Watching your video right now.

Good Videos

[Nobade]

Your Super Sneaky videos are great! Thanks for making those, it's good to see someone else is getting similar results to what I see here. I had to laugh at the end, I did the same thing with my first batch of GP - burned the whole thing in one shot and smoked up the whole little community I live in. It looked like a fog bank had settled on us as there was zero wind and humidity was up around 100%.

[dverna]

I thought I would take apart a couple of 30-30 cases I loaded with GP.
I had filled to top then tapped on bench top 10x then filled to the top again and seated a pp’Ed bullet.

The powder is compacted hard and felt like a solid compressed flour.
Scraped out it was all very fine sandy powder as it came from my coffee wizzo /bango grinder.

I couldn’t get the other bullets out without damaging them so I thought I will shoot them as they are.

Hopefully I haven’t made a potential bomb out of this.
Thoughts???

The little bit of left over fine powder I mixed with a few drops of hot water and mixed with a wire bent into loop.
This I added and stirred in until it looks like fluffy biscuit crumbs.

It’s been set aside to dry hopefully.

Temps are in the low 30c degrees and 66-95% humidity.
See how that works.
My powder ends up very hard chunks if I use a mortar and pestle, and turns into a very fine sand like clay powder.

Anyhoo I will age this and see if it works better before I go and put iron in it.

Cheers

I would not shoot those. There was a test done years ago when people were using a filler (IIRC grits or cornmeal) over smokeless powder. As the rounds aged, the filler solidified and when pressure tested the rounds had a very significant increase in pressure. This was in .45 LC cases IIRC.

If I was playing with something like this I would use a Mossin and a long string. There are too many unknowns at this point wrt to how this powder "ages" and reacts to humidity.

[perotter]

I mostly agree, in muzzle loaders there is no problem with increasing the dose/charge. In cartridges there might not be room for more powder. 5 percent nitrocellulose would be where I would start and no don't use it in black powder guns.

Repeat do not put any powder containing nitrocellulose in a black powder gun.

Where to get nitrocellulose, smokeless powder is the obvious source. A little would go a long way, just like duplexing only simpler.

Tim

Buckhorn 209 is a nitrocellulose based powder that is for blackpowder guns. Seems to sell and work well. The sds lists that it is 83% NC. What I don't know is what percent N the nitrocellulose is. 11.2%? 12.4%?

https://hodgdonpowderco.com/2022-blackhorn-209-sds/