My homemade black powder

[BPJake]

A whisk and a big pot to mix stuff in is a good idea. Much easier to ensure even mixing. I will steal that technique for the next batch I puck.

And good luck on getting the brown stuff. I just got back from shooting, and cocoa brown powder blows the pants off of Swiss. At least for velocity and fouling.



Weighed all charges on my digital powder scale. Was only able to do 6 shots of each as I didn't have enough good containers to hold pre weighed charges.



Here's what I'm shooting. A Pietta 1860 Army. 25 grains of 3Fg powder and a Hornady swaged .454 round ball.


Here's all 6 shots on the chronograph. That's danged fast. Unfortunately, I shot the wedge loose, and didn't notice. That last shot sounded wimpier than the others. Velocity kept dropping a bit. I imagine the wedge was getting looser and looser.


The barrel is actually pretty clean. There is a fine layer of dust, but no big chunks like I'm used to seeing.


The chambers on the cylinder look pretty good too.


Here's a mouth whetted patch. Was a little hard to start - but I don't have any baseline for that. When cleaning my revolvers, I've never started with a patch. It's always straight to the washroom sink first.



I cleaned the whole gun. A good wipe down of the barrel pin, and a bunch of patches on the barrel and chamber until they were fully clean.

Fired 6 with Swiss 3Fg. Same load, 25 grains, and a Hornady swaged .454 round ball. I actually paid attention the wedge this time, but it didn't seem to be moving. There was a lot more smoke, and a bit less recoil.



The barrel looks typical to me. The usual chunky bits left behind.


Cylinder looks pretty good. Maybe a bit more fouling than the Cottonelle.


The patch was just about impossible to start, thought I was gonna have to pull it out backwords. Was able to get it through by beating on it.



So, I was hoping for Swiss performance. I'm quite pleased with what I got. The wider velocity swings are a bit annoying, but that could be due to the wedge. I will have to go out and shoot up more of the powder I've got and see where I'm at.

So here's the summaries:

Brown Cottonelle Charcoal 3Fg (77-13-10) 72 Hour Mill Time 25 grains .454 Round Ball

1080.1
1048.2
1024.3
1030.2
1028.5
990.8

Average 1033.7
SD 26.9
Extreme Spread 89.2


Swiss 3Fg 25 grains .454 Round Ball

936
916
911.4
908.8
917.7
908.5

Average 916.4
SD 9.4
Extreme Spread 27.6

Not too shabby - though the Swiss was very consistent. The Cottonelle beats Swiss on average by 117.3 FPS even with that low shot. That's a pretty big improvement, and it's cleaner.

Excited to see what it's like with a longer barrel. I'd also like to see if the spread tightens up with a properly seated wedge.

this is a nice writeup, i'll read this closer in the am when eyes less blurry. that's some impressive powder bro.

I think I got some brown, but also some black and some still wood. I need a kiln, or reasonable facsimile.
20250913_021548 (Large).jpg

[greyhawk]

It's neither lazy nor smart, it's you making powder that works for you the way you want it. The fun for me making the powder is trying to duplicate the swiss, it all works fine.

I have chrono tested numerous times both front loaders and cartridge, screened vs corned - I get no appreciable difference in velocity with weighed charges using the same meal base. Might even lean a little in favour of screened but really nothing in it . Density is heaps different but it doesnt seem to affect the energy per grain.

Somewhere early on there was a comment along the lines of "well we can make powder good enough for muzzleloaders and general plinking but we not gonna be able to make it good enough for long range rifle comps" -- my reaction (yours too I bet) was hold my beer while I show ya. I bet there is more than a few fellers right here doin it now and a good few others just need a few tweaks to their process to join in. Swiss where I come from has been unobtainium for years so its a moot point, most blokes I know are shooting Wano and its an easy beat unless it has improved a lot in the last ten years. I finally obtained a pound of FF Swiss for comparisons so one day I will post some numbers.

[PianoManA440]

BPJake
Do you think murphys wood oil soap could be substituted for oleic acid?

And thats some nice shooting you guys. Wish i was that good. But i know the solution......
Shoot more!!!!!

[almar]

Brought the friendly mallet to persuade the wedge to behave.

where did you get that pieta? That cylinder looks great! And the grips are custom?

[BPJake]

I have chrono tested numerous times both front loaders and cartridge, screened vs corned - I get no appreciable difference in velocity with weighed charges using the same meal base. Might even lean a little in favour of screened but really nothing in it . Density is heaps different but it doesnt seem to affect the energy per grain.

Somewhere early on there was a comment along the lines of "well we can make powder good enough for muzzleloaders and general plinking but we not gonna be able to make it good enough for long range rifle comps" -- my reaction (yours too I bet) was hold my beer while I show ya. I bet there is more than a few fellers right here doin it now and a good few others just need a few tweaks to their process to join in. Swiss where I come from has been unobtainium for years so its a moot point, most blokes I know are shooting Wano and its an easy beat unless it has improved a lot in the last ten years. I finally obtained a pound of FF Swiss for comparisons so one day I will post some numbers.

When I was 11 or 12 me and my friend got a little bottle of sulfur and nitrate at the hobby store and some kingsford and and mixed up a batch by smashing it around in a coffee can and packing it in a christmas ball. It shot out a few sparks like a demented sparkler but needless to say the results were underwhelming, and I swore someday I would make real gunpowder. And here we are

[BPJake]

BPJake
Do you think murphys wood oil soap could be substituted for oleic acid?

And thats some nice shooting you guys. Wish i was that good. But i know the solution......
Shoot more!!!!!

I don't know what is in Murphys. The Oleic acid is easy to get.
And nice shooting all around brothers

https://www.amazon.com/Oleic-Acid-Hi...s%2C219&sr=8-3

[printedboolits]

this is a nice writeup, i'll read this closer in the am when eyes less blurry. that's some impressive powder bro.

I think I got some brown, but also some black and some still wood. I need a kiln, or reasonable facsimile.
20250913_021548 (Large).jpg

Yeah, I tried to get consistent slow cooked charcoal before switching to my kiln by cooking things over my propane wok. Had the same experience you did. Some brown, some overcooked, some not cooked at all.

I already had the kiln for another project, but for some reason though it was a 20 amp appliance. Checked it out and realized it was fine on a 15 amp circuit, so I just plugged it straight into my PID controller.

If I didn't have the kiln, I might have gone with a PID controlled flame instead. I have PID controlled my blacksmith forge, as well as a turkey fryer with good results.


Just need a low pressure solenoid valve, and a ball valve wired up.
Crack the ball valve enough so that you have a pilot light burning at all time, and the PID controller can apply burst of more poweful flame to control the heat.


I bet if you stuck your paint can inside a big dutch oven or something over your turkey fryer, it might make things easier to make consistant. Especially with an electronic controller.

where did you get that pieta? That cylinder looks great! And the grips are custom?

That cylinder often comes on shorter sherrif's model guns with navy grips. Don't quite recall where I got it, might have purchased it separate. It had terrible machining marks that hard to be polished out. The rest of the gun was pieced together, think I only had short navy grip parts, and got the full size army stuff from Taylors.

The grips are Karelian Birch (mutant silver birch) that I designed and CNC cut. The wood is expensive, but it's awfully good looking with some stain and a bunch of coats of tung oil.

[BPJake]

Yeah, I tried to get consistent slow cooked charcoal before switching to my kiln by cooking things over my propane wok. Had the same experience you did. Some brown, some overcooked, some not cooked at all.

I already had the kiln for another project, but for some reason though it was a 20 amp appliance. Checked it out and realized it was fine on a 15 amp circuit, so I just plugged it straight into my PID controller.

If I didn't have the kiln, I might have gone with a PID controlled flame instead. I have PID controlled my blacksmith forge, as well as a turkey fryer with good results.


Just need a low pressure solenoid valve, and a ball valve wired up.
Crack the ball valve enough so that you have a pilot light burning at all time, and the PID controller can apply burst of more poweful flame to control the heat.


I bet if you stuck your paint can inside a big dutch oven or something over your turkey fryer, it might make things easier to make consistant. Especially with an electronic controller.




That cylinder often comes on shorter sherrif's model guns with navy grips. Don't quite recall where I got it, might have purchased it separate. It had terrible machining marks that hard to be polished out. The rest of the gun was pieced together, think I only had short navy grip parts, and got the full size army stuff from Taylors.

The grips are Karelian Birch (mutant silver birch) that I designed and CNC cut. The wood is expensive, but it's awfully good looking with some stain and a bunch of coats of tung oil.

Yes it was the consistent heat that was a problem. Putting the thermocouple actually inside the can is less than ideal because by the time the center got hot the edges were burnt. It was basically the same result I would have got if I just pulled it out of the firepit earlier. I was thinking along your lines as I was doing it that I should drill a hole in the crappy pot that came with the turkey fryer (which I never fry a turkey) and run my vent thru it and put it over the can, at least that way I could monitor the temp from outside the can. The kiln is obvs the real solution, it needs to be held at the 300c, not bounced up and down above and below it. I see Jake built one out of firebricks and some heater wire, may try that I have a lot of old bricks here and i don't think we get hot enough to need firebricks, it's not like we're glazing pottery or anything.

That said it appears I at least have enough actual brown charcoal for a batch or 2 to find out how worth it it is

[printedboolits]

Yes it was the consistent heat that was a problem. Putting the thermocouple actually inside the can is less than ideal because by the time the center got hot the edges were burnt. It was basically the same result I would have got if I just pulled it out of the firepit earlier. I was thinking along your lines as I was doing it that I should drill a hole in the crappy pot that came with the turkey fryer (which I never fry a turkey) and run my vent thru it and put it over the can, at least that way I could monitor the temp from outside the can. The kiln is obvs the real solution, it needs to be held at the 300c, not bounced up and down above and below it. I see Jake built one out of firebricks and some heater wire, may try that I have a lot of old bricks here and i don't think we get hot enough to need firebricks, it's not like we're glazing pottery or anything.

That said it appears I at least have enough actual brown charcoal for a batch or 2 to find out how worth it it is

Yep, regular brick would work fine for these temps. Tons of ovens in the old days were made from normal brick.

You probably don't need to buy heater wire either. I built a ceratote coat oven and just used the stovetop burners from an old oven. I only heat that to about 450 degrees, but I think it wouldn't have any problem at all going hotter.

[BPJake]

I would like an 1860 as well. I'm shooting this Pietta 1851. I don't care for the brass frame a lot, but it's not a bad pistol.
20250822_105533 (Large).jpg

[BPJake]

Yep, regular brick would work fine for these temps. Tons of ovens in the old days were made from normal brick.

You probably don't need to buy heater wire either. I built a ceratote coat oven and just used the stovetop burners from an old oven. I only heat that to about 450 degrees, but I think it wouldn't have any problem at all going hotter.

More I think about it I could find a metal box like a cabinet I could put some insulation in it and the heater. Again it won't get that hot, and people make forges out of beer kegs. Brainstorm with me peeps.

[printedboolits]

I would like an 1860 as well. I'm shooting this Pietta 1851. I don't care for the brass frame a lot, but it's not a bad pistol.
20250822_105533 (Large).jpg

I've got a pair of those I used for shooting wax bullets. It's hard to beat cheap. Mine had very rough internals, and the action would lock up if you had to set the hammer down on a cap. After some cleanup and tuning they've been quite reliable.

[printedboolits]

More I think about it I could find a metal box like a cabinet I could put some insulation in it and the heater. Again it won't get that hot, and people make forges out of beer kegs. Brainstorm with me peeps.

At the temperatures we're dealing with, I don't think you even need insulation. Insulation would probably just save some electricity.

I bet if you took your turkey fryer pot, and stuck it on an electric hot plate you'd be able to get good enough temperatures.

Could plug and play control the hot plate with this:
15 Amp PID Controller

If it didn't get hot enough. Wrapping it in cheap rock wool insulation would do the trick for certain.




If you don't want to do plug an play, and want to scavenge, you can build the electronics cheap.

Here's my ceracoat oven. It's an old irrigation pump motor electrical box I got at a farm auction for 10 bucks.



Electronics are a simple PID controller, and a solid state relay with a heat sink.



The vents are for convection - you wouldn't need this. The insulation is rock wool with a foil backer. Foil backing is also not needed for charcoal.



Just old stove burners with a heat shield. The heat shield probably isn't needed for charcoal either.



This thing holds the temperature very solid. I get 1 to 2 degree variations.

[BPJake]

Oh that's some good brainstorming. You got some nice content there printedboolits, I like to include as many pics as I can so I appreciate when someone else takes the time to format a nice post.

That gave me an idea for a simplicity solution, gonna try just setting the can inside the pot on top of a brick, with the thermocouple thru the hole for the turkey thermometer.
20250913_134958 (Large).jpg

[printedboolits]

I think that'l give you much better results than directly on the flame.

[BPJake]

I think that'l give you much better results than directly on the flame.

I think so just by the fact I will be able to hit the target temp on the outside then just wait for it to heat up. In the meantime I loves me some scrounging, I'll put my little trashpicking minions eyes out for a suitable box.