My homemade Golden powder!

[Sandro_ventania]

The weak point of these alternative powders is indeed their shelf life. But that’s not a problem; you simply need to make small batches for use within a few months. We need to keep experimenting with other powders.

[HWooldridge]

Sounds like any loaded ammo in brass cases also needs to be consumed due to those shelf life issues.

[HamGunner]

Today, I pulled out for inspection, my Golden, Crimson, and the one with Manganese Dioxide that had the (Gray) color, that I had stored in my climate-controlled basement reloading room for well over a year in good sized plastic medicine bottles. At first, I thought that they were going to be caked up, but only the fines that I also had stored in medicine bottles were caked up a bit. With a little shaking, all the fines separated and were easy to pour out just fine. The actual screened granules of all (about 3FG size) were just fine and not caked up or changed in any way that I could tell.

I took all of the samples outside and poured a line of each and they ignited easily and appeared to burn up completely, so it looks like my powders were still as good as last year. I did not shoot any loads of any of them to see if they lost any strength, but they do seem to still be quite lively.

Update: I checked back in the thread and it looks like these powders are at least 30 months old.

[Sandro_ventania]

Today, I pulled out for inspection, my Golden, Crimson, and the one with Manganese Dioxide that had the (Gray) color, that I had stored in my climate-controlled basement reloading room for well over a year in good sized plastic medicine bottles. At first, I thought that they were going to be caked up, but only the fines that I also had stored in medicine bottles were caked up a bit. With a little shaking, all the fines separated and were easy to pour out just fine. The actual screened granules of all (about 3FG size) were just fine and not caked up or changed in any way that I could tell.

I took all of the samples outside and poured a line of each and they ignited easily and appeared to burn up completely, so it looks like my powders were still as good as last year. I did not shoot any loads of any of them to see if they lost any strength, but they do seem to still be quite lively.

Update: I checked back in the thread and it looks like these powders are at least 17 months old.

The way we store it is certainly the most important factor. We know that these powders are more hygroscopic than black powder, so keeping them tightly sealed is the first step in preservation.

Rick, did your powder with manganese dioxide yield good results? I don't recall if you ever mentioned it here.

[HamGunner]

Rick, did your powder with manganese dioxide yield good results? I don't recall if you ever mentioned it here.

Yes, that particular powder had the best velocity of any of the three back when I was testing them, if I remember correctly.

[HamGunner]

I went back and found my tests of my various alternative powders. I apparently tested them in Feb. 2024.

02-27-2024, 08:12 PM Post #272
HamGunner

I chrongraphed my three different mixtures of alternative powders today, along with Goex and my recent TP(Toilet Paper) powder. I cooked the Golden, but milled, pressed, and screened the others.

Golden (60%-40% Potassium Nitrate-Ascorbic Acid) had Very Good accuracy, even though it had a wide spread in velocity and slow velocity at that. I am not sure what to make of it just yet. Golden is much lighter than any of the others and the 22 gr. completely filled the chambers of my revolver cylinder, so that is why I used 22 gr. for these tests. Golden compacts into a fairly solid chunk when compressed, but seems to burn very clean. It has much less smoke than any of the others tested.

Crimson 64.3% Potassium Nitrate,32.1% Ascorbic Acid,1.8% Iron Oxide, and 1.8% charcoal) although faster than Golden, was also a bit slow with a fair amount of velocity spread, but was somewhat less bulky than Golden. It was also clean burning and gave what I will call just Good accuracy.

My Gray 61% Potassium Nitrate,31% Ascorbic Acid, 5% Manganese Dioxide, and 3% charcoal was faster yet with less velocity spread. It was clean burning and also gave just Good accuracy.

My TP charcoal black 75% Potassium Nitrate, 15% Charcoal, and 10% Sulfur was very strong and gave high velocity, but the charge was just too much for good accuracy. It gave a more scattered pattern rather than a decent group. I would say it only had Less than Fair accuracy. I did fire a final cylinder full of the TP powder after all the other tests were completed and I reduced the charge to 20 gr. This gave Extra Very Good accuracy and the velocity spread was much better. It performed right about the same as 22 gr. of Goex as far as velocity and deviation, although the Goex only gave Good accuracy.

I also fired a cylinder full of mixed up powder just for the fun of it. It was a mixture of 25% each of my TP, Golden, Crimson, and the Gray. Although the velocity was up there, it had a very wide Velocity Spread. It only gave Fair accuracy.

All tests were six shots each @20 yards. Charges were 3F size and weighed 22 gr. on a digital scale. Fired with Rem. #10 caps and fired in my Pietta 1851 Navy .36 cal. under an 82 gr. .380 ball. My very last cylinder full of my second try using my TP powder I used a reduced load of only 20 gr. This lesser load shot really swell and that has mostly been my go-to load in this revolver with my home made Black and I had already found a happy spot for it. So, even though I gave the accuracy that I got with 22 gr. of each of the powders, a load work up of each powder might give us quite a surprise.

Golden delivered an average of 515 fps., ES 187 fps., and SD 65 fps. Accuracy Very Good. All in a decent group with no flyers. 2 1/2" group.

Crimson delivered an average 772 fps, ES 106, and SD 43 fps. Accuracy 4" group.

Gray delivered an average 851 fps., ES 83 fps., and SD 31 fps. Accuracy 3 1/2" group.

Goex delivered an average 841 fps., ES 63 fps., and SD 23 fps. Accuracy 3" group.

TP Black gave an average 949 fps., ES 67 fps., and SD 27 fps. Accuracy less than Fair. Scattered with flyers. My .36 cal. revolvers prefer only 20 gr. of BP.

TP Black with 20 gr. load ave. 830 fps., ES 58 fps,. and SD 25 fps. Accuracy Extra Very Good. Three in one hole and the others nearly touching. 1 1/2" group.

Mixture was ave. 823 fps., ES 132 fps., SD 46. Only Fair accuracy. Scattered 6" group.

Although accuracy was not the best for many of the tested powders, I am sure that one could reduce or increase the pressure levels until accuracy could be found for each type of powder, just as with my TP, which I had already tested extensively.

It was a really nice Feb. day for shooting with a high of 82 degrees, but windy. Unusual weather for Missouri.

Edit: Nipple removal required a bit of extra torque, but the rest of the revolver cleaned up easily. Perhaps a bit easier than normal. There was for sure less crud in the bore

[Sandro_ventania]

I went back and found my tests of my various alternative powders. I apparently tested them in Feb. 2024.

02-27-2024, 08:12 PM Post #272
HamGunner

I chrongraphed my three different mixtures of alternative powders today, along with Goex and my recent TP(Toilet Paper) powder. I cooked the Golden, but milled, pressed, and screened the others.

Golden (60%-40% Potassium Nitrate-Ascorbic Acid) had Very Good accuracy, even though it had a wide spread in velocity and slow velocity at that. I am not sure what to make of it just yet. Golden is much lighter than any of the others and the 22 gr. completely filled the chambers of my revolver cylinder, so that is why I used 22 gr. for these tests. Golden compacts into a fairly solid chunk when compressed, but seems to burn very clean. It has much less smoke than any of the others tested.

Crimson 64.3% Potassium Nitrate,32.1% Ascorbic Acid,1.8% Iron Oxide, and 1.8% charcoal) although faster than Golden, was also a bit slow with a fair amount of velocity spread, but was somewhat less bulky than Golden. It was also clean burning and gave what I will call just Good accuracy.

My Gray 61% Potassium Nitrate,31% Ascorbic Acid, 5% Manganese Dioxide, and 3% charcoal was faster yet with less velocity spread. It was clean burning and also gave just Good accuracy.

My TP charcoal black 75% Potassium Nitrate, 15% Charcoal, and 10% Sulfur was very strong and gave high velocity, but the charge was just too much for good accuracy. It gave a more scattered pattern rather than a decent group. I would say it only had Less than Fair accuracy. I did fire a final cylinder full of the TP powder after all the other tests were completed and I reduced the charge to 20 gr. This gave Extra Very Good accuracy and the velocity spread was much better. It performed right about the same as 22 gr. of Goex as far as velocity and deviation, although the Goex only gave Good accuracy.

I also fired a cylinder full of mixed up powder just for the fun of it. It was a mixture of 25% each of my TP, Golden, Crimson, and the Gray. Although the velocity was up there, it had a very wide Velocity Spread. It only gave Fair accuracy.

All tests were six shots each @20 yards. Charges were 3F size and weighed 22 gr. on a digital scale. Fired with Rem. #10 caps and fired in my Pietta 1851 Navy .36 cal. under an 82 gr. .380 ball. My very last cylinder full of my second try using my TP powder I used a reduced load of only 20 gr. This lesser load shot really swell and that has mostly been my go-to load in this revolver with my home made Black and I had already found a happy spot for it. So, even though I gave the accuracy that I got with 22 gr. of each of the powders, a load work up of each powder might give us quite a surprise.

Golden delivered an average of 515 fps., ES 187 fps., and SD 65 fps. Accuracy Very Good. All in a decent group with no flyers. 2 1/2" group.

Crimson delivered an average 772 fps, ES 106, and SD 43 fps. Accuracy 4" group.

Gray delivered an average 851 fps., ES 83 fps., and SD 31 fps. Accuracy 3 1/2" group.

Goex delivered an average 841 fps., ES 63 fps., and SD 23 fps. Accuracy 3" group.

TP Black gave an average 949 fps., ES 67 fps., and SD 27 fps. Accuracy less than Fair. Scattered with flyers. My .36 cal. revolvers prefer only 20 gr. of BP.

TP Black with 20 gr. load ave. 830 fps., ES 58 fps,. and SD 25 fps. Accuracy Extra Very Good. Three in one hole and the others nearly touching. 1 1/2" group.

Mixture was ave. 823 fps., ES 132 fps., SD 46. Only Fair accuracy. Scattered 6" group.

Although accuracy was not the best for many of the tested powders, I am sure that one could reduce or increase the pressure levels until accuracy could be found for each type of powder, just as with my TP, which I had already tested extensively.

It was a really nice Feb. day for shooting with a high of 82 degrees, but windy. Unusual weather for Missouri.

Edit: Nipple removal required a bit of extra torque, but the rest of the revolver cleaned up easily. Perhaps a bit easier than normal. There was for sure less crud in the bore

Excellent! It is interesting to note that Gray outperformed Goex in terms of speed. Add to that its ease of manufacture and low residue, and it becomes a great alternative powder. You folks in the US might not fully appreciate this, given the vast supply available in your market, but in many other countries, it isn't nearly as easy to come by.