Genuine Black Powder

[tallwalker]

Had no idea about Jack's. I will call them in the am and find out what their schedule will be. They will deliver to reenactments if there are any closer. Figures just missed the big one at Chalmette. Worst case, at least that is Marksville. Prices seem pretty reasonable. Online ordering with the hazmat fees make it tough unless it's a group buy.

 

[DBMJR1]

Please don't try that. Way back in High School a good friend of mine blew himself and his garage up trying to make BP. They didn’t hardly find enough of him to bury.

LOL People have been making BP for centuries, without blowing themselves up. Not sure what your friend did, but I have no plans for an early departure of Earth.

Or get your powder from LA's own master distributor....

http://www.jackspowderkeg.com/

Also look for Jack's Powder Keg facebook page!

Legally you are only allowed to possess 5 pounds at a time. Minimum order from Jacks is 25 pounds. A conundrum, at best.


I made 50 grams of meal powder today. A first step towards making BP. I did it the hard way, with a mortar and pestle. It burns well, but have not tested it in the cannon. It took over an hour of work to grind it sufficiently.

I'm working on making a ball mill. That will greatly enhance production.

 

[DBMJR1]

Cool Stuff Report!


I made a second 50gram batch of meal powder today. This time I used a coffee grinder on the sulfur and the charcoal, separately. The Stump Rot is already pretty fine.

I took it outside, and mixed it in my mortar. Then I Pestled it for about half an hour. The result burns really fast, and ignites much more easily. Also leaves a white KNO3 burn residue, instead of a hard, yellow, sulfur residue.

This is not black powder. There are a couple more steps before meal powder becomes black powder.

It's a good start, and I have enough chemicals to make, . . . alot. Cheap.

This is gud.

 

[Magdump]

Salt peter is readily available at big feed stores, coops, etc. just an oxidizer.
The charcoal powder is easy enough to find and fairly cheap too. Soil sulfur is generally in the flake form and works fine.
Cooking the powder is as safe as baking a cake, but is best done outdoors. It's not even ignitable until it's dry anyway.
Using slightly more refined components will yield a better powder, and takes a few steps out of the process. The first time you do it you'll wonder what the fuss was all about.
Now sugar powder...that's a different story altogether.

 

[kk5fe]

LOL People have been making BP for centuries, without blowing themselves up. Not sure what your friend did, but I have no plans for an early departure of Earth.



Legally you are only allowed to possess 5 pounds at a time. Minimum order from Jacks is 25 pounds. A conundrum, at best.


I made 50 grams of meal powder today. A first step towards making BP. I did it the hard way, with a mortar and pestle. It burns well, but have not tested it in the cannon. It took over an hour of work to grind it sufficiently.

I'm working on making a ball mill. That will greatly enhance production.

Actually you can own and legally store 50 pounds at a time. like Cleburne, I also do cowboy action shooting but haven't used real black yet. I do use it in my flintlock muzzleloader. I have several pounds of real black that I keep just for that. Lots of guys that shoot in the cowboy action club I'm in shoot real black.... It's always a great crowd pleaser when you see their guns go off.
Tallwalker, I see you're from Covington.... We shoot twice a month at a private range (very reasonable to join though) in
Amite. Only lead bullets though.... No jackets of any kind. You should come out sometime. I believe there are guys that get together for a group buy of BP at times.
I may be going this weekend with my flintlock..... Unless I have honey do's.....

 

[tallwalker]

PM inbound sir!

 

[Cleburne]

like Cleburne, I also do cowboy action shooting but haven't used real black yet.(

That needs to be remedied!

 

[beauxdog]

If you go to Section 1509, it says you must store any more than 5 lbs in an approved magazine.


www.lsp.org/pdf/hazmatTitle55.pdf

manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, use and handling ... contrary to any provision of law and will not result in an increase in cost to the ... and other high explosives, black powder in quantities in

Beauxdog

 

[DBMJR1]

If'n anyone's curious:

I started with 100 grams of Meal D in a small cast iron pot. I added microwaved super heated water, ~1/4 cup. This mix was a bit too loose, for my liking, so I added ~25 grams more of Meal D.

I brought this to a boil over a propane burner. Next time I'll make a small alcohol burner, and stand.

I stirred the resulting slurry onto a fine screen, then mixed in about 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol.

I let that dry until it was of a dough like consistency, then forced it through a course screen onto paper towels to dry.

Once it dried, I crudely separated out the large, medium and fine granules. Next I took the fine granules and passed them through a very fine screen.

A test of each size results in a very fast burn rate. I burnt the paper towels I dried it all on, and the result was impressive.

I think I'll test it tomorrow in my NAA companion at the range.

 

[tallwalker]

Sounds like you have been busy. I watched a couple of videos on making BP and it does look pretty straightforward. Don't know that I would ever try myself but it is interesting. The thing that makes me a little shaky is I see what to do, but nothing about what NOT to do! Let us know how it shoots. Have you figured out aside from time what it actually costs?

 

[DBMJR1]

The saltpeter, aka stump rot, is about $6/7 a pound. I bought two pounds. The sulfur I got at a garden center for $7 for three pounds. I had a bag of real wood charcoal in the shed.

I tried a small amount in my cannon. It lit and burned, but it was not very impressive. That was just two tbl spns of the course ground powder. Not very encouraging so far.

I'll try four tbl spns of the fine ground powder another time. Right now I'm enjoying a beer.

 

[340six]

here is a good thread on making BP at home.
I read it some time back.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...e-write-up-quot-My-homemade-black-powder-quot

 

[DBMJR1]

here is a good thread on making BP at home.
I read it some time back.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...e-write-up-quot-My-homemade-black-powder-quot

Thanks. I had read that thread years ago, but had forgotten it. I'm going to try that method next, I think.

I also think I need to consider a different source of charcoal.

 

[Magdump]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LT...oal+powder&dpPl=1&dpID=51ThgmxpoaL&ref=plSrch

This is the stuff. If you want to make a good batch of powder.
If you order 2 you get free shipping. That's 4 pounds for $50. Enough to make 12 pounds of powder when mixed with the other components.

The bad review was from somebody that was cooking with it or something. Complained about it making a mess, lol