Anyone ever make their own black powder (for shooting)?

FrontSight · June 6, 2008, 01:18 PM

I think that would be fun; adds more elements to it and you feel more at one with it or sumthin?

Or would it just be way too inconsistent or dangerous? I would think once you make a batch it should be consistent until all used up, no?

playtheblues · June 6, 2008, 02:59 PM

I used to make it with my chemistry set when I was a kid, with powdered charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur. but never tried to shoot with any. Don't see why you couldn't though.
BB in SC

Ifishsum · June 6, 2008, 04:10 PM

I used to make it as a kid, but none of my product would burn fast enough for firearm use. That was before the internet so all I knew where the ingredients, not the process - I never ball milled it or even wet it to really mix the ingredients. I made some homemade fountain sparklers and the like with it.

It appeals to me now to try making my own and one day probably will.

mykeal · June 6, 2008, 04:48 PM

Many people make their own black powder; it's quite simple, although there's a significant investment in time required. The Firing Line sister forum, The High Road has had several threads recently by those people, especially a fine gentleman called JCT.

warrior poet · June 6, 2008, 04:58 PM

IF... and that's a big IF, you attempt this... please use the "wet" process, not the dry one, it is MUCH safer AND yields better results. Also, be aware that variances in the ratios of the three ingredients can give wide ranging results, so work up loads very carefully, especially if you are using vintage firearms. Standard ratios are 15:3:2 for saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur if memory serves. (High school chemistry was QUITE a few years ago.)

Hafoc · June 6, 2008, 07:22 PM

You might want to consider that in the old days powder (grinding?) mills had a special kind of construction. They were built with a heavy timber frame covered with boards each of which was fastened with only one nail at each end. This was done so that WHEN the thing blew the boards would just fly away, the timber frame and equipment would survive mostly undamaged, and it was easy to put everything back together again. Too bad about anybody who happened to be working in that building at the time, though.

W. C. Quantrill · June 6, 2008, 09:42 PM

Friends of mine in New Zealand cant get BP there. If they do it is more than $50 a pound. They get a number of fellows together over a case of beer and make a batch every so often and divide it up. They use a small cement mixer. They divide up the wet paste, and each guy is responsible to take his share home and dry it out and granulate it.

Swampghost · June 6, 2008, 09:51 PM

Do it in a shed far away from the house, a very small amount of impurities can add up to a big problem. I've had two friends burned attempting this, not too bad. Only second degree burns and a month or two of ridicule.

Dixie Gun Works sells the stuff!

zxcvbob · June 6, 2008, 10:26 PM

I made two 1/2 pound batches a couple of months ago. Stump remover, garden sulfur, and homemade cedar charcoal. Ground up in a cheap rock tumbler (dry) with a bunch of .457 lead balls.

It works pretty good, but burns really dirty. I probably need a purer source of KNO3. Or else I ned to pack more powder in the cartridges.

I load .45 Colts with it. The folks at the shooting range were impressed with all the fire and smoke and stink.

armedandsafe · June 10, 2008, 01:32 PM

As has been said, THR has some very good threads on this subject.

Look here:
http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/history.html

And here:
http://www.ihaveadotcom.com/cart/ind...311fab7fd71ef1

And here:
http://www.burnremedies.com/

Pops

Dezynco · June 10, 2008, 06:20 PM

I thought about trying it sometime. However, I think that you are best served by buying from a local retailer if you can find one. I found a guy that sells black powder (exclusively), and for the price, I couldn't make it my self and save any money.

The cost in even the best black powder is not the materials, it's the Government Salary that you have to pay. Ridiculous!

Ricklin · June 10, 2008, 11:03 PM

This thread reminds me of trying to make blackpowder as a kid!

My brothers and I loved to blow stuff up, and tried to make our own powder. I remember the druggist asking us kids why we wanted the Saltpeter. We had to promise him we were not going to put it in food, etc. but he sold us some. We picked up some Sulpher down alongside the railroad tracks, and ground up a charcoal briquet. I believe about the only thing I could say for the powder is it burned (barely) We turned our attentions to finding better explosives.

FrontSight · June 12, 2008, 01:03 PM

armedandsafe: I love how you included the burn treatment site

zxcvbob: The stump remover may have been coated in sodium hydroxide to speed up the process. If so, then I read that it is soluable in methanol, while the kno3 is not, so soaking for a while should remove that impurity.

How was the garden sulfur; is that pure?

zxcvbob · June 12, 2008, 01:55 PM

The garden sulfur is 90% pure, which sounds terrible, but the sulfur is the least important ingredient and its impurities only add up to 1% in the final powder.

What I'm looking for is a 50-pound bag of "spray grade" potassium nitrate fertilizer. It should cost less than $20 if I can find it, and be about equivalent to technical grade (much better than stump remover, except that I had the stump remover already.) There's a specialty fertilizer place out by the airport, I just haven't gotten around to calling them yet.

I just want to add, for the benefit of the Feds who are lurking here and reading this, I'm looking for 50 pounds of potassium nitrate to use as a lifetime supply for making small quantities of black powder for legal and nonviolent purposes (reloading .45 Colt cartridges)

**Mike Irwin** · June 12, 2008, 01:59 PM

Not all stump remover is potassium nitrate.

A friend and I were trying to make nitrate/sugar smoke bombs a couple of years ago.

We got a bottle of stump remover from... Lowes?, and it wasn't KNO3. Whatever it was was AWFUL. When we tried to heat it with the sugar it created the most incredibly acrid fumes.

We got another bottle from a different place and it was fine.

As for sulpher, you should be able to buy food/medical grade sulpher from a drug store. Very pure. Just tell them you're sulphering a couple bushels of apples for dried apple pies.

Krynite · June 14, 2008, 11:22 AM

my little brother and I used to love blowing things up too, now we are both in the military. I am and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Tech, and he is a Missile guy on a Sub...lol.
funny how things go,
oh and our little sis just joined the airforce as a cop....

back on topic,
I am actually going to start building my Great Plains Caplock when i get back from Afghanistan in a month or so.

June 6, 2008, 01:18 PM	#1
FrontSight Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2005 Posts: 1,712	Anyone ever make their own black powder (for shooting)? I think that would be fun; adds more elements to it and you feel more at one with it or sumthin? Or would it just be way too inconsistent or dangerous? I would think once you make a batch it should be consistent until all used up, no? __________________ To kill something as great as a duck just to smell the gunpowder is a crime against nature. - Alan Liere Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. - George Bernard Shaw

June 6, 2008, 04:58 PM	#5
warrior poet Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2007 Location: Whereever Uncle Sam wants to put me Posts: 415	IF... and that's a big IF, you attempt this... please use the "wet" process, not the dry one, it is MUCH safer AND yields better results. Also, be aware that variances in the ratios of the three ingredients can give wide ranging results, so work up loads very carefully, especially if you are using vintage firearms. Standard ratios are 15:3:2 for saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur if memory serves. (High school chemistry was QUITE a few years ago.) __________________ Trigger control: The skillful manipulation of the trigger, which causes the weapon to fire, while maintaining sight alignment and sight picture.

June 6, 2008, 09:42 PM	#7
W. C. Quantrill Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2008 Location: No Man's Land Posts: 354	Friends of mine in New Zealand cant get BP there. If they do it is more than $50 a pound. They get a number of fellows together over a case of beer and make a batch every so often and divide it up. They use a small cement mixer. They divide up the wet paste, and each guy is responsible to take his share home and dry it out and granulate it. __________________ NRA Life Whittington Center Life

June 6, 2008, 09:51 PM	#8
Swampghost Senior Member Join Date: April 18, 2008 Location: Florida, east coast Posts: 2,106	Do it in a shed far away from the house, a very small amount of impurities can add up to a big problem. I've had two friends burned attempting this, not too bad. Only second degree burns and a month or two of ridicule. Dixie Gun Works sells the stuff! __________________ NRA Patron Member

June 6, 2008, 10:26 PM	#9
zxcvbob Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2007 Location: S.E. Minnesota Posts: 4,720	I made two 1/2 pound batches a couple of months ago. Stump remover, garden sulfur, and homemade cedar charcoal. Ground up in a cheap rock tumbler (dry) with a bunch of .457 lead balls. It works pretty good, but burns really dirty. I probably need a purer source of KNO3. Or else I ned to pack more powder in the cartridges. I load .45 Colts with it. The folks at the shooting range were impressed with all the fire and smoke and stink. __________________ "Everything they do is so dramatic and flamboyant. It just makes me want to set myself on fire!" —Lucille Bluth

June 6, 2008, 02:59 PM	#2
playtheblues Member Join Date: June 2, 2008 Posts: 84	I used to make it with my chemistry set when I was a kid, with powdered charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur. but never tried to shoot with any. Don't see why you couldn't though. BB in SC

June 6, 2008, 04:10 PM	#3
Ifishsum Senior Member Join Date: September 15, 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,033	I used to make it as a kid, but none of my product would burn fast enough for firearm use. That was before the internet so all I knew where the ingredients, not the process - I never ball milled it or even wet it to really mix the ingredients. I made some homemade fountain sparklers and the like with it. It appeals to me now to try making my own and one day probably will.

June 6, 2008, 04:48 PM	#4
mykeal Senior Member Join Date: October 8, 2006 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 2,772	Many people make their own black powder; it's quite simple, although there's a significant investment in time required. The Firing Line sister forum, The High Road has had several threads recently by those people, especially a fine gentleman called JCT.

June 6, 2008, 07:22 PM	#6
Hafoc Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2005 Posts: 552	You might want to consider that in the old days powder (grinding?) mills had a special kind of construction. They were built with a heavy timber frame covered with boards each of which was fastened with only one nail at each end. This was done so that WHEN the thing blew the boards would just fly away, the timber frame and equipment would survive mostly undamaged, and it was easy to put everything back together again. Too bad about anybody who happened to be working in that building at the time, though.

June 10, 2008, 01:32 PM	#10
armedandsafe Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2005 Location: Moses Lake WA Posts: 1,001	As has been said, THR has some very good threads on this subject. Look here: http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/history.html And here: http://www.ihaveadotcom.com/cart/ind...311fab7fd71ef1 And here: http://www.burnremedies.com/ Pops __________________ Armed and Safe: Not just a theory If it time to bury them, it is time to dig them up. Remember, "Behind every blade of grass."

June 10, 2008, 06:20 PM	#11
Dezynco Senior Member Join Date: May 7, 2008 Posts: 401	I thought about trying it sometime. However, I think that you are best served by buying from a local retailer if you can find one. I found a guy that sells black powder (exclusively), and for the price, I couldn't make it my self and save any money. The cost in even the best black powder is not the materials, it's the Government Salary that you have to pay. Ridiculous!

June 10, 2008, 11:03 PM	#12
Ricklin Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2008 Location: SW Washington state Posts: 2,013	Fun Memories This thread reminds me of trying to make blackpowder as a kid! My brothers and I loved to blow stuff up, and tried to make our own powder. I remember the druggist asking us kids why we wanted the Saltpeter. We had to promise him we were not going to put it in food, etc. but he sold us some. We picked up some Sulpher down alongside the railroad tracks, and ground up a charcoal briquet. I believe about the only thing I could say for the powder is it burned (barely) We turned our attentions to finding better explosives. __________________ ricklin Freedom is not free

June 12, 2008, 01:03 PM	#13
FrontSight Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2005 Posts: 1,712	armedandsafe: I love how you included the burn treatment site zxcvbob: The stump remover may have been coated in sodium hydroxide to speed up the process. If so, then I read that it is soluable in methanol, while the kno3 is not, so soaking for a while should remove that impurity. How was the garden sulfur; is that pure? __________________ To kill something as great as a duck just to smell the gunpowder is a crime against nature. - Alan Liere Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. - George Bernard Shaw

June 12, 2008, 01:55 PM	#14
zxcvbob Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2007 Location: S.E. Minnesota Posts: 4,720	The garden sulfur is 90% pure, which sounds terrible, but the sulfur is the least important ingredient and its impurities only add up to 1% in the final powder. What I'm looking for is a 50-pound bag of "spray grade" potassium nitrate fertilizer. It should cost less than $20 if I can find it, and be about equivalent to technical grade (much better than stump remover, except that I had the stump remover already.) There's a specialty fertilizer place out by the airport, I just haven't gotten around to calling them yet. I just want to add, for the benefit of the Feds who are lurking here and reading this, I'm looking for 50 pounds of potassium nitrate to use as a lifetime supply for making small quantities of black powder for legal and nonviolent purposes (reloading .45 Colt cartridges) __________________ "Everything they do is so dramatic and flamboyant. It just makes me want to set myself on fire!" —Lucille Bluth Last edited by zxcvbob; June 12, 2008 at 02:51 PM.

June 12, 2008, 01:59 PM	#15
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,390	Not all stump remover is potassium nitrate. A friend and I were trying to make nitrate/sugar smoke bombs a couple of years ago. We got a bottle of stump remover from... Lowes?, and it wasn't KNO3. Whatever it was was AWFUL. When we tried to heat it with the sugar it created the most incredibly acrid fumes. We got another bottle from a different place and it was fine. As for sulpher, you should be able to buy food/medical grade sulpher from a drug store. Very pure. Just tell them you're sulphering a couple bushels of apples for dried apple pies. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

June 14, 2008, 11:22 AM	#16
Krynite Junior Member Join Date: June 13, 2008 Location: New Mexico Posts: 3	my little brother and I used to love blowing things up too, now we are both in the military. I am and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Tech, and he is a Missile guy on a Sub...lol. funny how things go, oh and our little sis just joined the airforce as a cop.... back on topic, I am actually going to start building my Great Plains Caplock when i get back from Afghanistan in a month or so.