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Home made black powder. Tips?

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TruthTellers

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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it looks like this section gets a lot of traffic and I'd like as many replies as possible.

Since I'm having difficultly getting real Black Powder, not substitutes, where I live, nor do I wish to pay $30 for a pound, I've been looking into making my own. That way I can not only shoot real BP, but I can do it quite inexpensively.

I've watched some youtube videos, done some reading, I know what amounts of Potassium Nitrite, Sulfur, and charcoal I need and how to mix them, but how can I make different grain sizes? Currently I'm just looking to make 3F, but in the future there are guns I have a desire to own and shoot that would require 1F and 2F powder.

While I've watched and read some media on making black powder, I appreciate any and all comments, tips, advice, and hints from those who have or do make their own.

PS, I don't live in the People's Republic of Mass, so I'm in the clear to do this legally.
 
You can find sifting screens of sizes corresponding to F, FF, etc., to separate the powder by grain size.

Check out the two-barrel tumbler from Harbor Freight. For tumbling, don't use steel shot. Instead, look for non-sparking stuff to use for milling media. I use ceramic pie weights (you can use copper bullets or hard lead shot, but pie weights are much cheaper).

Mill far away from your house. Dig a deep enough to act as a blast shield with the mill placed at the bottom. Don't approach while the mill is running, turn off power via unplugging extension cord.

Take it from someone who worked in explosives development and testing: Be safe and don't f' around.
 
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TruthTellers said:
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it looks like this section gets a lot of traffic and I'd like as many replies as possible.

Since I'm having difficultly getting real Black Powder, not substitutes, where I live, nor do I wish to pay $30 for a pound, I've been looking into making my own. That way I can not only shoot real BP, but I can do it quite inexpensively.

I've watched some youtube videos, done some reading, I know what amounts of Potassium Nitrite, Sulfur, and charcoal I need and how to mix them, but how can I make different grain sizes? Currently I'm just looking to make 3F, but in the future there are guns I have a desire to own and shoot that would require 1F and 2F powder.

While I've watched and read some media on making black powder, I appreciate any and all comments, tips, advice, and hints from those who have or do make their own.

PS, I don't live in the People's Republic of Mass, so I'm in the clear to do this legally.
Click to expand...

Well here's a first tip: Get your chemical names correct before you start throwing things together.

Its "Potassium NITRATE, not Potassium Nitrite.

Basic stuff like this is what gets people injured or killed dealing with energetic materials.

By the time you properly tool up to do it correctly, the $30 a pound will look like the cheaper way out.

If you still insist on doing it yourself, I suggest you find someone involved in the pyrotechnics hobby and ask them to SHOW YOU how its done and take notes on all the safety precautions.

Go to the Pyrotechnics Guild International website and find a group in your state and ask to go to a meeting or shoot with them, or join and go to their classes.

Here's a link to the MSDS sheet for the chemical you named above. Going to be pretty difficult to make black powder with a non flammable material.

http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927233
 
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EddieCoyle said:
I'm going to make some as soon as I'm done building my own fridge, making some paper, and whipping up a few light bulbs for the kids' room.
Click to expand...

[rofl]
Ya this just seems like an awful idea. Just buy it online and ship it to your house. Done. Not worth injuring yourself IMO.
 
We made a good amount of black powder growing up.
Local library had many books on black powder.
I can say our black powder worked but it never performed as well as the GOEX or Swiss we bought at the hardware store.

Also if your paying $30 lb your paying to much.
Find some fellow black powder shooters and get in on a bulk order. I did a bulk order just about a year ago 25#s was $19/lb shipped.
 
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Manufacturing one's own BP might be a little silly (dangerous, end product q/a variations, etc...) but making it ONCE to know how / prove you can / just because is another matter.

Noddaduma, what's the Darwin Rating on making a couple of ounces of BP?
 
namedpipes said:
Manufacturing one's own BP might be a little silly (dangerous, end product q/a variations, etc...) but making it ONCE to know how / prove you can / just because is another matter.

Noddaduma, what's the Darwin Rating on making a couple of ounces of BP?
Click to expand...

Making a couple of ounces isn't worth the time or effort involved(especially for rifle/pistol powder) and unless one is working under strict QC conditions, the quality of it will vary batch to batch.

I've been around enough guys that have made it to know, I'd rather just buy a pound or two of their stuff that has been tested and works as intended.
 
So let me get this straight. The same guy who pm'd me for blackpowder cartridge advice wants to make his own blackpowder. The same guy who states that he has neither the time, space or inclination to cast his own bullets and also says that if black powder cartridge reloading is too "convoluted" he will stick to smokeless. This guy is now considering taking on one of the most time consuming, meticulous and downright dangerous endeavors in the reloading world???? Really????
 
The Goose said:
So let me get this straight. The same guy who pm'd me for blackpowder cartridge advice wants to make his own blackpowder. The same guy who states that he has neither the time, space or inclination to cast his own bullets and also says that if black powder cartridge reloading is too "convoluted" he will stick to smokeless. This guy is now considering taking on one of the most time consuming, meticulous and downright dangerous endeavors in the reloading world???? Really????
Click to expand...

But powder is $30 lb.
 
Black powder manufacturing? Just *DON'T*

The image is a drawing ca. 1854 of part of the DuPont powder mill along Brandywine Creek just north of Wilmington, DE. I've toured this site. Those huts along the stream bank are constructed on three sides of exceptionally robust masonry. The slanted roof is flimsy, lightweight, and oriented toward the stream so the inevitable explosions direct the blast into the stream and away from the rest of the property. The multiple huts purposefully segregate operations into multiple locations, again to minimize loss from the inevitable explosions.


dupont.JPG
 
Bad idea. Spend the $25 - $30 for the powder. Cheaper than a prosthetic hand. Maybe not as cool at parties, but cheaper. And if you gear up properly to make your own, probably you will never recoup the cost to do that, assuming that the raw materials + shipping didn't already cost you more.

The relatively easy and safe way to save some money is to cast your own projectiles from lead that you smelted from scrap.
 
 
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Mountain said:
Bad idea. Spend the $25 - $30 for the powder. Cheaper than a prosthetic hand. Maybe not as cool at parties, but cheaper. And if you gear up properly to make your own, probably you will never recoup the cost to do that, assuming that the raw materials + shipping didn't already cost you more.

The relatively easy and safe way to save some money is to cast your own projectiles from lead that you smelted from scrap.
Click to expand...
Yeah, and I can't find scrap lead or free lead otherwise I would cast.

I'm not interested in doing this for the savings alone, I think it would be a good experience to know how and perhaps I can make a powder that's as good as Swiss and it costs half that of Goex.
 
The Goose said:
So let me get this straight. The same guy who pm'd me for blackpowder cartridge advice wants to make his own blackpowder. The same guy who states that he has neither the time, space or inclination to cast his own bullets and also says that if black powder cartridge reloading is too "convoluted" he will stick to smokeless. This guy is now considering taking on one of the most time consuming, meticulous and downright dangerous endeavors in the reloading world???? Really????
Click to expand...
It's an idea that I'm floating, I'm not dead set on doing anything immediately, but I like to hear opinions from others. This black powder won't be used in cartridges, I would be using it in true muzzleloaders, probably large bore muskets and shotguns, maybe even a small cannon if I ever get the inclination in the future to turn one out on a lathe.

As for black powder cartridge reloading, my only issue is sourcing bullets with the correct lube. With muzzleloaders, I can use bore butter and it's no fuss, no muss.

You don't know what goes on in my brain, so don't do the typical Northeast thing and jump to conclusions.
 

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