Making your own powder

[DragoonRick]

HOME MADE BLACK POWDER
Dragoon Rick
This presentation may take some time.
This is my start.
   Black powder is the propellant of muzzleloader firearms. There is no other powder that    will work in these.  The example of these is match lock muskets, flintlock muskets, wheellock muskets. Rifled muskets that use percussion cap ignition as seen in the Civil War of the 1860s. Also, any other firearm of the period as no other powder was available. It was used in all arms from cannons to derringers. 
Black Powder at the time was simply “gun powder” it became known as black Powder when smokeless powder was invented in the late 19th century.  But there were other innovations at the time that smokeless powder useable. Mostly the brass case and centerfire primers.
I’d guess that anyone who finds themselves reading this essay will already know these facts.
The safety rules are.
1.   NEVER USE SMOKLESS POWDER IN A MUZZLE LOADED OR CAP AND BALL FIREARM.
A.   You will have a bomb on your hands. 
B.   Never leave a space between the powder charge and the projectile.
C.   A black powder arm can be overloaded.
2.   Keep them clean after shooting.
3.   Never use spark or fire around black powder. It is extremely flammable and dangerous.
4.   Store the powder in a tight container of about a pound.
5.   Store the container or containers in a locked cabinet. The ATF limits the amount of BP you can own and store. I am way below that amount.
Black powder is usually measured by volume. Rather than weight. A pound of powder weight in grains has 7000 grains providing enough to shoot 200 revolver rounds per pound or 100 rifle rounds of 70 gr. Charges. All this varies depending on the grade and density of the powder. The powder I make is not as powerful as commercial product. It requires more by volume for the same power. I am very satisfied with the powder I’ve made. It works well in cap lock revolvers and muzzle loaded rifles. I make about a pound at a time. That’s enough for lots of shooting. I don’t want vast volumes stored at my home.  The ingredients are safe to store.
There are a lot of recipes for making black powder. There are lots of methods for making black powder. I’ve simplified my process. I have a recipe not a formula.
I’m going to present this information 1. Ingredients 2. Tools   3. Methods.           

[Zulch]

Rick, Can't wait to read your post's as the come along. Thank you for taking time to do this. Excited to hear the process as I certainly have never made any BP but have read where others have. I admire all the industrious people whom have done such. By the way, did you purposely exclude Pyrodex and 777 propellants when you say "There is no other powder that    will work in these." Just curious, I know the discussion is black powder here.  Thank you.

[AlaskanGuy]

I make powder as well…. Making powder is fun and satisfying.

[DragoonRick]

I did forget Pyrotex and 777. I have used Pyrotex a few times and never handled 777. I know they are effective and powerful propellants.
Rick

[DragoonRick]

Alaska you are welcome to check my work.
Rick

[ShotgunDave]

Count me as tuned in. I'm very interested in learning this.

[DragoonRick]

This section is about the ingredients used to make black powder.
 
There are a number of formulas/recipes for making Black Powder. I’m using the most often cited. and quoted recipe. There are three ingredients that most of you will already know.
1.   Potassium Nitrate: Potassium nitrate that serves as the oxidizer providing Oxygen for the burning of the charcoal which is the fuel.  I use lumber yard Stump remover. I have used both that are presented in the photo. These are about 100% potassium nitrate. By weight it serves as 75% of the recipe.
2.   Sulfur: Sulfur is a yellow element used in many applications. I obtain yard and garden sulfur. Some writers will say not to use it. But I have no problem with it. By weight sulfur provides 10% of the recipe. It is said to be a catalyst that speeds up the burning.
3.   Powdered charcoal:  The wood in the photo is from a tree of unknown variety trimmed in my back yard. I do not know the name of the wood. The most often cited wood is willow. I don’t have any so used the wood I have. It is   white clear with out knots. It cooked into charcoal easily and made a charcoal that could be crushed easily into a powder.  I have used cotton from old denim jeans successfully.  I have thought of using white pine, cedar, popular very hard woods are not recommended. I thought of using blacksmith coal cooked down to coke. It is very light and will crush to powder easily. 
4.   There you have it 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal, 10% sulfur.

[DragoonRick]

Charcoal is basically wood cooked down to coal. Then crushed to powder. It is the fuel of the Black powder. It’s what makes the powder black. Other recipes use sugar for the carbon fuel. I have not had luck with that. I put the wood in a charcoal. Briquette starter chimney. Over a fire starter of some kind. When it’s burned to coal. Put it out with water.  You can build any sort of fire. A fire pit,  teepee fire etc. the point is to get the wood to charcoal. I used to live in the country and made charcoal for my forge by building a small bond fire. When it was burned enough I would use a water hose to put it out.  I would harvest the coal when it dried.  The same process but smaller for powder.
     Most instructions pack the wood in a closed container which is cooked over a fire. A hole in the container let’s gas out this is often used as a fuel to heat the container.  It’s to demanding of time. I just make a fire until the wood is cooked.
       The photos show a way.  The wood is burned in a small forge.  The coals are put in an old cast iron pot . The lid is put on the pot to smother the coals .  Crushing the coals is the next stage.

[AlaskanGuy]

Ingredients look great…

I use willow charcoal as I am looking for a fast powder.. but there is a drawback. Willow produces a pretty dirty powder, but very fast.  This is how I make mine, I have a Dutch oven with a lid and a small hole drilled into the lid. I really pack it tight with debarked willow pieces aligned vertically and put it on he heat source. When I can no longer light the exhaust with a lighter, the charcoal is complete.





Using this method, you do not get any white pieces of charcoal. You want them to be black and brittle.

Also… if you are going to make your own powder, prepare to get dirty… getting air float grade charcoal is messy business.

AG

[AlaskanGuy]

I make all my ingredients airfloat by ball milling before I start… then mix them using the CIA method.

Basically looks like this, and I do almost all of it in the kitchen, when the wife ain’t around.



 Also, words of wisdom… Clean up after yourself.. dont use the wife’s stuff to make BP. She will know if you do, and a trip straight into the dog house..

AG

[Zulch]

Rick. Outstanding description and concise and to the point as always. The ingredients well explained. . I’m very excited  and eager to hear more Rick. Thank you so much.

[DragoonRick]

SOME MORE DISCUSSION ABOUT CHARCOAL.
    The photos here show a big grain grinder that’s been around our house for 10 years. I decided to try grinding charcoal.  It did a good job but not as finely ground as I wanted.  I poured the charcoal from this grain grinder into a harbor freight rock polisher with a hand full of lead round ball. I’ve let it run 12 hour. The result is finer than talcum powder. 👍👍👍

     Another choice for charcoal is old blue gene cloth. It should be pure cotton. It makes as good a charcoal as any other choice.
Rick

[DragoonRick]

You all might review Alaskanguy’s process. It is top notch.  Some different than mine probably better. Product. Only guessing. 
     Black powder depends on the quality of the charcoal.

[ssb73q]

Hi Rick, I have a hard time considering making my own BP. As long as it is readily commercially available. Commercial BP is the safe way to have a BP that is reliable and predictable. If the day comes that  BP becomes restricted, I can see the need for rolling one's own. IMO it would be prudent to have a number of pounds of Potassium Nitrate on hand in such an event. Stump remover is an economical way to achieve that goal.

BTW, I have never seen a serious homemade BP report where homemade BP can achieve commercial BP quality and performance.

Regards,
Richard

[Zulch]

You all might review Alaskanguy’s process. It is top notch.  Some different than mine probably better. Product. Only guessing. 
     Black powder depends on the quality of the charcoal.

Thank you Rick and AlaskaGuy. Cool stuff you guys do. By the way, please explain about the Blue Jean material and making charcoal from that?