Colt Country | Home of The Almighty Colt
General Black Powder => Powder => Topic started by: DragoonRick on March 26, 2022, 03:23:46 PM
-
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.
-
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. :usa-flag-89: Thank you.
-
I make powder as well…. Making powder is fun and satisfying.
-
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
-
Alaska you are welcome to check my work.
Rick
-
Count me as tuned in. I'm very interested in learning this.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
(https://i.postimg.cc/VL8tfqgP/IMG-1400.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/c4SxgTPT/IMG-1396.jpg)
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
-
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.
https://youtu.be/dj-HGHzCFos
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
-
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.
-
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
-
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.
-
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
-
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?
-
Charing denim for Black Powder.
To make denim into charcoal, obtain a new unused gallon paint can. Punch a hole in the lid with a framing nail.
Cut a couple of old genes into 2 or 3 inch squares. Put these in the paint can loosely not packed. Cook this on a Coleman stove or some propane stove. When gas begins to escape from the hole the charing has begun. You can set the gas stream on fire, but not necessary. When the gas stops plug the hole. And let the can cool. You then can crush the charred cloth like any other charcoal. It makes good powder and is easy to obtain.
By the way all that charcoal I made came to about a pound of refined charcoal powder. For 100+ oz of powder for 6+ pounds of powder.
-
ABOUT POTASSIUM NITRATE
By weight makes up 75% of the black powder you are making. I’m using tree stump remover. There are other sources, but I’m not up to digging in bat caves, chicken coops or out houses. Many instructions tell of pulverizing Potassium nitrate in a ball mill, but it devolves in water. What ever pot you use put the PoNi alone in the pot with enough water to cover it. Bring it all to a boil stir until the PoNi dissolves. You may need some more water.
I use an old aluminum nonstick frypan stir with a wooden spoon.
-
Thank you Rick 👍👍 i really appreciate your posts.
-
This is great info! Thanks to Rick and Mark for sharing!
-
Agreeded…. Loved to hear about the cotton charcoal… I love learning something new..
It is pretty simple to refine that stump remover. I keep on hand about 15lbs of it at all times, but it is naturally occurring just about everywhere.
-
Used my homemade powder today. No problem with it at all👏🏻 I had problems with my caps and my dragoon revolver, but the powder worked well. I used 6 #10 commercial caps. Great shooting. Now I used the powder in a “Hawken” rifle and my percussion caps. No failure to function.
-
As to making the powder:
1. Put the Potassium nitrate in a proper size pan. Cover with enough water to dissolve the PN. I really use a discarded nonstick frypan. For a pound of powder use 12 oz of potassium nitrate. Cook at low to medium heat until the Po Ni dissolves. Put in 2.4 oz of very finely powdered charcoal. Stir till it until completely mixed. Add the 1.6 oz of sulfur, again stir slowly on low heat with a wooden spoon.
2. When the mixture is like mud or soft cookie dough and any free water has evaporated (make sure all of the mixture is incorporated don’t leave dry mixture up on the pan side.
3. I use a rolling pin and roll the mixture on a board of maybe 18x30. Roll it thin and let it dry.
4. When it is very dry use a spatula to push the mixture into small piles. Roll it out again let it dry several hours more.
5 the rolling pin will crush the mixture to fine powder. .
When you can pick up a pinch and it’s does not stick to your fingers it should be ready. More drying want hurt the powder.
6 store in tight container like an old powder can.
-
Really great write up sir…. Cheers.. :big_drink_2:
-
This will be a photo of my powder making today. The first photo is of the old non stick frying pan. It is on an electric hot plate. In view is 15 oz of stump remover on a electric scale. The stump remover which is potassium nitrate is poured into water in the frying pan. That is heated until most of it has devolved. Next the powdered charcoal is poured into the pan. Mix the 3 oz of charcoal with the stump remover. Mix slowly and carefully as the mixture is being heated almost to a boil. Add 2 oz of sulfur. Slowly mix until the water has mostly evaporated.. it’s like biscuit dough. I added a little water with a sprayer.
-
Next it’s like biscuits dough.
I put it on a “dough board”. And roll it out with a rolling pin.
I’ve left it to dry over night.
-
Outstanding Rick!!! Thank you sir. This is fantastic!! Very thorough as always. I appreciate all your content Rick. 👍👍 Tim
-
Many thanks
Dragoon.
Rick
-
Good stuff, Rick. Thanks for sharing.
-
Again I say, if your going to try this at home, DO NOT USE YOUR WIFES STUFF!!!! Best to do it when she is gunna be gone for the day just to be safe….. :rain-035:
-
MORE INFORMATION.
I left the powder on the “ Dough board” over night. This morning I tested the powder by lighting 1/4 tea spoon of the powder. It ignited easily and burned fast. It was very dry. When I could spudding pope the powder into a pile without sticking in clumps it is ready to use. When I the powder from the dough board it seemed dry enough to store in a container.. I will switch the powder into a commercial “Goex” can. I’ve produced 20 oz BP
-
Rick,
great!! By the way, I'm not sure what you were trying to type where it says "spudding pope"? I'm sure it is a typo error. Could you please clarify what you intended to type when you have time. thank you sir, this is looking good. :usa-flag-89:
-
Spatula move the powder. I don’t know what spudding pope is. Use a putty knife.
What I’ve presented is a recipe not a formula. The charcoal is the most challenging. After that it takes a couple of hours to mix and role out the powder. You can obtained lots of equipment but it will not make your powder much better. If you need really faster hotter powder sure. I’m satisfied with my product.
-
Thank you Rick 😁👍👍
-
Never heard of using jeans for charcoal. I'm impressed as hell with that!
-
The cotton makes smooth easily powdered charcoal. There are no lumps or chunks. It mixes well into smooth powder. For a test put a couple of square inches in a cleaned out shoe polish can or Altoids tin. Char the cloth like you do for flint and steel fire set. Crush the now chard cloth into fine powder. Mix 75 grns of stump remover , 15 grns of finely powdered charred cloth and 10 grns of sulfur. You can use a reloading scale or kitchen scale to measure the mixture. Should be 100 grns. You can use an old coffee cup to mix the recipe with enough boiling water to cover the mixture. Stir until it’s mixed. Spread the powder dough on a plate or plywood board. Roll it out thin with a drinking glass. Let it dry over night. Crush the now dried powder with a large spoon. You should have 100 grns of powder to test. That’s enough for three rounds in a .44 Cap and ball revolver.
Again keep it away from sparks or flame.
-
The cotton makes smooth easily powdered charcoal. There are no lumps or chunks. It mixes well into smooth powder. For a test put a couple of square inches in a cleaned out shoe polish can or Altoids tin. Char the cloth like you do for flint and steel fire set. Crush the now chard cloth into fine powder. Mix 75 grns of stump remover , 15 grns of finely powdered charred cloth and 10 grns of sulfur. You can use a reloading scale or kitchen scale to measure the mixture. Should be 100 grns. You can use an old coffee cup to mix the recipe with enough boiling water to cover the mixture. Stir until it’s mixed. Spread the powder dough on a plate or plywood board. Roll it out thin with a glass. Let it dry over night. Crush the now dried powder with a large spoon. You should have 100 grns of powder to test. That’s enough for three rounds in a .44 Cap and ball revolver.
Again keep it away from sparks or flame.
Thank you once again Rick. I small portion for testing purposes was/is a nice addition to your thread. Gives someone an opportunity to experiment without having to work with large portions. It seems more approachable when you put it like that. Thanks you.
-
This small amount for experimental use can still be dangerous. Do not heat the mixture in a microwave oven. It will ignite on you.
-
This small amount for experimental use can still be dangerous. Do not heat the mixture in a microwave oven. It will ignite on you.
Thank you Rick. Noted. Safety First! :usa-flag-89:
-
Here. Is a really good black powder book.
Black Powder Manufacture methods &Techniques.
By Ian von Maltitz.
A very well written technical book. It had one small paragraph about cotton.
I don’t like to mail order a bunch of supplies. I’d much rather pay and go. But here is:
More research:
In Amazon a 5lb bag of potassium nitrate that is fine quality cost $25. That’s cheaper than stump remover.!
Amazon list charcoal powder and sulfur.
It will make a pound of powder for about $5.00+
-
On Friday or Saturday I plan again to be at the range to test my homemade percussion caps. As to the homemade powder. There was no failure at all.
If I am successful I will do a YouTube video.
-
Here. Is a really good black powder book.
Black Powder Manufacture methods &Techniques.
By Ian von Maltitz.
A very well written technical book. It had one small paragraph about cotton.
I don’t like to mail order a bunch of supplies. I’d much rather pay and go. But here is:
More research:
In Amazon a 5lb bag of potassium nitrate that is fine quality cost $25. That’s cheaper than stump remover.!
Amazon list charcoal powder and sulfur.
It will make a pound
of powder for about $5.00+
Rick. Wow!!! Thank you for the info on the book and supply list on Amazon! Who would’ve thunk? Amazon 🤔
I would never considered Amazon as a supply source. Thank you. Can’t wait to see your video as well once you get that done👍👍 thank you!!
By the way Rick, I came across this just this morning. Have you seen this? When you have time please let me know your thoughts on this product. I'm not sure if this is good for percussion revolvers or not as it is a Fireworks company. 1 kit for making 12lbs of Black Powder for $65.77
https://www.skylighter.com/products/red-gum-black-powder-chemicals-kit
-
Zulch,
I know that pyrotechnics is a big hobby group. They do rockets and fireworks. I don’t think it would be difficult to make muzzle loader powder with that supply list. The only issue I’d have is with the charcoal. I don’t know about “air float. Charcoal is.
-
Zulch,
I know that pyrotechnics is a big hobby group. They do rockets and fireworks. I don’t think it would be difficult to make muzzle loader powder with that supply list. The only issue I’d have is with the charcoal. I don’t know about “air float. Charcoal is.
Rick, sir, as always, thank you. I have reached out to the company just to see if it is suitable for percussion revolvers. As to the "air float" charcoal? I do not know either. I will google and see if anything of interest comes up.
Thank you Rick, really appreciate you checking this stuff out.
Tim
Rick, Just googled it and here is what I got: "Airfloat charcoal is extremely fine mixed hardwood charcoal. The most commonly used charcoal in homemade black powder. Great for screen mixing, no milling required but also works well when ball milling your black powder."
-
All those resources should produce good powder👍👍👍
“Anyhow”. I’m taking my caps, powder, and pistols to the range this morning. I hope to have a positive video and report.
Rick
-
Rick, Good luck and good shooting. Can't wait to hear the results. :usa-flag-89:
-
I just returned from the range. I had very effective use of the homemade powder and percussion caps. I very pleased with the results. I fired first 6 rounds with my powder using about 18 grns of what looks like fff as that is all ive made. The homemade percussion caps made from red ring caps worked well with the first 12 shots. I used about 30 grns for the second 6 rounds. Mostly no failure to shoot. The percussion caps used red ring caps for a charge. I did use one cap with roll caps just to see how it would do. It worked ok but I had a limited number of those. The failure came from the red ring caps because they force red plastic debris into the touch hole. I needed a pin to clear the channel. But even with that I had only two "failures" that I resolved by use of two commercial Remington #10 caps. The homemade percussion caps fired a round of Pyrodex 30 gr powder pellets,
-
Fantastic Rick!! Wow, sounds like a good time was had and all in all a successful outing. It must be a good feeling to know that you have become, to a degree, self sufficient. :usa-flag-89: I am very happy to hear that. It's encouraging to know that if someone wishes to, they can follow your instruction and do the same. Thank you once again for the details. Tim
-
https://youtu.be/p7UpbH19zhs
My demonstration of caps and powder!
-
QUESTION
HAVE ANY OF YOU BEEN ABLE TO SEE THIS VIDEO?
I’m having some issues with YouTube
Rick
-
Rick. Yes I have seen it. Thank you for posting it. I didn’t realize that you had a Remington. 👍👍 I’m glad that you repositioned the camera after the first shot. It’s tough to try and shoot and position or frame the camera all by yourself?
-
Zulch,
I have not been able to see the video on my "pad" due to some restriction.
as to revolvers I have two Rimingtons made in 1974 by Euroarms, two Armi San Marco #2 dragoons and a Pietta 1858 brassier that really does not count as authentic.
-
Thanks,
The video shows that the powder and caps function. I have had difficulty getting them to work at other time. The key is to have the gun clean, clear of oil and the touch hole open. I also found that the roll caps work very will. One of the first 6 rounds was primed with paper roll caps. There was no obvious difference in function. But the roll caps are cleaner and leave less residue in the nipples.
This simply made powder worked very well. It does not need extra tooling and processing as described by some powder hobbyist. My powder is not as dense or granulated as commercial powder. It is more like 3f grade. It works with some compression.
-
I used my powder at the range bout a month ago. It’s been sitting around for a year. It functioned very well in a Pietta 1858. The same batch you see in the photos in this thread.
-
I tried red strip caps with 2F Swiss and Pyrodex. They're the same as the ring caps but in a strip. The successful firing rate was 0%. I added two spots from German made roll caps and it brought the success rate up to 60% Oddly enough the success rate was the same with Pyrodex and Swiss both. I would have thought the Swiss would have done better.
-
I used my powder at the range bout a month ago. It’s been sitting around for a year. It functioned very well in a Pietta 1858. The same batch you see in the photos in this thread.
That's great news Rick. Thank you for the update. I have forgotten how many pounds of BP that you made?
-
I made about 2 1/2 lbs. in the mean time we have moved to a new house. Powder making and use has been on the back burner. I had moderate success with the home made caps, with home made powder. About 50%. I will either open the touch hole up with a drill bit, or put a little powder in the cone before capping them. Haven't tried that. The German role caps never failed to pop. Just not enough fire to ignite the powder.
-
I saw an interesting YouTube of a guy who used tollliit paper for charcoal For his powder with good results.
-
I saw an interesting YouTube of a guy who used tollliit paper for charcoal For his powder with good results.
Do tell! Can you link us?
-
Check out Willam McBain’s YouTube “Everything Blackpowder”. Lots if we’ll presented information.
“Toilet paper. Makes the best black powder”
Rick
-
https://youtu.be/UTV5I8HDX1I?si=ASbQkvs0jCukgAQz