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Black Powder shooters info!
jjmitchell60
Member Posts: 3,887
Those on the board that shoot the real stuff, black powder not a substitute, should be buying what they can when they can. I went today to pick up a mixed case of FF & FFF and the distributor told me he was almost out for the whole year! He went on to tell me he did not know if he would be able to get much next year,2004, and if so he epects it to at least double in price! I paid $6.40 + tax per pound today in case lot but the same stuff next year will be at least $12 per pound due to the Homeland Security Act. He also said that the ATF is checking him once a week as to who he sells to! He said that if things go as the Government wants then next year if you buy BP you will have to sign for it on a form that is kept on file! The days of true BP shooting are numbered people unless we start to do something about it now. I justed wanted to give all a heads up on the BP situation coming up as soon as next year.
Comments
Know anything about if/how they will be affected?
Thanks for the tip!
Big Al
When you wrestle a 'gator, there ain't no good end!!
"Molon Labe!" Spartan General-King Leonidas
My 2-cents worth,
Rafter-S
"What is truth? No wonder jesting Pilate turned away. The truth, it has a thousand faces -- show only one of them, and the whole truth flies away! But how to show the whole? That is the question."
--Thomas Wolfe, "You Can't Go Home Again" (1934)
[:D][:D]
Before you try this
Before you make this
Before you even think of this
Blackpowder can kill you! It is dangerous!
Do not do this without proper consideration of the consequences!
If you have any doubts that you will be able to do this, DON'T!
Blackpowder is the oldest explosive there is.
The Chinese invented it many thousand years ago for the use in fireworks, later they used it in bombs and rockets.
Ordinary blackpowder contains a mixture of potassium nitrate (saltpeter), sulfur and charcoal. The chinese somehow knew if you want a mixture to burn (in a confined space), you need oxygen. A nitrate has 3 oxygen atoms which come off when the temperature rises. For this to be of use you need a fuel, this is the charcoal and sulfur.
There are other nitrates and other oxidizers you can use, those mentioned you can obtain easily.
You could use sodium nitrate. Sodium is the little brother of potassium but has a few disadvantages. One disadvantage is it extracts a bit water from the air. Potassium nitrate doesn't. Also it is a stronger oxidizer which will result in more pressure, not necessarily good in BP firearms.
What do you need ?
Saltpeter (this is a fertilizer and you can often be obtained at gardening stores and Ranch/farm supplys. It is often in the form of little white balls) it comes under various commercial names. Read the label.
Sulfur (also called flowers of sulfur) you can obtain this at a drugstore or farm supply.
Charcoal (you can use barbeque charcoal.)
A basic rules is the finer the stuff, the better it will burn.
To make the (chile)saltpeter very fine you can use an electric food grinder/processor. Or you could do it by hand with a mortar & pestle.
To powder the charcoal you could also use the mortar & pestle or you could just use a hammer and bucket. Watch that you don't breath too much of the dust.
You can also make charcoal by heating any kind of wood in a large bucket (perhaps an old paint can). Make a hole in the lid of the bucket and fill with wood. You could use straw/dry grass instead of wood(this will make the blackpowder burn faster). Now make a fire and put the bucket on the fire. After it stops smoking the charcoal is ready for use.
The sulfur should already be powdered (unless you're like me and have a lump that moisture has gotten to) just crush the lumbs.
By weight; weigh out 8 oz. saltpeter, about 2 1/2 oz. charcoal and 2 oz. sulfur. (This will make 12 1/2 oz).
By volume; 2 cups saltpeter, 1/2 cup charcoal and 1/2 cup sulfur. This will make slightly over a pound. (The measure is very forgiving and you'll find others give you slightly different volumes, you could adjust the mixture to get different burn properties)
Mix the ingredients well in a wooden or brass bowl (nonsparking) until the mixture is all dark grey. Now moisten the mixture with water(bisquit mix consistancy). Forcefully rub the powder into the sides of the bowl for about 15 minutes. When done rub this stuff through a screen (You can use a big wooden spoon). Spread the blackpowder on old newspaper and let it dry. You could layer it in a pan about 1/2" thick and let dry.
When it is totally dry the blackpowder should be granular (or in cake form if you layered it in a pan) and you must crush it. Use a woodenspoon (again) or mortar & pestle.
Place the blackpowder in an air/watertight container until ready for use. Dry blackpowder is spark sensitive. Be careful!
Go out and make some smoke and noise.
When you wrestle a 'gator, there ain't no good end!!
"Molon Labe!" Spartan General-King Leonidas
Woods
Here's How:
Originally, black powder was made by mixing equal amounts, by weight, of elemental sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter (potassium nitrate).
The ratio was later adjusted to 75:15:10 saltpeter:sulfur:charcoal. Willow is most often used as the source for the charcoal.
The three components were carefully and completely ground together, resulting in a powder called 'serpentine'.
Serpentine often required re-mixing prior to use. The grinding and mixing process was very, very dangerous!
Some of the hazard was reduced by adding water, wine, or other liquids while grinding and mixing.
The slurry was forced through a screen to make small pellets. The pellets were then allowed to dry.
All it takes is a single spark to ignite gunpowder!
A great deal of smoke is produced when gunpowder is burned. This impairs visibility in battle.
Willow is the traditional wood used to make charcoal, but grapevine, hazel, elder, laurel, and pine cones may be used.
Charcoal is not the only fuel that can be used. Sugar is used instead in many pyrotechnic applications. Too much smoke ruins a firework display!
To summarize, black powder consists of a fuel (charcoal or sugar) and an oxidizer (saltpeter), and sulfur, to allow for a stable reaction.
The carbon from the charcoal plus oxygen forms carbon dioxide and energy.
The reaction would be slow, like a wood fire, except for the oxidizing agent. Carbon in a fire must draw oxygen from the air. Saltpeter provides extra oxygen.
Potassium nitrate, sulfur, and carbon react together to form nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases and potassium sulfide.
The expanding gases, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, provide the propelling action.
Tips:
Black powder is of great historical importance in chemistry. Although it can explode, its principal use is as a propellant.
Gunpowder was invented by Chinese alchemists in the 9th century.
Unless you are making black powder for rocketry or pyrotechnics and know what you are doing, don't make it!
What You Need:
Saltpeter (Niter)
Sulfur
Charcoal or Sugar
Water
When you wrestle a 'gator, there ain't no good end!!
"Molon Labe!" Spartan General-King Leonidas
(I have not tried this method myself.)
Another way of making Black Powder off the web.
Potassium nitrate, granulated 3 cups (.75 litre), wood charcoal, powdered, 2 cups (.5 litre), powdered sulfur, 1/2 cup (1/8 litre), alcohol, 5 pints (2.5 litres) whiskey, rubbing, etc. water 3 cups (.75 litre), a heat source, 2 buckets- each 2 gallon (7.5 litres) capacity, one of which must be heat resistant (metal, ceramic), a flat window screen 1 foot square, large wooden stick, and a cloth, 2 ft. sq.
Place alcohol in one of the buckets. Place potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur in the heat resistant bucket. Add 1 cups water and mix thoroughly with wooden stick until all ingredients are dissolved. Add remaining water (2 cups) to mixture. Place bucket on heat source and stir until small bubbles begin to form.
Note: Do NOT boil mixture. Be sure all mixture stays wet. If any is dry, as on sides of pan, it may ignite.
Remove bucket from heat and pour mixture into alcohol while stirring vigorously. Let alcohol mixture stand about 5 minutes. Strain mixture through cloth to obtain black powder. Discard liquid. Wrap cloth around black powder and squeeze to remove all excess liquid. Place screening over dry bucket. Place workable amount of damp powder on screen and granulate by rubbing solid through screen.
Note: If granulated particles appear to stick together and change shape, recombine entire batch of powder in alcohol and strain again.
Spread granulated powder on flat dry surface so that layer about 1/2" (1.25 cm) is formed. Allow to dry. Use radiator, or direct sunlight. This should be dried as soon as possible, preferably in one hour. The longer the drying period, the less effective the black powder.
Note: Remove from here as soon as granules are dry. Black powder is now ready for use.
I stress again that you should not do this if you are not familiar with black powder and its destructive potential. This is for you information only and not intended for use by the inexperienced
When you wrestle a 'gator, there ain't no good end!!
"Molon Labe!" Spartan General-King Leonidas
As a kid, a dry mixture of about 50 grains I was grinding in a ceramic mortar and pestle exploded in my hands.
Dupont who had been producing black powder for 150 years and knew what they were doing, had a black powder explosion in NJ not that long ago. That ended their black powder production.