These guys have some interesting YouTube videos on making BP from various materials, and duplex loads for BP and modern pistols and rifles. Just search for Everything Black Powder. Jim
I have been watching their vids for months, they are good at methodically explaining the + and -'s of the BP production. I have made BP in the past but I was no where near as methodical as they is! Mine was almost as good as Goex 3f. Still got some hangin around.
Is this a very difficult process? I ask as have read a few times of the old days and how many blew themselves up making it. Also, I remember after completion, they use to soak the powder (can't remember in what, water I think) just to let it dry again which I always found strange and of course the finer the grind the better the powder. Anyway, I wonder how difficult it is to make.
The Answer here depends on a number of factors, not least of which is the quality of the three components! Your Char is important, how you make it, What it's made from, how you store it, and measure it in to your mix, all factor in. Your Sulpfher is probably the most important, where it comes from, how you process it, and how you corn your powder. Your Salt Peter, this is one of the most misunderstood parts, but has a major import on how your powder reacts and the quality of it in the end! How you process your salts will literally make or break you. Alcohol is your friend in making Holy Black, you want to use it through all the risky stages to keep it stable and allow it to dry fully, done correctly, your powder will be every bit as good as commercial, and the results you can count on. Corning, the act of setting the grind, or flake size is what controls/defines your burn rate, how you "Corn" your powder is one of the most important aspects of making good quality Holy Black! Old Wives tails on soaking powder, if you had to soak it all, it was either too damn hot where you were trying to store it, or you had so much of it that you could have yourself quite a blow out if it were touched off somehow! Again, Alcohol is your friend here, NOT Water! I like to make Char, i'm very picky with it, as I have found certain aspects really effect the final mix and can really make or break your results. I like using Live Oak, but my ultimate is Willow Tree, not the bush, While Live Oak will make a pretty stout performing FFg grade powder, Willow will take it nearly to "Swiss" levels of power, damn near Smokeless, your salts have much to add here as well! For making my Char, I do it in old tin cans, load them up with fine wood chips and let them burn with no Oxygen, and once in a while, I might add a bit of natural cotton to the mix, no more then 10% to the total output, the Cotton will "Mellow" the mix, and hold back on the flash a little with no adverse performance elsewhere! Sulphur, I get mine literally right out of the ground, up in Oregon, it quite literally grown into mounds on the surface of the ground, you want to dig around through those piles and go for what's just under the surface, that's the Sweetest of the Sulphur, and usually right where you want it for moisture. Salt Peter, here is where folks get all worked up, if you know how to make it, there is ZERO drama involved. Remember, Salt Peter is literally Potassium Nitrate, and it's not that hard to find, especially on both coasts! If you cannot find a natural source, you can make it your self, Save off all your pet waste and let it sit someplace dark, when ready, soak it in water for at least 24 hours and then filter the water and let it dry, those crystals are your Potassium Nitrate, and you don't have to do anything special other then collect them! Live on a ranch, Good, a more ready supply of shit to process into good Holy Black!
I find this amazing that in days of old, someone, somewhere figured all this out. Simply amazing! Thanks, @Ura-Ki !!
Thank the Chinese alchemists of 1000 years ago! So far as we know it was developed for celebrations- fireworks and the like. It was first used in warfare against the Mongol Hordes of Genghis Khan circa 1200AD..
The hardest component to get is the sulfur, charcoal you can make the PN you can make also or just go to the big box depot an buy a cupla bottles if stump remover. Had an older gentleman tell me that as long as you make a pound and under there will not be enuf to blow up and if it does get lit the most you loose is some hair and pride. He said a pound will be enuf to last thru testing and a couple of hunting seasons.
