Jack's home made BP

[jack404]

been asked to put as much into a simple document as i can

here it be..

If you follow my directions do so at your own risk and costs..

i've set fire to shed's in the past , static is the big hassle i have but i used to live in a very dry place ..

thebasic recipe has not changed since the US founding fathers put out a call to arms

anyone can make BP and good stuff too , i take it a bit beyond a basic with alcohol , but this was common as early as 1800.. and can double your MV .. alcohol fumes and BP fines are highly combustable!!!


Making gun powder

Rev’d 2010-09-24

Main equipment

1.5” sections of 1” Dia Brass rod 10 will do
¾ and ½ “ can be used in 1 lb jars

some round 2 ounce lead sinker ( fishing ones) for initial mixing

a gem roller or tumbler

this is a inexpensive slow roller used for tumble polishing semi precious gems and

those pretty coloured quartz pebbles people wear

get a model with variable drive speed and a heavy duty nylon or heavy plastic jar with a good sealing lid

mine cost $129 on ebay and they are $79 USD in the states. With spare jars in the deal . i've now seen these online for $49

Good digital scales that do 1/10th of a grain up to 1 lb or smaller if you only want to make a pound or so at a time

Some pyrex glass mixing bowls and glass trays are very handy as well as are glass and wooden tools

As per the old recipe

Niter 75%
Charcoal 15%
Sulphur 10%

This is BY WEIGHT !!!! not volume , both charcoal and sulphur are light compared to saltpetre..

you can get the Niter from pretty much any source potassium nitrate , ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrates all pretty much the same in their pure form

so use what you can get

Put your ½ loaded ( never more than half load a jar) add your lead sinkers , place in the machine and switch it on ,

Do have your machine in the lee of a tree in the back in case , you’ve goofed

Lead don’t spark and there’s no alcohol yet to create a reaction so this part should be safe as , but incase the lid spills and some rough powder falls into the electrics etc etc etc , play safe , this is gun powder eh

Mix this for about 35 minutes and then stop, allow it to settle upright for a few moments and with a spray bottle of distilled water ready, open the jar ,

as soon as its open spray the inside liberally to quell the dust and to give the mixture some moisture and to cool it

( 1lb I give a good 6-8 squirts 5 Lb only about triple that ) this helps keep the dust down and to corm or incorporate the based elements

after a good hour or two stop the jar an open carefully , watch out for static as the fine dust that will float can start a dust fire , it is ultrafine gunpowder after all..

tip the contents into a large glass jar and remove all the lead balls

for every pound of pounder add 65ml methylated spirits ( denatured alcohol ) and 40 ml ethyl alcohol and mix thoroughly and compress as well as possible
and let soak over night in a well vented and warm place

inspect every 6-12 hours or so until it is a dry crumbly cake

I have a glass tray that fits a phone book real well , make a layer of the powder , cover it with heavy plastic , put the phone book on top press it with the phone book by standing on the phone book and then stacking it with a few bricks to keep it pressed this way

next
a very light spray of pure water and ethyl alcohol mix and place half a jar of powder in with 6-10 of the brass rollers made from brass rod, brass does not react with the alcohol that gets released from the powder , nor does it spark but it crushed the sections of hard pack apart

inspect and respray with a 50/50 ethyl alcohol mix to help the finer particles stick together and to allow fume ( alcohol) to escape regularly and to start the incorporation process..

after a couple of hours

remove and add enough pure alcohol (ethyl or methyl ethyl prefefered) as to make the powder like a thick putty ( about 150 ml per pound but go slowly as each batch is different)

the alcohol forces nitrate molecules (+ charge) to break free to be trapped in the charcoal (- charge) and it all adds to the speed of the reaction..

once the powder is a putty, grate it against some fly screen mesh in a frame to suit

the drier the mix the smaller the grain , I normally roll the mix into sticks to keep a constatant wetness and larger grain of powder

allow the granules to fall free and replace tray often so the granules don’t press against each other and clump

allow to dry, can or keg and store

shake the finer particles onto paper and save for the pan load on flintlocks for a extra fast burn


it’s a bit long way round but the processes get the nitrates ( both water soluable and alcohol soluable ) from one chemical to another chemical , the better the “bleed” from one to another the faster and cleaner your powder will burn

cheers eh

making charcoal and why good coal is important to come

[jack404]

The secret Science of Charcoal

what gives your powder its real OOmph!

it's a word document so i could include graphs and such

cheers

[ofitg]

Great info! Thanks!

[jack404]

no drama's , theres a lot of ways this is just mine , theres better powder recipes but this one is pretty safe and still gives a high MV and a cleanish burn ( because this does not use a caustic wash it will leave more residue than factory powders , but the caustic wash makes it way too dangerous for home folks )

[ofitg]

I enjoy playing with stuff like this..... hope I can find time to try this method, got a lot of stuff on my plate this week....