Home-made BP - the sulfurless type

[LARscout]

Is there a disadvantage to sulfurless blackpowder? I shoot a flint lock, I hear the burn rate is slower, but will this be so slow as to be noticeable with the priming powder in the pan? I want home made stuff and I am aware that it is by some estimates 30-50% less powerful than the commercial BP but at the same time I dont want to be able to count a second long delay between pulling the trigger and the main charge going off.

I hear the suggested ratio is 3/4 KNO 3 and 1/5 to 1/4 wiillow wood charcoal and binder (volumetric)

[joem]

Sounds like a dangerous undertaking to me. Lots of people injured or killed making that stuff. Easier to but it buts that's MHO.

[LARscout]

The mere handling of a muzzleloader with paper cartridges by the old manual of arms is according to modern experts "asking for trouble"
A lot of those same experts could not agree that the half cock position was really a safety feature.

Have you ever attempted this process to know what could go wrong?

[joem]

Wasn't it Dupont that had their BP factory blow up and kill one of the Duponts that ran the place?

[LARscout]

So by this logic, anyone that comes in any contact with anything as remotely as dangerous should avoid that activity. Meaning I should stay off the highways due to the high fatality rate of accidents and avoid gas stations because static electricity has been known to ignite the fumes.

I cant argue with paranoia and it's clear to me you haven't ever even attempted the process for yourself. I might as well wear a helmet each time Im in Hawaii because a 150 people die from falling coconuts there annually. But a BP factory only blows up once.

[ClaudeH]

More to the point: It is illegal to manufacture blackpowder without an explosives license, and therefore a bad thing to discuss on a public forum.

[LARscout]

This truly reveals to me to the total lack of knowledge you people have on the subject as a whole. The federal laws restrict the sales and distribution and a few points about storage of large amounts. We're talking about 50lbs before a storage magazine is required. Responsible personal use is not covered by federal law, the line is drawn if you attempt to sell.

[joem]

So by this logic, anyone that comes in any contact with anything as remotely as dangerous should avoid that activity. Meaning I should stay off the highways due to the high fatality rate of accidents and avoid gas stations because static electricity has been known to ignite the fumes.

I cant argue with paranoia and it's clear to me you haven't ever even attempted the process for yourself. I might as well wear a helmet each time Im in Hawaii because a 150 people die from falling coconuts there annually. But a BP factory only blows up once.

Not criticizing you at all. A while back a board member did make some BP. Even made his own charcoal. If you want to make BP have at it. The risk and MO was it easier to go buy what you need.

[Texxut]

I used to make it when I was a kid. We'd fill little bottles and taped them to toy cars. Made our own fuses and set "matchbox" land speed records.

[randy langford]

Making Black powder is not overly dangerous as long as a few procedures are followed which does require reading up on it. I have made it using sulfur, soft wood Charcoal , and Potassium Nitrate using wood tools to grind it in a wood bowl. The Dixie Gunworks catalog I have tells you how to do it.