Anyone make and shoot their own powder?

P

prontow

Inactive
Just curious, if anyone is making and shooting their own black powder. I can understand the cost savings but would it be consistant?
I am already casting my own balls and making my own patches and wads, thinking about trying to make powder also.
I have seen plenty of videos and read instructions and it seems like it would be very gratifying to have made my own, but would it really be worth it.
 
I made some powder the other day for the first time, its not that hard if you have the right materials. I burned a teaspoon of it, it is a little slow, but I'll try it out in a cap and ball revolver tomorow and see how it does.
 
I make a sulfur-less black powder that works ok as a shotgun powder (in brass hulls). I don't corn it. Since I don't use sulfur, the ignition mechanism has to be pretty hot.

Are you corning (compressing) your powder? If you don't corn your powder, you have to use almost twice as much by volume (if not more) in order to get the same level of power that commercial corned black powder (like goex and such) has. Works ok if you're shooting in a muzzleloading rifle or shotgun where there's room to get more powder in there. A revolver? Not going to impress you IMHO. If you don't corn your powder, you're probably better measuring by weight vs. volume.
 
I don't compress my powder, I don't have the right materials for that, unfortunately. I'll give it a whirl tomorrow and see what happens
 
I am too scared to even try. In one of my vintage Gun Digests, there was an article about something firearm related. The picture of the author showed a man with hooks at the end of each arm. He mentioned in the article he lost his hands as a youth, making improvised munitions.
 
Alright, I tried out the powder in a 1858 remington. It was pretty inconsistent. some of the shots were very weak, and some were good, I ground some powder up into small grains, and that was weak. I'm going to run it in the ball mill a little longer next time I make a batch of powder.
 
I made my own, I haven't shot it in a firearm but I've used it in my 30 Cal pocket cannon. I used a recipe off Cast Boolit. It's got a lot more snort than the Pyrodex I also have for my pistols. It was fun doing it, I'm one of those guys that will make it just so I know how to do something. If I wS going to do it again I'd make a larger batch and try for a more consistent size grain.
 
BP

Corning and compressing are two different things.
Commercial BP and well done home made BP use a process which, either by precipitation or lengthy mixing in a ball mill, mixes the three ingredients so thoroughly that they become a single element. Once this happens then the powder is granulated and dried.
It is the granulating step that is referred to a Corning. Compression occurs before that when moisture is added to the incorporated powder and it is compressed into pucks.
 
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I made some BP last year, have yet to try it out. Just wanted the skill available if I ever needed it. Even made my own saltpeter. It's actually a pretty fun process. As for the charcoal, I put some birch in a small minwax paint can, poked a couple holes, extremely heated, then vibratory tumbled with large ball bearings to break it down.
 
Never heard that the only part of the corning process is the crushing and granulating part. I thought corning is a process that includes wetting, compressing, and granulating. Anyway, it's the compression part that the op will need to make powder less bulky, and work in a revolver with some authority.
 
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I've made both ball-milled screened & corned. As far as its cost. Its hard to say just how much H/made B/P costs because its chems are purchased in lb weight and re-measured in Gram weight. {and honestly I don't care to do the math to break out a single lbs price.}_ If I were to (estimate) a lbs price for mine? My very first screened lb probably cost me 100.00 or so. There after each lb ~~?~1.50 maybe. 2.30 a lb probably for corned because of my having to purchase a couple additional tools like a Hydraulic bottle jack and a custom made pressing die which I believe are necessary for the purpose.
You're spot on prontow. It is gratifying making your own because. No many B/P shooters are willing to do or bother to try. As it is "easier to drive all around town so's to buy a single pound."_:rolleyes:_:D
 
I think eventually I will give it a go. Right now I have a pretty good stockpile of GOEX I will be working through. Maybe a project for the spring.
I don't care if the powder is not as strong as store bought, just as long as it does not make my gun explode in my hand I am OK.
I have seen black powder testers that look like a modified pistol that has a spring loaded needle to tell the strength of the powder. Might be a good investment to check consistency.
Lots of studying and videos to watch before I do anything.
 
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