Wyosmith said:
I'm wanting to produce my own BP at some point as well. Many vids showing safe, dry ball milling of BP using lead balls :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3L93yBwjxA
Flintlock priming powder?
- Thread starter kraigwy
- Start date
I'm wanting to produce my own BP at some point as well. Many vids showing safe, dry ball milling of BP using lead balls :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3L93yBwjxA
In a ball mill, you mill it dry. Follow all safety rules (no heat or grinding media that can spark). Mill it outside away from houses and anything you care about, as there's always the possibility your mill could have a catastrophic failure, catch fire, etc (not likely). You wet the meal powder to screen it or "corn" it (compress it to make it more dense). If you corn it, you need to wet the meal powder just a little (not as much as if you just screen it). Wetting the meal powder isn't to keep it from blowing up. It is done to help the potassium nitrate dissolve and really get soaked into the carbon and sulfur. Easier access to the oxygen from the KNO3 makes it burn faster. I just wet and screen powder meant for my muzzleloading rifles and shotguns. I corn the powder for my revolvers. I weigh the charges of my own powder instead of using a volume measure. Makes shots more consistent between batches.
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Dry milling is supposed to be safe in controlled environments. However the DuPont factory blew up a few times as have other factories, and they had "controlled environments".
As for me, I would never try it dry just because doing it wet is so much safer and I am not in any huge hurry to get the batch done. When I was a teen I did it a few times and each time it took me about 6 weeks to 2 months to dry it. So what? I never was in any danger, so if I ever made it again, that's how I'd do it.
Others may feel safe doing it dry and maybe they will be.
maybe.........
As for me, I would never try it dry just because doing it wet is so much safer and I am not in any huge hurry to get the batch done. When I was a teen I did it a few times and each time it took me about 6 weeks to 2 months to dry it. So what? I never was in any danger, so if I ever made it again, that's how I'd do it.
Others may feel safe doing it dry and maybe they will be.
maybe.........
I can find only two references to definite reasons for the various explosions at the DuPont powder mills, and they took place in the packing houses, not the milling areas. Another issue was lack of electrical lighting for the periods the explosions happened. They only had oil lamps, and accidents will happen. If you plan to dry mill your powder, I recommend you don't use oil lamps. 
They did have a wet milling process because the dust created by such large batches of powder would be hard to control. So I also recommend you don't have a one ton ball mill if you plan to mill it dry.
They did have a wet milling process because the dust created by such large batches of powder would be hard to control. So I also recommend you don't have a one ton ball mill if you plan to mill it dry.
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Now don't go off half-cocked...
Since this thread on priming a flinter has gotten milked out pretty fair (wow, really!), I thought I'd go out to the workbench and grind me a little batch of 2fg using my little porcelain mortar and pestle. I haven't had to do the M&P grind for a few years now, as all my priming horns still have plenty in them
And for the sake of all these thread sharings here, I thought I'd just tell of my procedure, and BTW, I've never had any kind of flashing surprises, nor do I ever expect to have one. I did use the two spoons method a long time ago, but the M&P deal is far and away a better way to go. The mortar is 2" across, and 1 and 1/4" deep. The pestle is about 3" long, and looks like a little baseball bat.
Just for the sake of this post, I weighed what I usually dump in the mortar and found it comes out to right at 20 grns. of powder (average for three throws using the powder can cap for a measure, partially full). Using the pestle with just enough downward pressure to feel the grains crush, it takes no time, really, to make good priming powder. I then used a large Siler lock and weighed what I normally use to prime my rifle. I did this 3 times to get an average of two grains for the priming. All this works very well for me, and I know I'm not the only one who does this method. I've never heard of any kind of mishap in doing this procedure.
Our Old Continental soldier and his contemporaries have been mentioned a couple of times, so I thought I'd bring up an old adage that's been around for a long, long time; "don't go off half-cocked." This is how I understand that to really mean, when it was coined back in the day.
Just a scenario:
Holding the musket in the crook of his arm, our soldier grabs for a cartridge from his box just after firing his "Bess" in the volley against the Crown. Standing shoulder to shoulder with his compatriots, he's facing the totally professional British infantry just a mere 40 yards away. They're leveling their muskets, getting ready to fire their own volley against the American line, of which he's part.
The soldier's musket has needed some lock repair for a while now, but the armorer hasn't been able to work on his gun yet. His musket, from time to time, will slip off the half-cock notch and fall on the closed frizzen, which really could give any soldier "the willies," since the proper procedure in loading the musket calls for priming the pan first, with powder from the pre-made paper cartridge. Once primed, and the frizzen closed on the pan with the lock on half-cock, the rest of the powder along with paper and ball is rammed home down the bore. As our soldier rams his load, he hears the British Sgt. Major yell, "Fire," and the crash of musketry fills our soldier's ears as he pulls the rod from the bore. The whole time he's shakily thinking, or maybe even saying out loud to his musket, "NOW DON'T GO OFF HALF-COCKED!"
If anyone has another angle on the meaning of the adage, I'm primed to hear/read it. This has been an interesting thread (IMO), certain sure.
Since this thread on priming a flinter has gotten milked out pretty fair (wow, really!), I thought I'd go out to the workbench and grind me a little batch of 2fg using my little porcelain mortar and pestle. I haven't had to do the M&P grind for a few years now, as all my priming horns still have plenty in them
And for the sake of all these thread sharings here, I thought I'd just tell of my procedure, and BTW, I've never had any kind of flashing surprises, nor do I ever expect to have one. I did use the two spoons method a long time ago, but the M&P deal is far and away a better way to go. The mortar is 2" across, and 1 and 1/4" deep. The pestle is about 3" long, and looks like a little baseball bat.
Just for the sake of this post, I weighed what I usually dump in the mortar and found it comes out to right at 20 grns. of powder (average for three throws using the powder can cap for a measure, partially full). Using the pestle with just enough downward pressure to feel the grains crush, it takes no time, really, to make good priming powder. I then used a large Siler lock and weighed what I normally use to prime my rifle. I did this 3 times to get an average of two grains for the priming. All this works very well for me, and I know I'm not the only one who does this method. I've never heard of any kind of mishap in doing this procedure.
Our Old Continental soldier and his contemporaries have been mentioned a couple of times, so I thought I'd bring up an old adage that's been around for a long, long time; "don't go off half-cocked." This is how I understand that to really mean, when it was coined back in the day.
Just a scenario:
Holding the musket in the crook of his arm, our soldier grabs for a cartridge from his box just after firing his "Bess" in the volley against the Crown. Standing shoulder to shoulder with his compatriots, he's facing the totally professional British infantry just a mere 40 yards away. They're leveling their muskets, getting ready to fire their own volley against the American line, of which he's part.
The soldier's musket has needed some lock repair for a while now, but the armorer hasn't been able to work on his gun yet. His musket, from time to time, will slip off the half-cock notch and fall on the closed frizzen, which really could give any soldier "the willies," since the proper procedure in loading the musket calls for priming the pan first, with powder from the pre-made paper cartridge. Once primed, and the frizzen closed on the pan with the lock on half-cock, the rest of the powder along with paper and ball is rammed home down the bore. As our soldier rams his load, he hears the British Sgt. Major yell, "Fire," and the crash of musketry fills our soldier's ears as he pulls the rod from the bore. The whole time he's shakily thinking, or maybe even saying out loud to his musket, "NOW DON'T GO OFF HALF-COCKED!"
If anyone has another angle on the meaning of the adage, I'm primed to hear/read it. This has been an interesting thread (IMO), certain sure.
Model12Win
Moderator
The old hands primed from the horn, with what type powder it had in it.
The "priming horn" as some say it today, was either a pistol horn or a "day horn" as it were. This has been debated and the experts agree.
The "priming horn" as some say it today, was either a pistol horn or a "day horn" as it were. This has been debated and the experts agree.
I would imagine the "old hands" primed with whatever they happened to have at the moment...but today I think we can do a little bit better job of it by choosing the best powder for the job. While coarser grains will fire up in the pan, smaller grains will ignite better and burn faster. It doesn't take a lot of money or fooling around with it to get the best results.
