Thread: Black Powder 1000 years old. Nitro 140 years young

Just putting it out there that some people seem to think that Black Powder is pretty scary stuff and might not be safe to use in modern or vintage guns

Black Powder ( BP) is thought to have started being used in the 9th century
BP is thought to have been uses in weapons from the 10th century.
So it was pretty well the only option for One Thousand Years

Nitro cellulose smokeless powder aka Nitro was invented and brought to the market in 1884 so has been around for a mere 140 years !

So I'm just saying BP isn't the scary thing some people seem too think it is

We are very lucky to have an expert commercial BP Powder maker in NZ who's product and service is superb.

Recently I have been accused of being "a dangerous person too know"
( That isn't dangerous as in blowing up guns either )

More to come

Used to love playing with the blasting powder variety. Came in the size of small gravel. Nothing like walking back to a log you have blown into three or four pieces with the smell of pine resin and black powder mingled together

Our club is looking at introducing black powder in cartridge comp. Thats why I've been looking as casting projectiles.
Can I change from black powder rounds to nitro with xtp's as long as I clean the barrel between changes or am I missing something.
xtp's have no lube and cast rounds use loads for lube.

Flintlock ignition era was from early 1500s until 1850 so lasted around 350 years

Percussion ignition was a pretty short era from 1840 for a mere 40 years

Originally Posted by XR500

Used to love playing with the blasting powder variety. Came in the size of small gravel. Nothing like walking back to a log you have blown into three or four pieces with the smell of pine resin and black powder mingled together

I have a bag of this that I acquired not sure what to do with it

Originally Posted by Padox

I have a bag of this that I acquired not sure what to do with it

You ain't got no trees for starters

Post holes in rock got plenty of those

Get a full size 8 pounder cannon

As a kid I watched Granddad quarter pine logs with the blasting rod, I rediscovered said blasting rod a while ago, homemade BP.. how much fun can be had splintering logs

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Flintlock ignition era was from early 1500s until 1850 so lasted around 350 years

Percussion ignition was a pretty short era from 1840 for a mere 40 years

Technically we're still in the percussion era though aren't we.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Technically we're still in the percussion era though aren't we.

Yeah I guess we are

Remington did have a little play with electric ignition
And with the current trend to battery powered devices it wouldn't surprise me if someone had another go at it
But maybe Remington lost enough money doing it to scare everyone off that idea

Don`t know who supplies Black Powder in the South Island but have been making my own for over 30 years because I couldn`t get it. At around $2 a kilo I`m quite happy making it.

ever made gun cotton though?
cotton wool balls, dip in nitric acid, then dip in sulphuric acid. wash out in water and thats it

Originally Posted by Tasbay

Attachment 275348Attachment 275349Attachment 275347 Don`t know who supplies Black Powder in the South Island but have been making my own for over 30 years because I couldn`t get it. At around $2 a kilo I`m quite happy making it.

Homemade BP is great in muzzleloaders because you can just add more until it shoots to the sights and you are sorted.

In BP cartridge rifles you have a fixed volume available and therefore need a BP that is of a known volume and power to shoot to sights

But Homemade is always an option if availability becomes an issue.
You can bring Holy Smoke across on the ferry in a private vehicle up to 5 kgs
So you can get BP in the South Island that way