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Im trying to find real black powder (goex, swiss, c&h etc) in the wairarapa / manawatu all thats available seems to be that 777 stuff.
Never used it and it says not for rifle cartridges in big cheery red letters, which is exactly what i need it for.
Has anyone used this stuff in snider or martini henry capacity cases, or know where bp might be available. My regular supplier says its bloody sparse at present.
Any advice appreciated including the inevitable rude comments
Plenty in the Waikato? Holy smokes ok, he also does Swiss I think.
Have to collect, but maybe coming down to Awapuni?
Freight charge would be a 38/50 cape?
My mate makes his own using willow from my place, goes bloody well.
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ight=bretscherQuote:
Originally Posted by Marty Henry
^This.Quote:
Originally Posted by MSL
Beggar paying $90/lb for the stuff. Farm supply store, a 50# sack of nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal (make or buy) probably run you less than a hundy. mill it all together 75:10:15.
In my mill 3 hours gets approx FF-FFF grade.
My last batch I used some "gourmet" braai charcoal, so now I have Gourmet Gunpowder.
Ha ha might let you fire it though. I was thinking of taking a few to the big bore in naki might just take one now, as ive got enough for 20 rounds of 38/55Quote:
Originally Posted by Maca49
Ive heard of holy smoke, they do pyrotechnics as well dont they? Brother in law lives in te rapa so i might see if he can get a pound or 3.
Ive made it in the distant past, fine for a muzzle loader but the density was only 2/3 of commercial corned powder so cramming enough in a case was problematic.
Do you want FFG or FFG? I have a full container of both at home, I could post it to you???:wtfsmilie:
That’s holysmoke!
Interesting. I've never chronied or weighed mine for that matter. Goes bang, things move.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty Henry
I would think a wet mill, caking and screening might increase density. Also vibro and/or drop tubes when loading.
Drop tube, brass from model shop and brass funnel for anti static, about 400 mm long works well. Better not to crush the powder into a solid block imho, but no air gap. I usually load, powder, beer card wad, beeswax cookie, beer card wad and then projectile with light crush.
Wet milling of gunpowder is very good at reducing chances of exploding mill - also ensures the two or three gunpowder components are intimately connected and so less milling is required to achieve a fast burn.Quote:
Originally Posted by mimms
The density of gunpowder is better in commercial powders (heavy millstones, not achievable in diy setups) so they are a consideration if you're reloading cartridges as you can get more powder weight inside the limited case.
If muzzle loading powder density is no great advantage as you can just take up more space for the charge.
using totara instead of willow increases weight of finished product...it goes bang nicely too.
I have a couple of small gem tumblers, what would be good to use during a wet tumble as milling stones? Glass (ie marbles)? Stainless balls?
You guys wanna be careful what you say online. it is illegal to manufacture powder without the proper permission slip from the gestapo. I mean from the Gummint.Quote:
Originally Posted by mimms
Most people out there use large lead balls as they do not increase risk of sparks. Long tumble times are not as necessary when you wet tumble.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tommy
The problem with steel balls is the tiny risk of sparks.
Glass is really bad worse idea - remember your physics teacher use of a dry glass rod and a dry animal skin (claimed it was a cat skin!) to create static electricity?
I'd consider grounding the tumbler unless it is properly wired up with a return/ground wire through the plug, even use a little brass brush touching the tumbling cylinder as it goes round. You can get those out of an old tumble drier.
But keeping the mixture wetted is the main thing in avoiding static electricity charges building up.
It is illegal to buy or store black powder (legal definition: mix of salpetre, sulfur and charcoal) without a FAL, and you may not have more than 1.5kg of it sitting about.Quote:
Originally Posted by 40mm
But is it really illegal to manufacture small amounts of black powder IF you have a FAL + lawful purpose? I don't think so, but someone PLEASE correct me...
Most legislation I could find rightly (and practically) focuses on possession and establishing that someone has a lawful purpose for her possession of black powder. It's of course hard to prove someone manufactured the BP she was found in possession of, so more practical to focus on the element of her possession-without-lawful-reason of black powder. Likewise as with other explosives, the pertinent question is lawful possession and purpose. There are sensible health and safety rules for handling, storage and transportation you must adhere to.
Wooden barrel for tumbler or plastic is the best idea. Metal really is a no no.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tommy
Just found a pound of curtis and harvey locally but will have a serious look at holy smoke as its important to support local.
I got that from Van Tiel pyrotechnics.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cordite
id be surprised if it was not illegal to do so.
I had my pyro ticket and know that to manufacture pyro stuff you need the right ticket etc and magazine to store it in, and an exclusion zone for the manufacturing site etc etc etc etc etc
lots of rules, and im sure they are the same for powder too. Best to check on it if you are keen though.
I've seen the results of powder made in a kitchen blender. He would do each component separate, then measure them out and give it a quick run (30 secs) to mix them together. He did do the last mix at the end of a 20m extension cord out in a paddock. All dry!
Then that would go in a pack howitzer brass case.... and it went well:)
I did mention about wetting it, the answer was ' I haven't had a mix catch yet.....'
I know of a guy who has been professionally manufacturing powder for bloody years. with all the know how and safety etc in place, yet still he had one load in a ball mill go off and blow a double garage sized building to pieces. actually stripped the concrete slab of all the framing etc.
So it would pay to do any mixing in a very remote area and do so in very small batches.
Not saying that it would be fun or a good idea to make some.
IF you lot took the time to read the instructions PROPERLY..... you will see that you mix it wet ONE component at a time added to your "stale pee" or warm water.....the sulphur and charcoal are pretty safeish its the salt petre that makes life interesting.
I would simply NOT make black powder. I would make a different product with same ingredients except leave out sulfur. Sulfur is the demon in the triple mix that renders it so unstable and easily ignitable -- properties you simply don't need if you use a percussion lock/primer, or if you anyway pour a separate FFFG triple ingredient blackpowder into the pan of your flintlock. Sulfur also makes most of the smoke. Losing all those disadvantages is worth that 10% power drop incurred by not using sulfur.Quote:
Originally Posted by 40mm
so you would be making "brown powder".....
Nope, that is made by incomplete charring of wood when making charcoal, and also a source of premature ignitulation. I think a US warship blew its load in Havana harbour due to cocoa gunpowder, setting off the Spanish-American war.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
The Spanish ambassador to Washington tried in vain to blame it on Russian hackers, but the Yanks did not even understand what he was on about...
That said, the extra vigour of brown charcoal may be safe enough without devil sulfur in the mix. Nah, not worth playing with that.
RU going to Awapuni? I have some FFFg as well, holy smokeQuote:
Originally Posted by Marty Henry
:XD:Quote:
Originally Posted by Cordite
Black powder without the sulphur and less smoke? What an abhorrent notionQuote:
Originally Posted by Cordite
By Jove... imagine missing those reddish sulfur granules in the barrel afterwards, cleaning will never be the same again. I say, highly irregular, ol' chap.Quote:
Originally Posted by MSL
Attachment 117480
Yes, got some stuff entered and my eye on a couple of things. It may be prudent this time to talk first bid second haha.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maca49
Would be keen on some holy smoke so bring a pound or 2.
Who knows it could be used to proof any new aquisitions in the car park.
There’s this falla in the UK....has shit loads of the stuff I’ll see if I can dig him up!
Name of Guy Fawkes anyone know him;):XD:
Last honest man in parliament...Quote:
Originally Posted by Sideshow
I did actually look this up (quite a while ago). It's one of those stupid legal grey-holes. You can HAVE it, but you can't make it (outside an approved manufacturing facility) and no-one can sell or give it to you. And the limit was 10lbs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cordite
Sorry, That must be my dyslexia playing up. What I meant was "not me"Quote:
Originally Posted by 40mm
(If the cops have time to harrass me then I damn well expect ALL the other crime is solved and they literally have nothing better to do.)
Good luck getting you back yard an “approved facility” good apply under the mental health as an approved FAL person?
English translation please someone?Quote:
Originally Posted by Maca49
The legal requirements to manufacture are laid out in legislation. Access controls, magazines and licensing and the whatnot. My backyard may have somewhat more acreage than yours.
Do you mean fit and proper? Like a pathetic white supremacist australian twat?
And you think I can and will read, I’d just finish and they’d change the law? :D
Here's some really serious BP experimentation with a few clues to those of you on this thread who seem to not be able to get your powders to burn quite right. Who says homeschooling is boring?!? And safety precautions are spot on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-H6Qc46OaM
