Make black powder

[Blacksmith101]

Black Powder Cook Book a PDF file from Internet Archive.

The do-it-yourself gunpowder cookbook by McLean, Donald B
https://ia800206.us.archive.org/34/...npowder_Cookbook_Don_McLean_Paladin_Press.pdf

Available in other download formats here:
https://archive.org/details/Do_It-Yourself_Gunpowder_Cookbook_Don_McLean_Paladin_Press

 

[Blacksmith101]

Just finished reading Like Fire and Powder by Brett Gibbons. It is an excellent book that explains how to make your own black powder. It is a new book came out since Goex closed down and covers how to make Black Powder specifically for firearms rather than for pyrotechnics.

Link to book on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=like+fire+and+powder&ref=nb_sb_noss

Link to authors web page (he also sells the book):
https://papercartridges.com/

 

[tjiann]

Just finished reading Like Fire and Powder by Brett Gibbons. It is an excellent book that explains how to make your own black powder. It is a new book came out since Goex closed down and covers how to make Black Powder specifically for firearms rather than for pyrotechnics.

Link to book on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=like+fire+and+powder&ref=nb_sb_noss

Link to authors web page (he also sells the book):
https://papercartridges.com/

Thanks. While I'm not ready to jump in and make my own powder, I did grab a copy of this book (only $8.95 in paperback) as it looks like an interesting read.

 

[Blacksmith101]

Thanks. While I'm not ready to jump in and make my own powder, I did grab a copy of this book (only $8.95 in paperback) as it looks like an interesting read.

A really good one to have on the shelf just in case.

 

[Blacksmith101]

Bump for the new year with some new information and sources.

I came across this video about using toilet paper as a charcoal source and found it very interesting:



So I will watch some of his other videos because he seems to be approaching the subject from a technical standpoint. Link to his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@WillardMcBain/videos

My former best source for information has been Ulrich Bretscher's Black Powder Page which no longer exists but is still available on the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170507062517/http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/bp_menu.html

So if the SHTF be prepared to make your own.

 

[P-12 Norm]

You just have to find the ingredients lying around.



View attachment 323194

If only it was that easy.
I read up on how to manufacture/mix Black Powder. While it is possible to DIY, it is not just something easily mixed to take out a Gorn.

 

[boule]

There is a vast amount of knowledge on which charocoal makes a fast powder or beautiful sparks in the fireworks part of the industry. The big issue with toilet paper will be the consistency and haveing a consistent BP is more interesting than getting a few fps more out of a load. Yeah, you can use balsa wood, cork, bamboo or a number of other things. At some point the major manufacturers switched to charocoal from a small number of hardwood trees due to availability and consistency.

 

[Bountied]

You'll blow your hand off kid!

 

[John from MD]

If only it was that easy.
I read up on how to manufacture/mix Black Powder. While it is possible to DIY, it is not just something easily mixed to take out a Gorn.

The trick is that you need to piss in it when you mix it. Water doesn't work too well.

 

[Brickman301]

Bump for the new year with some new information and sources.

I came across this video about using toilet paper as a charcoal source and found it very interesting:



So I will watch some of his other videos because he seems to be approaching the subject from a technical standpoint. Link to his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@WillardMcBain/videos

My former best source for information has been Ulrich Bretscher's Black Powder Page which no longer exists but is still available on the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170507062517/http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/bp_menu.html

So if the SHTF be prepared to make your own.

I watched his video about using TP when it came the other week. Pretty cool, and definitely makes things easier. I think I’ve watched every video he’s put out. He does some pretty cool and informative stuff if your into blackpowder!

 

[Blacksmith101]

Some more sources of information:

Video list for how to make black powder in the order they should be watched because some information is superseded by later videos. Be sure to take notes while watching.

How to make black powder (for firearms part 1)


How To Make Black Powder (For Firearms Part 2)


Why Is Your Homemade Black Powder Weaker Than Goex? Black Powder Service Announcement.


Black Powder Update. Vast improvements!


Making Corned Black Powder


Making charcoal for black powder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-ZIZ8nCGA&list=TLPQMDIwMTIwMjRIbX-f0Kb5EQ&index=5

Testing More Charcoal For Black Powder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7uteTZ8rZY&list=TLPQMDIwMTIwMjRIbX-f0Kb5EQ&index=11

We Made Black Powder That’s Cleaner Than Swiss?!?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q8z1Cr1e_Q&list=TLPQMDIwMTIwMjRIbX-f0Kb5EQ&index=7

Swiss VS Balsa Black Powder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvERNJEXVh4&list=TLPQMDIwMTIwMjRIbX-f0Kb5EQ&index=12

Cork Charcoal Black Powder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNgrK2ZSV6E&list=TLPQMDIwMTIwMjRIbX-f0Kb5EQ&index=8

Toilet Paper Makes THE BEST Black Powder?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTV5I8HDX1I&list=TLPQMDIwMTIwMjRIbX-f0Kb5EQ&index=10

Toilet Paper Black Powder (Not All Brands Perform The Same)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JMtA7No7x0&list=TLPQMDIwMTIwMjRIbX-f0Kb5EQ&index=15


Additional References:

Swiss BP. Code cracked !?!?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPEZ3Pruyeo

The Open Range: The complete Mad Monk Files
https://archive.org/details/mad_monk_bp_files/mad monk files complete/Swiss_Booklet/mode/1up

Ulrich Bretscher's Black Powder Page
https://web.archive.org/web/20170507062517/http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/bp_menu.html

Making and Testing High-Powered Black Powder
https://www.skylighter.com/blogs/how-to-make-fireworks/making-high-powered-black-powder

The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - Angriff Press
https://archive.org/details/the-chemistry-of-powder-and-explosives-angriff-press/mode/1up

Black Powder Manufacturing Techniques and how Processing Variations Effects Behavior in Small Arms

https://ia802805.us.archive.org/6/items/mad_monk_bp_files/mad%20monk%20files%20complete/Part_1.pdf

 

[C&RTactical]

I was just laying in bed last night thinking about how to make this in the details of sourcing the three ingredients, mixing proportion, caking, graining, and testing.

 

[sino26]

No interest in diy black powder but I visited the Hagley museum this summer and seeing how they used to make it was pretty cool. https://www.hagley.org/plan-your-visit/what-to-see/exhibits/powder-yard

 

[TheBert]

In colonial times the square dupont manuf facility was open on one side and that side faced the river. Why? BP dust in the air would explode from time to time and while people could be replaced, it was expensive to replace walls and equip.

I heard or read that fireworks factories only have one or two people in a building at a time and that you step through some water before opening the door, or something like that.

A guy I worked with in the 80's had an ATF explosives license because he made fireworks. He live on a hilltop out in Loudon County when there was nobody there except for in Sterling and a few in Leesburg.

 

[BFMIN]

The same on "The Gunpowder Trail" in Wales. One weak wall facing the water & a weak roof too.

 

[willtill]

No interest in diy black powder but I visited the Hagley museum this summer and seeing how they used to make it was pretty cool. https://www.hagley.org/plan-your-visit/what-to-see/exhibits/powder-yard

Can we get the blueprints to that BP manufacturing plant?

 

[Blacksmith101]

Can we get the blueprints to that BP manufacturing plant?

No need for blueprints you can go there and take your own measurements. A really cool place and beside black powder making the museum gives a history of the various manufacturing enterprises in the Brandywine Valley with working models of different types of water powered mills as well as how the workers lived.

 

[Blacksmith101]

The YouTuber Everything Black Powder has finally produced his updated comprehensive video on how he makes black powder that is better than Swiss, stronger and cleaner. This is the best source that I know of for making modern sporting powder it is 47 minutes long. He has many other videos on his channel that follow many of his experiments but this one consolidates what works into a single video.

I recommend you bookmark these sites.



Here are a few other links that are related:

The books he mentions:
Like Fire and Powder
https://www.amazon.com/Like-Fire-Po...ks&sprefix=Like+Fire+and,stripbooks,90&sr=1-1

A Handbook of the Manufacture and Proof of Gunpowder
https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Man...e+and+proof+of+gunpowder,stripbooks,81&sr=1-1

And the former web page, now only available on The Wayback Machine, of what I considered the former best source of information:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170228214004/http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/bp_menu.html

 

[Billcw]

 

[Blacksmith101]

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