[Pulp]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=E_5-VWlv_Hk

No chronographing, but from the sound of the steel, I believe Goex is still a bit hotter. Also the Goex would loosen the loading lever.

I'm not too worried about this, since the homemade is less dense than Goex, so I'm not loading nearly the weight of powder with the homemade.

I've got my third batch in the ball mill right now.

[scrat]

Again great job on the video
Nice results too

[Perk]

Pulp - If it's all the same to you, am of a mind to use one of your sound tracks as a ring tone.

That is, if you don't mind...

[fineredmist]

Pulp - I would have to agree the Goex did make a bigger gong. The video was very good, short and made it's point.

[Pulp]

"sound tracks as a ring tone. "

Be my guest. I wish I could put something like that on my phone.

[JCT]

weight for weight, willow BP easily will outperform Goex. I get just the opposite in my Walker and Dragoon, Goex won't drop the loading lever, homemade will. More felt recoil and bigger boom with homemade too.
Pulp, how did you make your BP? A ball mill? Good quality KNO3 and Sulfur?

[Pulp]

JCT, I ordered the KNO3 and S from your buddy Phil (sorta got him in trouble, but that's another story), made my willow charcoal per instruction posted here. I'm making small (1000 grain batches) in a small Harbor Freight rock tumbler I bought at a benefit auction.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said weight for weight. A cc of mine only weighs about 10 grains, a cc of Goex weighs around 17 to 18. I'm loading by volume. I could crunch some down in the case, then add more and crunch it down to get an equal weight, but I'm pretty happy with what I've got. Plenty hot for Cowboy Action. I'll primarily use it in cap and ball, though I'll eventually get around to trying it in my Rossi .44-40.

Thanks for all the info you've given through the last few months. It's been very helpful.

[JCT]

Phils chems are as good as they get, I'm planning on stocking up some more from him this summer. Sulfur is always the hardest one to find it seems. His are all lab grade.
The homemade powder is great in cartridges. I stopped measuring and weighing it, just fill the case and seat the bullet. The lower density of the powder lets it compact well and I get about 28-30 grains by weight consistently by filling the cases.
I hardly use smokeless anymore, but it does take me twice as long to reload BP than it does smokeless.
Last outing with the Henry's, we shot over 400 BP rounds with nothing more than a spray down with rem oil here and there. The rifles were fairly clean and action very smooth ( barrels were red hot though!! )
I'm glad top help anyway I can, I've gotten so much more help from others here and in the archives, always learning something new here. Lately I'm more into taking all my guns apart and honing and fine tuning the springs and parts to smooth the actions and improve the accuracy.
I'm about out of BP, so I hope I get time to mill some soon!

[Macmac]

Still reading, learning, and will have questions.

One is what sort of trouble did Phil get? Probably that would be where I came by these items.

I hope I don't really need to know.

[Pulp]

It was really nothing serious. I had posted a link to his business on the SASS Wire in my homemade BP thread over there. Later someone posted a really dangerous method of making BP, involving boiling alcohol. Phil chimed in, said this method was highly dangerous, and posted a method sorta similar to what I'm doing. The feller what posted the boiling alcohol method then sorta kinda, well, actually insulted us both, saying folks that made their on BP were below average intelligence. Made me real mad, and I figger Phil was insulted by it too.
Anyway, I sent an e-mail to Phil apologizing for the behavior of some of the Wire members, and we're OK now.
The SASS Wire is a good place for information, but some of the members are downright rude at times.

[Rachen]

It sounded a lot like a fishing trawler at dock, just about to set sail for the day's catch.

Add sounds of the ocean in the background, this clip would have had a very nautical theme.:)

[armedandsafe]

I had posted a link to his business on the SASS Wire

How about posting it over here for those of us who are not so SASSy? :neener:

Pops

[Pulp]

Here's the link to Phil's homepage.

http://www.ihaveadotcom.com

[Misfire99]

I just did some quick math to see how much a pound of Black Powder would cost if I made it myself. I used all prices from Phil's site including the willow charcoal. I used the ratio of 15 parts salt peter , 3 parts charcoal and two parts sulfur. I did some rounding so it's not exact and I don't really know how much you get, from molecules going into solution and suspension, but I came out with a price of about $8.25 per pound. When I consider the fact that I can get Kik powder for $10.40 per pound, with a case order including shipping and hazmat, it doesn't seem all that worth it to me. Goex is $11.85 and Swiss $18.55. From what I have seen there is a lot of work involved to make a pound of powder, not that I'm opposed to the fun of making your own explosives mind you, It might just be a better deal to buy a case and learn how to make Potassium Nitrate and Sulfur for the times when I can't buy it anymore.

Anybody know how to make NO3?? I know it used to be made from animal dung but how? Sulfur can be found in lots of places but how do you purify it? This might even be more fun then buying the chemicals. But my neighbors might object to a dung heap in my back yard.

[Misfire99]

It was really nothing serious. I had posted a link to his business on the SASS Wire in my homemade BP thread over there. Later someone posted a really dangerous method of making BP, involving boiling alcohol. Phil chimed in, said this method was highly dangerous, and posted a method sorta similar to what I'm doing. The feller what posted the boiling alcohol method then sorta kinda, well, actually insulted us both, saying folks that made their on BP were below average intelligence. Made me real mad, and I figger Phil was insulted by it too.
Anyway, I sent an e-mail to Phil apologizing for the behavior of some of the Wire members, and we're OK now.
The SASS Wire is a good place for information, but some of the members are downright rude at times.


I suspect that the method that included "Boiling Alcohol" Came from the second method listed here:
http://www.wfvisser.dds.nl/EN/bp_making_EN.html

But if you actually read the instruction you will find that you don't boil the alcohol at all. Actually you bring to to zero cent. So either the person that posted it on the SASS board didn't read it properly or they didn't word it properly. It actually looks like very good method of making BP. It makes sure all the Saltpeter is bound to the charcoal. If I do ever make BP myself I will use the second method. It actually seems safer because you never have all the makings in the ball mill so it can't go BOOM.

[Voodoochile]

As I've mentioned before, I had made BP a many years ago with my grandfather but at this time I do not have the place that I would feel safe "from my lil ones" to manufacture it but plan to in the near future, what do you guys suggest as a good place to do this in "like a shed or something" or where do you guys make your's at in your home?

[Misfire99]

I did some research on line about how to make saltpeter and found this handy little work. It was produced for Southerners during the war of Southern Aggression to get local farmers to make saltpeter for the war effort. I'm sure the same methods will work today.

Here is the link:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/lecontesalt/leconte.html