[cpileri]

What is the cement that holds Pyrodex together?

Is it egg whites like a cake?

nahh.
C-

[mtnbkr]

I know you can dissolve pyrodex in water, pour it into a mold, let it dry, and remove it from said mold as a solid piece. It will still burn, but is harder to light.

Chris

[smokemaker]

The pellets are formed wet and allowed to dry in the cylinder form. The small amount of black powder on the base of the pellet is there to compensate for the harder to ignite pellet form.

[mtnbkr]

Cool, what I did is close to how it's done at the factory, except that what I did was years before the pellets hit the market and not used in a gun. :)

Chris

[cpileri]

So I could just take a dab of silly putty to plug the breech of a 12ga, make up a pyrodex and water paste of whatever weight (150gr or howevermuch desired) and pouring it down there. Allow to almost dry. Extrude it. puff on a smidge of black powder and allow to dry totally?

How much is a smidge anyway?

C-

[goon]

Maybe something like a peice of 3/4" PVC pipe might work for making a 12 GA sized pellet. You could use a short peice. Just fill it up, let it dry a little, then push it out the other end and you would have a cylinder of pyrodex.
Maybe you could put the BP on the end first before you put the pyrodex paste to it?
Don't know because I have never really tried it but it might work.
Actually, that might make a cool firestarter too...
Does Pyrodex burn like smokeless or does it burn (explode) like BP?

[smokemaker]

Pyrodex does indeed burn, not explode. As for the whole make your own pellet deal, I'm not too sure that's a good idea. I also don't know that the "wet" version of preformed pellets at the factory are wet with water or a propietary solvent. Just my cautious, liability concerned side showing, sorry.

[cpileri]

See I was thinking that it may be a proprietary (or not) solvent as well. Perhaps it is something like Gun Scrubber or Break Free Powder Blast that doesn't leave a residue so as not to leave anything behind in the powder.
It would also have to not dissociate any notrates or other compounds necessary to the Pyrodex either.
I wonder if they'll tell us???????????
C-

[HiWayMan]

I seem to recall alcohol being used as it will evaporate much more quickly while leaving nothing behind. Can't remember where I heard/read it though. Hope the jackasses in my head aren't making it up and telling me it's true.

[Third_Rail]

Pyrodex is held together by dextrin, the same thing that holds everyday blackpowder together.

Water or 90%+ isopropyl alcohol should be used as a solvent, but only very little. Any more than makes it just a bit damp and you have up to a week to wait for drying.

Hope this helps.

[cpileri]

Hey Third_Rail, thanks!
C-

[Third_Rail]

No problem.

Hey, I actually used my chemistry powers for good!