Buy blackpowder in bulk?

Unless you can buy locally, buying it by the 5-10lbs saves on the hazmat fee. If you can buy local at $20/lb, that’s the better deal.

If possible you should allways buy locally .... just to make sure your local gun store keeps on storing (black) powder ...
A little bit OT ... sorry

Well, before the plague, I bought twice a year at Back Creek Gunshop in Winchester VA.

I like the 1lb containers. I have bought them 10 at a time through our BP club. We get together and place a big order to save hazmat fees.
Check the nmlra website and find a club near you, if you don't already belong to one.

Texasgrillchef said:

Is it still possible to buy blackpowder in bulk at reasonable prices...,however, unless you bought it in 25lb allotments. The cost per pound was several dollars more per pound then simply buying that many 1lb bottles worth. Ie.... Grafs n sons has it at $19.99 per 1lb bottle. 5, and 10lb allotments were $30/pound and the 25lb allotment was only a dollar cheaper at $18 a pound.

Just as well buy it in 1lb bottles!

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I'm not really sure how you're doing the math....also when I order from Graf&Sons it comes in 1 lb. canisters, even when I order as much as 25 lbs.

Ordering a single pound of black powder from Graf&Sons, will cost you $42.44 for GOEX, and $39.04 for Graf&Sons brand black powder.
If you order ten, 1 lb. bottles of GOEX, they will cost you $22.24 per pound, and Graf&Sons Black powder will cost you $18.84 per pound.
A "bulk" order of 25 lbs. of GOEX in 1 lb. canisters, will cost you $20.84 per pound, and Graf&Sons Black powder will cost you $17.49 per pound.

I like both GOEX and Graf&Sons, but GOEX is made inside the USA so I always buy a few pounds from them, and some also of the Graf&Sons stuff.

LD

When I competed with BPCRs I used to order from "Maine Powder House" in 50 lb lots, just to decrease my needing to tweak loads.

They use to sell bulk slightly cheaper, but now it loos like it's a straight by pound pricing and all you save is the HAZMAT. They do still have free shipping for 25lbs or more. I'm still sitting on 50 lbs of Swiss and based on the current prices it's turning out to be a better investment than a couple of my funds..

I think olde eyensford is always the best option in my opinion price to quality wise. I always have a stash of about 10 pounds of OE and keep enough raw material to make about a hundred pounds of homemade black powder. I always have felt that investing in a small set up to make your own powder is always a good move considering you can make your own powder at around $1.40-$2.00 a pound. The raw material is very inexpensive. I can now make powder that is faster and cleaner than swiss and it costs me $1.40 a pound to make. But if that option isnt an avenue that you want to take i would just look for a good deal on OE powder, the price is only a little more than goex but its performance is closer to that of swiss. I think buying regular GOEX is a waste when OE is only 2-3 bux more a pound. Id say buy now because the price of powder will just keep going up. Hmm...its almost a guaranteed investment. I wonder if they sell stock?

When I ordered 25 lbs of Swiss from Maine Powder House, I got a case of 25 one pound bottles.
Do other brands come in kegs?

TheOutlawKid said:

its almost a guaranteed investment. I wonder if they sell stock?

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Nope, Goex is owned by Hodgdon.

Some locations/municipalities have restrictions as to how much a person can store and how they can store it. Might need to check up on that for where you are.

I normally buy 25 pounds at a time. They always come in one pound bottles, and I always mix granulations, and sometimes brands. I normally burn through the allotment in one to three years. The one local shop which carried blackpowder closed a decade ago...

I've bought large quantities at times and I've never seen it in anything other than 1lb bottles. You get a slight discount per bottle but it's otherwise the same bottles.

Also, maybe relevant: I've heard there is a reloading supplies store in Paris that is a GOEX reseller. Herrmann's or something like that. Depending on where you are located it may be cheaper to make a drive and buy from them than deal with hazmat fees and so on. That's 3rd hand information as I've never been there or tried to buy BP from them, no idea what their prices are like, etc..

Ed Ames said:

I've bought large quantities at times and I've never seen it in anything other than 1lb bottles. You get a slight discount per bottle but it's otherwise the same bottles.

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I thought that Jack's Powder Keg used to sell 25 lbs. bags of bulk Goex.
I have definitely read about people buying it in a 25 lbs. plastic bag within a bulk box.
They need to be called to find out if they do.
That may be how they are able to sell their own label of Goex powder with the difference being that it doesn't contain graphite and costs $3 less per pound.
Jack's may pack it into bottles themselves from bulk bags unless Goex does the packing for them, but I not sure. --->>> https://www.jackspowderkeg.com

Texasgrillchef said:

Im not including shipping costs with anyone or the Hazmat fee with anyone as that is applied by everyone. As well as basic shipping fees prior to hazmat fee can vary on other factors as well, as sometimes i do get free shipping with Grafs as well. So the prices i quoted were prior to any shipping/hazmat fees.

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It seems like if you want to compare how much a pound of powder costs you, you should include all the fees since they vary by supplier.
Add up all the costs and divide by the number of pounds of powder and your best price will be when you buy multiple pounds at a time.

You should be able to squeeze 50 barrels into your basement. That should last a while.

Although....

Well....maybe not.

Pay No Attention to the Foolish Man in Maryland..,
COMPLETELY misunderstood the original post...,
You were comparing loose bulk black powder in bulk to buying bulk in the 1 lb. containers....DUH-OH!


LD

Kind of makes me long for the days when you could buy a 25 pound keg of DuPont from Turner Kirkland at Friendship for under $30. Also, you could sign up for trap matches there and get five pounds a day at the magazine up the hill.

I've got one of those DuPont kegs! Empty...I'd thought to put powder into it.

I've bought Goex in 25-lb bags, not sure they sell it that way any more. It's also available in cases of 1-lb bottles. Over in Europe, Swiss is sold in 1 kg bottles...and Null B in 200-gram tubes.

Old Stumpy said:

You should be able to squeeze 50 barrels into your basement. That should last a while.

Although....

Well....maybe not.

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Great documentary, you really should watch the entire documentary. The part that I find fascinating is the damage the blast did to the foundations. In the end of the posted clip, you can see it blown out completely. Those weren't some block walls, they were solid concrete to simulate how foundations were done on the original Parliament building.

But back on topic. Most places won't sell bulk through the mail, it has to be in 1lb bottles. I can only buy bulk in person at Back Creek. From what I understand, there are regulations on shipping bulk so if you're going to have it shipped, you're stuck with the bottles so you really aren't buying "bulk".

Curious for the guys buying 3, 5 , 10 or 25 lb "bags" what are you storing the bulk in?

I'm looking for a solution for homemade and I regretfully have tossed all of the factory smokeless and black 1 and 4 lb jugs I've emptied.

SlowFuse said:

Curious for the guys buying 3, 5 , 10 or 25 lb "bags" what are you storing the bulk in?

I'm looking for a solution for homemade and I regretfully have tossed all of the factory smokeless and black 1 and 4 lb jugs I've emptied.

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That 's the same question that I recall another bulk buyer was asking.
The bulk bags contained 25 lbs., not less.
I suggested using plastic gasoline storage containers.
They come in various sizes and are air tight.

I've seen 4-5 gallon clear plastic containers that are used to ship laboratory grade liquids in such as ethanol.
Perhaps some type of large reusable water containers or jugs used for storage or intended for retail or business sale would be another alternative.

dave951 said:

Great documentary, you really should watch the entire documentary. The part that I find fascinating is the damage the blast did to the foundations. In the end of the posted clip, you can see it blown out completely. Those weren't some block walls, they were solid concrete to simulate how foundations were done on the original Parliament building.

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I have watched this documentary a couple of times. Everyone should.
It certainly debunks any beliefs that black gunpowder is an ineffective propellant.
It's all about volume.

SlowFuse said:

Curious for the guys buying 3, 5 , 10 or 25 lb "bags" what are you storing the bulk in?

I'm looking for a solution for homemade and I regretfully have tossed all of the factory smokeless and black 1 and 4 lb jugs I've emptied.

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Sorry, I use 1lb bottles that I saved for just this propose

Texasgrillchef said:

Is it still possible to buy blackpowder in bulk at reasonable prices?

The only place I found to buy in bulk, you could buy it in 5, 10, 25, and 50 lb allotments. Although the 50lbs were two 25 lb allotments.

however, unless you bought it in 25lb allotments. The cost per pound was several dollars more per pound then simply buying that many 1lb bottles worth. Ie.... Grafs n sons has it at $19.99 per 1lb bottle. 5, and 10lb allotments were $30/pound and the 25lb allotment was only a dollar cheaper at $18 a pound.

Just as well buy it in 1lb bottles!

Now that I have several new blackpowder guns, and have even upgraded my cannon to a larger one. I am probably going to go through about 15lbs a year. Still not worth buying it in a 25lb allotment, not considering storage issues to deal with.

thoughts?

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The price of 1 pound from Grafs is 19.99 plus a $12.00 Hazard ship fee. so your now at 32 dollars. The hazmat fee is the same for 25 pounds as it is for 1 pound. So divide the 12 dollars by 25 pounds so now your at $20.47 per pound if you buy 25. This is true from all suppliers I buy from. Is why we all buy 5 or 10 pounds at a time.