Free Book - How to Make White Powder, Gunpowder, Guns & Primers.

[arcticap]

This popular book, "Homemade Guns and Homemade Ammo" by Ronald Brown was posted on a thread about white powder.

At the beginning of the book the author states, "This book will tell you how to make guns, gunpowder and primers from common materials. No knowledge of chemistry is necessary. Nor is a fancy machine shop, Ordinary hand tools will do."
Link to the book. --->>> https://archive.org/details/Homemade_Guns_And_Homemade_Ammo_Ronald_Brown_Loompanics/page/n5/mode/2up

The poster stated that the book "suggests using potassium chlorate and sugar, equal measures mixed together dry for a black powder substitute which he rates on a scale of 1-5 as a 5 versus the 5 other white powder recipes he had in the book.....The original author recommended a half teaspoon of this powder for an ounce of #6 shot in a
12 gauge shell. He also warned that all of the white powder recipes in his book were hygroscopic (corrosive) and would lose potency if exposed to high humidity or open air." --->>> http://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...owder-recipe&p=4943761&viewfull=1#post4943761

Here's the actual excerpt from the book.



The book is also available in other formats and from different websites, including as a PDF.
It can also be purchased from several vendors including Amazon where it has many reviews.--->>> https://www.amazon.com/Homemade-Guns-Ammo-Ronald-Brown/dp/158160677X
Just Google the name of the book to read it in a different format.

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

I did once try out Brown's Chlorate/sulfur/powdered grit formula for primers. I used it for a few percussion caps. For me it was a flop. Out of ten loaded two fired with power. Four or five fired weakly. The rest were duds. Perhaps my grit was at fault.I ground down sand to a fine powder for the grit. Glass would have been better. . Plus that fired grit was everywhere. I wouldn't have liked to keep using it just because of that.Every match head formula tried was a no go too. Anybody here try any of this? I mostly use the FA-42 formula. Simple and powerful.Safe if mixed wet.Not so much mixed and packed dry. FA-42 is like the H-48 formula without the glass.
Black Jack Shellac

 

[sparkyv]

Thanks, arcticap. Can BP loads be made in modern handgun cartridges? I am completely ignorant on the subject.

 

[arcticap]

Thanks, arcticap. Can BP loads be made in modern handgun cartridges? I am completely ignorant on the subject.

Yes, the black powder or substitute powder should always be compressed by the bullet [or a filler in contact with the bullet] just like when loaded into a muzzle loader.
IIRC the powder should be compressed from 1/16" to 1/8" of an inch at least.
Some folks use a long powder drop tube or a powder compression die to help pack more black powder into the cartridge case.
Since the BP residue is corrosive to the brass, it needs to be neutralized by soaking the cartridge cases in water soon after shooting.

 

[arcticap]

These very short videos show how reactive white powder can be when heat is applied.



In this video a gummy bear is used as the sugar source.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I always forget i dont use crushed glass in my formula so i should stop calling it H-48 formula and should calll it H-42. I dont really need the crushed glass in my mix as it works really well without it. I just got more primer mix making supplies...enough for a few pounds. Better for me to stock up now than wait for the raw materials to dry up and be impossible to get ahold of. We may be going through lean times soon do to the pandemic and also gun and ammo companies putting percussion cap making on the back burner so they can meet the demand for regular bullet primers for the reloaders

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

Gads A few pounds will outlast you and me several times over if just making a prime out of it. Did you get some powdered aluminum too?I haven't done the math but it should be costing about $.10 to make a100 percussion caps. . Even cheaper than using toy pistol caps.. On making the tape primer. This may be a good use for the making the primer pellets we talked about. I got them working but I have stopped. It was more work than doing the percussion caps by other ways.
Black Jack Shellac

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I didnt order the aluminum but i found out how to get powdered aluminum. Get a sheet of aluminum foil, roll into a ball or fold into a tight little rectangle or square. Then hammer it to compress it and rub it against a hard flat surface to help compress it. Your basically making a solid peice of aluminum. Once solid you rub against a rough grit knife sharpening stone or diamond coated knife sharpener, or even a file. Using a water color or paint brush..Brush the aluminum powder off of the stone/sharpener/file and onto a sheet of paper and store the powder. Not much is needed at all. Its a very fine dust so wear eye protection and a mask to filter out the dust particles because it is a neurotoxin. I weigh it and immediately mix it with the sulfur at a ratio of .2-.3 grains to every 3 grains of sulfur. This will help keep the powder from floating around in the air. I dony like storing the aluminum by itself because its dangerous...the dust is so lightweight and easy to inhale. So i pre mix it into the sulfur right away. I also add my baking soda at this time too (that is if it isnt already added). So ill get 3 grains of sulfure and ill add .2-.3 grains of aluminum and .2-3 grains of baking soda and mix it very well. Ill then store this mix and use it only for making primers...this makes the primer making so much easier as i dont have to fumble around measuring tiny amounts of baking soda and aluminum everytime i mix myingredients

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I wonder if i made this premix in the sulfur and sold it with the other ingredients as a kit just like the "Prime-All" kits...and sold it for way less like half the price of prime all...if others would be interested in buying it from me. It would be way better with quality ingredients and a longer lasting end product that wont degrade or be as unstable as the prime-all kit. Would you all be interested?

 

[Mike 56]

 

[Mike 56]

I wonder if i made this premix in the sulfur and sold it with the other ingredients as a kit just like the "Prime-All" kits...and sold it for way less like half the price of prime all...if others would be interested in buying it from me. It would be way better with quality ingredients and a longer lasting end product that wont degrade or be as unstable as the prime-all kit. Would you all be interested?

I would be interested.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Well they arent ready for sale as of yet since it was just a thought. But i can put some kits together for people if they want. My stuff will arrive this week.

 

[damoc]

Be very careful of chlorate mixtures It mentions some of the dangers later in the book. One of my friends got sent to the emergency room by these when we were a lot younger. For me they are scary enough not to mess with at all. BP is easy enough to make it is stable legal and barring a spark is not likely to spontaniously explode.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Yep making primers is not something that can be taken lightly. Ive never had an accident but u also never mistreat the mix...always respect it. And i never make more than enough to fill 20-25 caps at a time. My H-42 and H-48 mix is pretty stable tho...and once its in the cap its sealed with a binder that basically makes it a hard pellet..so theres no powder to leak out...even if you shake my canister of home made caps the primer mix never comes out. Store bought caps do...especially CCI's. Also i never store any mixed primer...use up all the mix immediately.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Oh and what i meant by never store the mix and use immediately..is that i meant never make a mix and store it as loose powder. You can put the primer mix into caps and seal them...once this is done you can store them for a long time. H-42 and H-48 primer mix is really stable with a long shelf life if an antacid is added...which is why baking soda is added. It "evens" it out and makes the mix stable and keeps moisture from deteriorating it. This is the same primer mix that was used back in WW2 era etc. The government chose this primer mix for its ammo due to its long shelf life and its dependability.

 

[arcticap]

Posts #86 & #88 in this thread give range reports and velocities for white powder that was made using home made potassium chlorate. --->>> http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?273725-homemade-gunpowder-questions-and-ideas/page5

He tested the white powder that was made using different percentages of sugar and the KCLO3 and then makes his recommendation.
If you read a few more posts, he states that the residue was not as nasty to clean as black powder which is surprising.
When loaded into a cartridge, the white powder was considerably more potent than black powder, and he wasn't even using "pure" commercial KCLO3.

 

[dbtk44]

I wonder if i made this premix in the sulfur and sold it with the other ingredients as a kit just like the "Prime-All" kits...and sold it for way less like half the price of prime all...if others would be interested in buying it from me. It would be way better with quality ingredients and a longer lasting end product that wont degrade or be as unstable as the prime-all kit. Would you all be interested?

I'm probably too late to the party, but...did you ever end up packaging this stuff? I'd be VERY interested in purchasing some, if you did, or do presently!