[RailGunSam]

Is it legal to make your own black powder and does anyone do this or have any links they recommend? Thanks

[robocop10mm]

This can be a VERY dangerous thing. I believe it is normally made, wet and then dried/sifted. Black powder can/will detonate from friction, static electricity etc. I do not want to consider it.

[FALPhil]

Used to make it all the time as a kid. By volume it is 75% saltpeter, 15% charcoal, and 10% sulfur. As robo mentioned, you need to be very careful about static electricity and heat from friction. You do it right and it can be used in muzzle loaders.

The law has probably changed since I was a kid. Since black powder is a true explosive, and not an accellerant like nitrocellulose gunpowders, it is probably regulated. You would probably be well served to contact the appropriate government agency to find out the legality of rolling your own.

[alsaqr]

i know of no federal law that prohibits the making of black powder. Some of the nanny states may have laws against it. Used to make the stuff pretty often. It is a big pain to make good black powder. You have to incorporate the mixture by wetting it and then rolling it under something like a big grind stone. Do not roll it with any spark producing metal. The mixture is rolled until dry and then the cake has to be broken up into small pieces-DANGER!!!

You can make black powder by simply mixing the ingredients. This is called serpentine powder and is not very powerful. When this stuff was used in cannon much of the force was expended by venting out the touch hole.

Making black powder is a pretty good way to get hurt, that's why i quit making it. It is easier to just buy the stuff.

[cnorman18]

I've seen at least a dozen different recipes; slight variations in the proportions give powders with different characteristics. Since consistent accuracy with black powder comes from consistency in the size of the granules, the key steps in any recipe are the grinding and the sifting--and those are also the most dangerous steps.

In some extreme survivalist scenarios, this might be a useful skill; 50 years after society breaks down completely and we're all living in enclaves in the ruins of the cities or in isolated, wandering bands, the baddest guy around might be the one with a stainless Ruger Old Army and his own lead-casting and powder-grinding equipment. I'm not going to be around that long, anyway--but my advice is, as long as the stores are open, making your own black powder is, well, dumb. There are plenty of other ways to get crippled or killed without doing something that's entirely unnecessary. Freeway driving, for instance.

[pagliacci]

Originally Posted by robocop10mm

Black powder can/will detonate from friction, static electricity etc.

the issue of electricity brings up another point. that electricity be used instead of a primer to ignite black powder?

[pagliacci]

Originally Posted by alsaqr

i know of no federal law that prohibits the making of black powder. Some of the nanny states may have laws against it.

you can buy it in california with no restrictions

[cnorman18]

Originally Posted by pagliacci

the issue of electricity brings up another point. that electricity be used instead of a primer to ignite black powder?

Black powder doesn't care if a spark comes from flint and steel, a stun gun, or your finger after walking across a carpet in leather-soled shoes.

That's why it's so !$&%?! DANGEROUS!

[pagliacci]

Originally Posted by cnorman18

Black powder doesn't care if a spark comes from flint and steel, a stun gun, or your finger after walking across a carpet in leather-soled shoes.

That's why it's so !$&%?! DANGEROUS!

because b. p. might be easier to make with limited resources than safer more complex substances

and because using electricity might be a substitute for primer

[cnorman18]

Originally Posted by pagliacci

because b. p. might be easier to make with limited resources than safer more complex substances

and because using electricity might be a substitute for primer

Well, I can only speak for myself, but as long as they have butter on the shelves at the grocery store, I see no need to buy a cow and a churn and make it myself--and I don't even have to worry that the cow might blow up and kill me.

But whatever floats your boat... Just make sure your family isn't in the room while you're experimenting, though, OK?