DIY black powder

[CSACANNONEER]

So my curiosity got the best of me and I just ordered this:

Black powder kit 1 lb
Price: $ 16.99

MAKE YOUR OWN BLACK POWDER. KIT CONTAINS ALL CHEMS TO MAKE 1lb OF BLACK POWDER. NO BALL MILL REQUIRED, DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDED. WHAT A DEAL!!

Details:
MAKE YOUR OWN BLACK POWDER. KIT CONTAINS ALL CHEMS TO MAKE 1 lb OF BLACK POWDER. NO BALL MILL REQUIRED, DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDED. THIS BLACK POWDER IS NOT ADEQUATE FOR LIFT POWDER OR AS A SALUTE CHARGE FOR CANNONS!

I realize that this costs more than a lb of Goex but, I thought it might be an edjumacational experiece and give me a little knowlegde and hands on experience for the preverbial SHTF senerio. OK, I just think it might be fun and interesting. So, has anyone else ever done this or, know anyone who has?

[Mac Attack]

No I haven't but I am interested to see the final results. Do you get to choose what grain of powder you wand i.e. f, ff,fff..etc or do they give you some sort of way to cut it down to your desired grain?

[CSACANNONEER]

No I haven't but I am interested to see the final results. Do you get to choose what grain of powder you wand i.e. f, ff,fff..etc or do they give you some sort of way to cut it down to your desired grain?

I have no idea. I figure that whether it comes out Cannon grade, Fg, FFg, FFFg or FFFg, I have a gun to try it in AFTER some preliminary testing.

[tujungatoes]

Can I come over to watch you explode?

[Deadon]

lol

[CSACANNONEER]

Can I come over to watch you explode?

Dude, you are always welcome to come up here and help me get bombed!

[gunboat]

When I was a boy during WWII my Christmas present was a chemistry set -
After some tinkering and reading the manuals, lo and behold all the ingredients for black powder were available. It went boom, but I had no weapon to try it out in. It was easier to cut a up an old shotgun shell for good powder. Be careful, you can singe your eye brows off :-)

[GrizzlyGuy]

I double-dog dare you to toss that kit into your carry-on baggage and hop a plane like this lady did a couple years ago:

Last Thursday, December 5, I brought five ounces (140 grams) of old-fashioned black gunpowder to San Francisco airport. I also brought along a boarding pass for United flight 720 to Denver that I had created at home, in an computer art program. TSA agents accepted the boarding pass. They also took no notice at all of the gunpowder... It was in three separate jars: one of charcoal, one of sulphur, and one of saltpetre (potassium nitrate). Each jar was labeled: Charcoal, Sulphur, Saltpetre...

Those TSA agents obviously weren't rocket scientists. Or even reloaders...

[Mikeb]

Is it legal to make BP in CA? I've got a pound of root remover and some willow branches and some garden sulfur...but I thought there was a law against making home made explosives?
take care
Mike

[CSACANNONEER]

I double-dog dare you to toss that kit into your carry-on baggage and hop a plane like this lady did a couple years ago:



Those TSA agents obviously weren't rocket scientists. Or even reloaders...

Pre 9-11, I fly from BUR to SAC with a carry on full of tools. They took my utility knife because, I didn't have a business card to prove I needed it for work but, they let me take the rest of the bag on. When I unpacked it in Tahoe, I realized that I had forgotten that I packed a bunch of gopher gasers in the same bag. (Remember that the screeners who screened me are now TSA employees.) I was a bit concerned that they had Xrayed the bag and inspected it by hand yet, they allowed me to take 30 little round tubes with fuses in them. Yes, even then it was illegal to take incindeary devices on a plane. Gopher gasers are nothing short of chemical weapons.

[GrizzlyGuy]

Pre 9-11, I fly from BUR to SAC with a carry on full of tools. They took my utility knife because, I didn't have a business card to prove I needed it for work but, they let me take the rest of the bag on. When I unpacked it in Tahoe, I realized that I had forgotten that I packed a bunch of gopher gasers in the same bag. (Remember that the screeners who screened me are now TSA employees.) I was a bit concerned that they had Xrayed the bag and inspected it by hand yet, they allowed me to take 30 little round tubes with fuses in them. Yes, even then it was illegal to take incindeary devices on a plane. Gopher gasers are nothing short of chemical weapons.

If there were any terrorists or other "dirty rats" on that plane, they wouldn't have stood a chance.

[jwest]

KABOOM-time!

[EOD3]

Once upon a time, the Security Manager at (unnamed airport) bet us (EOD pirates) that we couldn't get "explosives" onto one of his planes. Silly idiot, NEVER make a bet with an EOD troop.

[tujungatoes]

Dude, you are always welcome to come up here and help me get bombed!

Cool! I'll bring some whiskey, and white lab-coats. that way we'll look, and act like mad scientists. Let me know when it shows up.

[50BMGBOB]

CSACannoneer, I should send you some of my recipes. As a kid growing up I tried several, my favorite was with saltpeter and sugar.

I remember when I was in the Army, fresh out of boot camp a few Sergeant's where talking about how the base bomb squad had been call out to a local high school's chem lab to dispose of some old chemicals. I laughed and told a few stories about what I did as a teachers aid in my chem class and even told them how easy it was to make Nitroglycerin in a school lab (or at home). They laughed at me at the time but the next day after one of them talked to his buddy on the bomb squad he came back surprised that I actually knew what I was talking about. I haven't messed with that kind of thing in many years but have a lot of fond memories. Lucky I didn't kill myself or land in jail. Even back then, it was really illegal.