Black powder N Ireland

[manton]

Black powder appears to have become almost impossible to obtain due to new regulations about shipping  and transport. I  would like to ask our N Ireland members if anyone knows of a dealer who stocks it.

[tweedledee]

Did you try field and stream in the moy??

[RyanMc]

F&S were getting it tight for all powders - limited to something like 10kg shipments at a time due to new regulations apparently.#

You could try Jim Bowan/Bowman at NITSA (The Reload Shop) near Loughbrickland, he can usually get hold off different powders.

 

[manton]

I have just tried Field and Stream and the Reload shop and been told that they cannot get black powder because of the trouble and costs involved.

[bruno22rf]

Is Pyrodex restricted by the same shipping laws? If not it may be a viable alternative?

[manton]

I  have never tried pyrodex but Henry Krank suggests that it is not suitable for original guns. The rules are not so tight for pyrodex but it is more corrosive than black powder and more expensive. Having mentioned Krank who offers a wide range of black powders including some made in Switzerland I feel something is strange that it can be transported accross the eu but not to N I reland.

 

[RyanMc]

On 21/09/2022 at 17:09, manton said:

I have just tried Field and Stream and the Reload shop and been told that they cannot get black powder because of the trouble and costs involved.

Thats what I ran into while chatting to both of them. can get nitro ok, limited quantities of course (1kg max a time). 

[bruno22rf]

I would do my own research on Pyrodex and older guns, it can be had, I think, in different types and should be a viable alternative. 777 is higher pressure so I would avoid and as for corrosion - who, with a BP Firearm, doesn't give it a thorough clean after every use?

[NoBodyImportant]

I make my own black powder and primers and musket caps.  It’s very easy.  Are you allowed to make small quantities?  

Edited September 23, 2022 by NoBodyImportant

[NoBodyImportant]

In fact if I remember correctly In your part of the world Willow trees are very common.  Willow makes the best black powder and the wood is the hardest ingredient to come by for me.  I use Easter Red Cedar as I have acres of it.  It make ok powder.  I have to increase charge by 15% to get Swiss powder that it made from willow.  Slightly dirtier. 

Edited September 23, 2022 by NoBodyImportant

[manton]

• No Body Important I assume you are in N America as you have freedom to make powder. I took a brief look at the leglislation in the U.K.and discovered that  a licence is required to buy potassium nitrate as it is called an explosive precursor grade 1  .I can omly imagine that  the Health and Safety exeutive would add another handful of rules and we would still be faced with transport problems.

[millrace]

We used to make lots of things with lots of ingredients that went bang in n.ireland........lol😂😂

[RyanMc]

18 hours ago, millrace said:

We used to make lots of things with lots of ingredients that went bang in n.ireland........lol😂😂

😜 You'll need to bring the kango and find a bunker or two... 

There was quite the knack of things going bang here 💥

[NoBodyImportant]

19 hours ago, manton said:

• No Body Important I assume you are in N America as you have freedom to make powder. I took a brief look at the leglislation in the U.K.and discovered that  a licence is required to buy potassium nitrate as it is called an explosive precursor grade 1  .I can omly imagine that  the Health and Safety exeutive would add another handful of rules and we would still be faced with transport problems.

I am,  but you would think if you can own black powder then you could make it.   What about gun cotton. It’s the easiest Black powder substitute.  Soak cotton in sulfuric acid drain cleaner and dry.  Turns into nitrocellulose. It’s pretty good.  I loaded some 45lc with it and it hits a little lower but with punch through a 4x4 wood post just fine.  Never hunted with it but it would do the trick. Dirt cheap also.  

https://youtu.be/JPci5qHzMwM

[NoBodyImportant]

Oh Nevermind I see that kno3 is regulated.  Does that mean you can’t buy it or make it?  I made my on Kno3 from my chicken poop a while back and it was very easy also.  But cleaning out any animal pen would work.  I know some of the Black powder purest keep hay bales behind their barn and pee on them to make kno3.  I never did that as I have a chicken coop.  It easily to make but over here I can get a 50pound bag of Kno3 for $60, so it really doesn’t make sense to make it.  Use free wood and $10 bag of sulfer and to get BP for about $1 a pound.  I guess theoretically you could make it for 10 cent. a pound but digging poop out to save 90cent doesn’t make sense. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by NoBodyImportant

[RyanMc]

You can get it, but it is limited in quantity per sale and I think a running total from single suppliers etc. Not sure if it is passed on with sale details to other law type bodies, who knows. 0.5kg comes to mind. I have some but used it for making liquid ferts for live planted tropical tanks.

[manton]

Strange someone would mention agricultural uses for saltpeter, When I was a teenager some fifty years ago and into pipe smoking I grew some tobacco in a kind of poly tunnel . Yes in N Ireland!  The experiment worked but the tobacco was mediocre at best. and not worth the effort. One of the problems was that saltpeter was the the recommended fertiliser and I had to apply for a licence. to buy it.

[nagantino]

I think a group of BP shooters could combine and import high quality BP from England from Krank’s. If the hazmat is divided among the group, then the price should be manageable. Is that not feasible?

[old'un]

On 23/09/2022 at 21:14, manton said:

• No Body Important I assume you are in N America as you have freedom to make powder. I took a brief look at the leglislation in the U.K.and discovered that  a licence is required to buy potassium nitrate as it is called an explosive precursor grade 1  .I can omly imagine that  the Health and Safety exeutive would add another handful of rules and we would still be faced with transport problems.

Don't know if its all the same but just googled “potassium nitrate” and loads of places to buy online, UK.

[Smudger687]

On 24/09/2022 at 16:58, NoBodyImportant said:

I am,  but you would think if you can own black powder then you could make it.   What about gun cotton. It’s the easiest Black powder substitute.  Soak cotton in sulfuric acid drain cleaner and dry.  Turns into nitrocellulose. It’s pretty good.  I loaded some 45lc with it and it hits a little lower but with punch through a 4x4 wood post just fine.  Never hunted with it but it would do the trick. Dirt cheap also.  

https://youtu.be/JPci5qHzMwM

Soaking cotton in sulfuric acid would, if anything, either dehydrate it or sulfonate it. There's no nitrate in sulfuric acid, therefore cannot nitrate the cotton.

[manton]

Guncotton was tried after its introduction and was discovered to be too violent for firearms.                                                              I have done more research and discovered that you can indeed purchase up to 500 grams of potassium nitrate without a licence, but you would still  have to have a permission to purchase explosives for purposes other than blasting from the police to hold the gunpowder. The problem here is that you have to include a supplier and I wonder how the police would react to the idea of making your own.

[NoBodyImportant]

2 hours ago, manton said:

Guncotton was tried after its introduction and was discovered to be too violent for firearms.                                                              I have done more research and discovered that you can indeed purchase up to 500 grams of potassium nitrate without a licence, but you would still  have to have a permission to purchase explosives for purposes other than blasting from the police to hold the gunpowder. The problem here is that you have to include a supplier and I wonder how the police would react to the idea of making your own.

It works fine,  but you reduce the load.  I think back when I messed with it it was like 8 grains for 45colt.  It would send it through 4in tree.  

[NoBodyImportant]

6 hours ago, Smudger687 said:

Soaking cotton in sulfuric acid would, if anything, either dehydrate it or sulfonate it. There's no nitrate in sulfuric acid, therefore cannot nitrate the cotton.

You stir your nitrate into the acid.  Keep stirring your Nitrate In until it stops dissolving.  Place acid into a bowl then set that in a ice water bath.  Add the cotton and let set overnight.  Remove cotton and rinse and dry.  Load rounds about 1/5 the grains to black powder.  It’s much louder  then black powder but cleaner. 

This is a better idea on how gun cotton is made.  It burns slow but under compression it will sling a lead ball hard

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by NoBodyImportant