It has been 30 years or more since I made nitrated paper for paper cartridges for a cap and ball revolver.
I couldn't remember how much potassium nitrate (saltpeter) I used in the water but I found a reference that said 2 Tablspoons per quart of warm water.
This dissolved quickly in the warm water in a Mason jar. I used tracing paper, sold in hobby stores, for the paper. It's slightly thinner than computer paper. Years ago I used onionskin typing paper but good luck finding that today!
Anyway, I used a large, glass cake pan to soak the tracing paper. An 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper is larger than the bottom of the glass pan, so I had to trim the paper to about 9-1/2 inches wide.
I soaked one sheet at a time for a few minutes, chasing out all bubbles under the paper with the back side of a spoon (the wet paper tears easily).
While the paper soaked a few minutes, I hung a string across the kitchen sink, between the cabinets, and grabbed some clothespins.
When the paper was saturated, I hung the paper to dry over the sink, so any excess would fall harmlessly into the sink.
I did three pages, figuring that was enough for a few dozen .36 and .44-caliber paper cartridges.
I saved the solution in the same jar, labeled it and put it in a cool, dry place.
Though I used high-grade potassium nitrate sold by the local pharmacy, I'm told that stump remover sold by stores is nearly pure potassium nitrate.
I was in Wal-Mart last week and looked at a can of the stuff (look in the gardening section, in the same aisle as weed killers).
The can of stump remover didn't say how much potassium nitrate it contained. It only said it contained the stuff. But others who have posted messages have used it with good effect, apparently.
It's cheaper than buying the stuff from the pharmacy, and a whole lot more available (I had to order mine from the pharmacist and wait two weeks).
I'm sanding the 3/8 and 1/2 inch wooden dowel right now, as a form to roll the paper around. As I sand, I occasionally check the dowel's diameter against a chamber of the revolver's cylinder.
I'm thinking that I want slightly looser than a slip-fit in the chamber, to leave room for the thickness of the paper too.
I should have them sanded down this weekend. I don't have a half-inch drill or I'd chuck the 1/2 inch dowel in that and make quick work of it. I've been using my cordless drill to help me sand down the 3/8 inch dowel, however.
I tried a match to some small scraps of the nitrated paper this morning, when it was dry. It sparkled as it burned slowly but surely, just as I had remembered it.
Hollywood gives the impression in movies that nitrated paper bursts into flames immediately. Gambling bookies have used nitrated paper to take bets over the phone and keep records for years.
If their booking operation gets busted, they need only touch a lit cigarette to the paper and it immediately begins to turn to ash, destroying the evidence.
But it's not a quick process. The paper burns slowly and I don't see how evidence could be quickly destroyed this way. Perhaps bookies use a much stronger solution of potassium nitrate for soaking their paper.
I'll have to experiment with this. Perhaps more than 2 Tablespoons of potassium nitrate per quart of water would aid ignition.
For the moment, I'm going to try this paper I just made and see how it works.
I'll be posting my results sometime soon. Don't touch that dial! Stayed tuned to GTFO for more further adventures of that lovable, grumpy and sexy ol' desert cat, Gatofeo!
