Price of Gunpowder

[Will Bison]

I have noted a substantial increase in the cost of powder over the past three to four years. Yesterday I ordered 100 lbs of Potassium Nitrate and it has gone from $36 per hundred to $54 per hundred in the past six months. My supplier noted that I should expect more increase in the near future.

My guess is that the commercial producers of gunpowder have also been hit with price increases on KNO3. Sulphur on the other hand has only increased about equal to CPI.

Seems like cannon shooting may get even more costly.

Just a heads up, if you need powder, grab it while you can. It ain't gonna get any cheaper.

[Double D]

Prices increased about 8 months ago and have been stable since then.

100 lbs of KNO3?  Dare I ask what use?

[jeeper1]

KNO3 is potassium nitrate (saltpeter), one of the 3 things used to make blackpowder.

[Will Bison]

Double D;

Of course you may ask, I make my own powder.


Bill

[Double D]

Double D;

Of course you may ask, I make my own powder.


Bill

Now there is a meaniful Mother Earth News project!

[Double D]

Double D;

Of course you may ask, I make my own powder.


Bill

Actually, I would like to hear more about this.

Because we have no control over who reads this please tell us about making your own powder but not the how to make your own powder. Sounds interesting.

[jeeper1]

I would suspect carefully and in small quantities.
The question is, are you making "meal" or "cake" and if cake how are you grinding it?

[GGaskill]

Ulrich Bretscher has already posted a page on making black powder at home so I don't think there should be too much concern about letting a genie out of the bottle.


Link killed by moderator

[Cat Whisperer]

I knew of a fellow (when I was in high school) that made his own powder.  Filled up half the bathtub to mix it together.  (Small quantity?)  You DON'T want to know the story of the rest of his life.


There is a reason the buildings in the old black powder plants were MILES apart from each other; for example the powder plant in CW times in Augusta Georgia covered many miles of area - mostly space.

[Double D]

We are  not worried about letting the Genie out of the bottle on the interent.  It should not take much to locate a website telling you all you need to know on the subject.  It's just that we don't want that information  here on this board.  I don't think our host Graybeard would be too pleased.

I would like to hear about the process however as it sounds interesting. The discussion would most likely tell about the hazards.

I saw on Discovery channel the other day a story on the big company that make fireworks and puts on the big fireworks shows.  Their plant consisted of little tiny cement block building over a large property.

[GGaskill]

Hodgdon's Pyrodex plant is set up that way with lots of small buildings and an overhead conveyor system that carries only small increments at a time.

[Will Bison]

Well, my main point was of course the recent increase in price.

I'll answer a few questions but I think a detailed discussion is beyond the scope of this forum. I agree totally with DD and CW, we just don't want to go there.

It's legal with lots of caveats.

Start up equipment cost is significant, in the 4 digit numbers.

I make cake at a density of 1.70-1.75.

I use Selix lasiolepis for the charcoal. I own about 60 acres and it grows wild in tree form on my land.

It generally won't save you money so buy GOEX.

I make small quantities to satisfy an academic interest in energetic chemicals.

The "OOPS Factor" is moderately high.

About 99 percent of the information on the internet regarding the subject is bunk.

Your homeowners policy won't cover you.

You must have a good background in electricity and chemistry.


That's about as far as I think I need go.

Bill

[Blaster]

So, the bottom line is to just go out and buy your BP while you can still find the commercial stuff at a reasonable price and while we can still even discuss it.  Will Bison is one of the very few that I have ever heard of who is apparently really capable of making his own BP. I believe there are a few pages devoted to this very subject in one of the volumes of the Foxfire books which also has the how-to's of moonshining, butchering hogs and some other down-home type stuff.   :wink:
Blaster

[Terry C.]

On a slightly different but related note, I see that you can no longer use PayPal to buy gunpowder at PowderInc. The site is being rebuilt to accept credit cards online, but for now you have to phone in you CC number.

PayPal is now owned by eBay, and has inherited their anti-gun bias.

Apparently this now applies to black powder.

CannonFuse.com still uses PayPal. I wonder how long that will last?

If I didn't occasionally shop on eBay I would drop PayPal like the proverbial hot rock.

[Third_Rail]

I, too make my own powder - mostly because the Feds just increased the legal age from 18 to 21.... what the heck else am I to do?

[ke6guj]

I saw on Discovery channel the other day a story on the big company that make fireworks and puts on the big fireworks shows.  Their plant consisted of little tiny cement block building over a large property.

Yup on that.  I live about 5 miles away from the plant, and once, when they had an explosion, I heard and felt the blast at my house :shock:

The stupid thing is that the home builders keep building sub-divisions closer and closer to the plant.  There are now houses basically across the street from it now.  The last time there was a "boom", the homeowners started whining "how could they let there be a fireworks plant so close to me" and that they should make them close the plant.   How about, when you bought your house, you asked some questions.  Like, am I close to the airport (noise?), and what are those funny looking buildings across the street?