Sulfur Free Black Powder

Pulling out a chemistry book to find alternates for sulphur like iron oxide is probably more practical than looking for a volcano.

Being able to cut your ingredients down by a third is a big deal, it's obviously functional, sounds to me like it should be considered the "BP Basic" recipe and adding sulfur is more like "BP Deluxe" for added performance. I'm not even a novice when it comes to BP though, haha, Mike.

Sulphur not only lowers the ignition temperature, but it also STABILIZES THE BURN RATE. That's in most of the literature. That's why you are getting variations in velocity without it. Having it throughout the mixture means you have an even burning fuel to carry that flame all the way through the powder. Otherwise the burning wanes and you don't have that predictable exothermic reaction you want. Using a magnum primer can help overcome the problem, but ultimately having sulphur in the powder is the right way to go.

From my experience I have found that having good homemade charcoal from good wood such as willow, poplar, birch or alder buckthorn is essential as a starting point for a good black powder. The next step is to micronize the charcoal below 80 micrometers before mixing it with the other ingredients. The final mixing in a ball mill is also an important aspect to give speed and regularity to the combustion.

Ever read "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy? He revisits the entire powder making process, in the Sonora desert, in 1852. It involves climbing into Volcanos and gathering guano, leaching it in creeks and making the final batch, all while being pursued by the Gallegos Apache's. Good stuff bubba.

Contrary to popular myth and it will be mentioned, it is still corrosive.

In an apocalypse mad max style, these two ingredients are locally available almost wherever you are. The third however would require a nearby volcano. A beautiful video with love for the hobby.

Interesting experient. Thanks for taking the time to conduct and present it

Love your videos bud!! Keep em coming! I'm excited to hear about your latest developments in optimizing your homemade BP!

Interesting experiment and video. So apparently there was no problem with ignition. I am surprised.

I was really having a horrible couple days and I appreciate you making these videos it's something that helps more than you know ❤

The gap between the cylinder and barrel may have also been a factor compared to the enclosed system of the rifle along with the softness of the powder. The slight pressure release may have slowed the ignition time a milli second. Good stuff Jake. You da man.👍 Don’t singe your eyebrows in the local Vesuvius. Even at the comparatively pedestrian speed of that powder in the rifle, it will put meat on the table within a reasonable range. Airguns are killing deer at a hundred yards now with less velocity. It may work for the in flight portion of holiday rockets after the lift stage leaving a nice smoky trail.

1st video of yours I have seen. I subscribed. Thanks for the information. Look forward to seeing more videos of yours.

Garden sulfur is available by the pound, and works fine in bp.

Thank you for your videos. perfectly informational & you break it down, so a guy that doesn't know jack about black powder like myself can understand. also, that is such a beautiful rifle.

Great video. Just recently found your channel. I've been shooting black since I was a kid, thought I knew pretty much what there was to know about it. I subscribed today because every video of yours, that I've watched, gaave me something to think about. Thank you

Beautiful rifle. I love it.

Love this testing. Saves me lots of trouble.

Once again great content. I haven't done any real blackpowder historical research. But it sounds like a very interesting topic. Plus thanks.. i never corned my home made powder until i found your channel. and wow it really made my powder perform much better

Thank -you!