Traditional Muzzleloading Association
Shooting Traditional Firearms and Weapons => General Interest => Topic started by: KDubs on October 21, 2025, 08:05:00 AM
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So I started making homemade antique muzzleloader propellent
Haven't had a chance to do much testing yet but I have
Batches of cedar bedding, red fir and alder made up and ready to go .
The bedding I was able to shoot alittle and with 70 gr of 3f
I was seeing results over 1300 fps.
70 gr 3F goex have just over 1400 fps.
Those are from my .54 woodsrunner .530 prb.
Stay tuned for more.
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Kevin
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That is impressive!
Darren
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Thanks Darren, I agree.
Hoping the alder will show similar if not better results.
The cottenell TP I'm not so hopeful for but who knows.
I'll try more testing soon if I'm not hunting :hairy
Kevin
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Just wondering, Kevin, compared to (I was starting to say real black powder) say GOEX, how is it as far as fouling goes?
Was it last weekend that you and 2nd Rate Marksman were going over to MT to play with the Flathead guys? And you were going to take some of your home made powder with you. How did that work out? Or is it this weekend?
Anyway, glad you are working on this. Sounds interesting. At one point I was seriously thinking about doing that myself, even bought a ball mill and all, but life got in the way and seeing as how I wasn't doing much shooting, I said why bother. And at this point, I have more powder on hand than I will ever use up.
John
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Cedar bedding is pretty dirty.
Used that at the flathead shoot this past weekend.
Pictures / videos are on FB, CDA muzzleloaders page.
It shot great I must say.
Just finished a Batch of alder BP.
Open air test and it flashed amazingly fast.
I'll try and shoot it soon and get some more numbers to report.
Currently running a batch of cottenell Toilet paper BP.
The TP makes a very light fluffy charcoal
I'll have that ready tomorrow night.
I'm pretty sure the cedar and red fir will pale in comparison to the alder.
Stand by for more details as they come.
With the price of BP going up and availability going down making your own makes sense to me.
It really is pretty easy.
Once I figure out what works best I'll stick to that
Using the standard 75/15/10 ratio .
All testing will be done with ginger, the .54 flintlock and 70 gr weighed
Charges.
I'm weighing it since the red cedar and fir both come in at about 10 grs lighter than the equivalent goex by volume.
Not sure what the alder and TP will weigh in at yet.
Also I'm corning it, I guess I could try some screened powder too
Just to compare.
Kevin
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:yessir:
Once you have a final product we need a detailed write up of the process (and equipment) so we can follow in your footsteps without going down rabbit holes along the way!
~Kees~
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Will do
I wish I could post a video from my phone, not in the correct format.
I lit off a bit of the alder BP last night , holy smokes :luff:
It was fast fast fast.
I really have high hopes for it
Hopefully shoot it in the next few days.
Got the cottenell running now, I'll check it tonight after work.
Kevin
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Well had a chance to shoot the cottenell and the alder BP today
Here's my messy notes.
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I'm pretty happy so far with these results.
Still dirty though,not sure how those online guys are getting such clean powder.
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Open air test of the TP was pretty clean compared to the cedar.
Once I have a little more testing I'll post my whole process start to finish
Meeting Eric tomorrow for a little flintlock deer/elk hunt.
I'll be using the TP BP in my kibler .54
Kevin
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All these tech questions are well and good BUT when will you be MARKETING it? :bigsmile:
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Kevin,
Is this the way you do it??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUSJt4e7pzE
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Well John yes but no...
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I use these ingredients at a ratio of 75 % kno3, 15% alder charcoal, 10% sulfur
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Put it all in this abs homemade ball jar with .50 brass balls and .45 fmj slugs about sixty or so.
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Then I run it on a treadmill x 24 hrs
That's the basics
Afterwards I puck it in a 20 ton press
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Then run it through a hand cranked grain grinder
Pass that through a series of screens and Viola black powder
Kevin
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And as far as marketing it wish I could.
My understanding is federal law prohibits removing homemade black powder from the property where it is made.
And you cannot sell it.
But I can buy 50# of commercial and drive it all over the country and resell it too.
Silly I know
Kevin
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Well, Kevin, that is quite the process. I got a chuckle out of your using a treadmill. That's pretty ingenious. And it is a bit more complicated than the You Tube video showed.
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I don't know what you are using for grain mesh size in your sieve but this chart shows the normal sizes of the different grades. I don't remember where i got this chart but it may help someone see the finer grades etc, etc.
doggoner
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Using 20/30/50 screens .
The grains come out almost identical in size to commercial.
Kevin
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So after using the dabpress which made for pressing ' erb and other flowers to extract the resins I realized that it couldn't handle the pressure needed to puck BP.
Can only handle approximately 1 tablespoon of material at a time.
The bottom flared out like an old pair of Levi's bell bottoms, for those you who remember them.
So I ordered a specific BP pucking die
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Comes with delrin discs to use as the spacers between the pucks.
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Makes awesome 3" x 3/8-1/2 pucks with my 20 ton press
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I can use 5-6 tablespoons of powder at a time now, really speeds things up.
After a day or two for drying I'll grind these and test them and report back.
Kevin
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Hooked up with Eric yesterday to continue the testing of our homemade antique muzzleloader propellent.
Here's the results to date.
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As you can see the commercial stuff out preforms the AMP but I'm still happy with these results.
The powder is Milled for 24 hrs. There is debate regarding better performance with longer mill times, 36-48 hrs
That's something I'll have to look into.
As far as fouling, the 76 12 12 had softer fouling, less crunchies left behind than the 77 13 10.
I'm told that's due to the sulfur content, less makes harder fouling??
So still more playing to do but the 76 12 12 will be my go to recipe for the foreseeable future.
Oh and accuracy at 25 yds was spot on with all the powders tried.
Kevin
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That's pretty impressive! There are so many variables to try a person could spend a lot of time playing with small tweaks of the formula and milling time. Thank you for posting! :toast
~Kees~
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That's pretty impressive! There are so many variables to try a person could spend a lot of time playing with small tweaks of the formula and milling time. Thank you for posting! :toast
~Kees~
Obviously Kevin is still working. Else he wouldn't have the time to devote to this experimentation.
Being retired, I sure don't. ;banghead; ;banghead; ;banghead;
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Yes John ,still working 3 days a week.
It motivates me to get busy on my days off .
1 day for hunting , 1 day for church and football, 1 day for running errands and 1 day for projects
That's my usual schedule.
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Made up another pound of powder, just needs to dry a few days
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Started on a fish mouth horn, 1st one ever.
Won't be an exact copy but similar.
Kevin
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I never made one of those. I will be interested in seeing your progress.
Anymore, I am thinking when I build more horns, they will be quick and simple.
I know I will, but at this rate, maybe I should have said IF I build any more horns. It seems like there is always another fire to put out.
John
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You got that big box o horns.
You better make something or send them to me 😄
I just like having a challenge so I decided on the fish mouth. Might be the only one I ever make.
Kevin