Black Powder Question

[Grunt]

I've finally dug out my flintlocks after they set unfired for twenty five years. Seems like black powder is hard to come by these days. All I have is a couple of pounds of 2 and 3 F that is at least thirty years old. I've heard that it becomes unstable  after a time. Do you think it will be ok to shoot. I could always make a bomb. Also is that black powder substitute any value? 

[HatchA]

I could always make a bomb.

You got any Irish in you...?

[Hillbilly]

I would guess that it's still fine if it's been kept dry-maybe try a small half-charge first before you fire a normal load. I've used Pyrodex in my percussion guns with good results, but I stick with good ol' Goex 2f in my flinter. Most of the substitutes take a bit more fire to set 'em off than real black powder.

[mullet]

 I've got about 6# that is over 10 years old. I used it last hunting season. And Hatch, I do

[Marc St Louis]

You could always make your own Black Powder, 75% saltpeter, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur, all by weight.  I made some about 30 years ago and it worked well

I should have checked my percentages 

[Mechslasher]

i've shot some blackpowder that is over 20 years old without any problems. 

[Tsalagi]

Blackpowder can be had via mail order, but you have to buy something like 20 pounds of it at a time. Pyrodex and other BP substitutes will not work in flintlocks. Only real BP will work in flintlocks.

[Grunt]

You could always make your own Black Powder, 75% saltpeter, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur, all by weight.  I made some about 30 years ago and it worked well

I should have checked my percentages 

I read about a powder factory built in Penn around 1800 the buildings were post and beam structures and the walls were hung on big leather straps from the beams. When a explosion occurred the walls would flap up and then recover into their original position. All they had to do was drag the crew out and plant them.

Thanks for the replies guys I'm going up to my studio and bang away.

[gifford]

Black Powder can last a long time, if it's stored properly. If it is in the original containers and the lids were screwed down tight and in a relatively stable temperature environment, I don't see why it won't work just fine. The test load as others mentioned probably should be a 'blank' rather than a full charged patched round ball. I've pulled a few with a ball puller and it's not fun. You didn't mention the caliber you shoot, but a half a pound of powder will charge a goodly number of rounds. Check out the NMLRA website for NMLRA affilicated clubs. Most clubs buy powder in bulk and sell a pound or two to members and also to shooters at the larger shoots. g

[JW_Halverson]

The posts about the black powder substitutes being a waste of your time in the flintlock are absolutely correct.  Black Powder ignites at around the same temp that paper ignites, 451 F.  The modern replacements don't ignite until well over 700 degrees.  I have actually gotten Triple 7 to ignite, but we had to fill the touch hole with powder to get a fuse to burn into the main charge.  The hangfire was epic. 

If you are going to test fire the powder, I can honestly say I have never heard of the powder gaining additional power, just losing power.  I doubt there is any problem shooting this powder if it has been stored where it would stay dry. 

Now, on the other hand if it has gotten damp and has clumped together, you got a problem.  By breaking up the clumps you will get very uneven sized granulation.  The finer the granulation the more power it will produce in the barrel.  A recent Muzzleloader Magazine article showed a percussion gun with the nipple blown out from using re-granulated powder.  If you are bent on saving the clumped powder, get a copy of Dixie Gunworks catalog and look up the screening sizes for the different granulations.  That way you can seperate out the different grades from cannon powder to priming powder.

Side Note:  Powder is generally sold as Fg, FFg, FFFg, and FFFFg.  DuPont was the company that started this gradation chart, F standing for "Fine" the lower case g for "grade".  The more F's the smaller the grains.  DuPont worked for Lavoisier who later identified the element, oxygen.  And it was DuPont's factories that were built with thick stone walls on three sides and flimsy wooden walls on the side facing the river so that if it blew, they could be back up and running in days.  DuPont offered free schooling and housing for the widows and orphans of his factoried. 

[Grunt]

The powder looks good, the cans were stored in a military ammo can and the powder doesn't seem to be clumped up.My horns and bags have been kept warm and dry. I've got 2f,3f,and priming powder. I'm going to unlimber the .50 tomorrow. Honestly the last time I can remember firing it was when I killed a nice buck in the Penn mountains and that was a long time ago. I've also got a .25 that will be a bit more crucial as far as good 3f is concerned.  I'm going to touch a few off tomorrow. Thanks for the input guys, I'll let you know how it goes.

[Grunt]

The powder doesn't seem to have lost it's punch. Real nice to get back into the shooting mode after all this time. Went over my horn and bag for the 50 cal, shot it, and I'm still getting nice tight groups. . I've got my .25 cal squirrel gun cleaned, a new short starter made and the hunting bag and horn for it gone over. I'll sight it in tomorrow. I can shoot about 25 yards by stepping out of the front door of my studio and nobody comes over to see who I'm killin.

[Eric Krewson]

Looks like you found your answer.

I was going to add, I have some black powder a friend gave me that is around 30 years old and is just fine.

Black powder doesn't degrade with time. A rifle left loaded for 200 years and stored in a dry place will go off like it was loaded yesterday.