Q&A for How to Make Gunpowder

It will fizzle out. The process requires the large burning surface exposed in charcoal to work well. Elemental carbon or graphite exposes much less area. It burns, but slowly.

The reaction is called an exothermic reaction, meaning a reaction that expels energy. The opposite is endothermic.

Sulfur does not burn easily, but once it gets started, it burns slowly and very hot. It will help keep your blackpowder burning.

If you add water, you could be adding an extra day to the procedure. If you do, you must make sure it dries out completely before you break it up again. If you choose to grind it at this point, do so very carefully with the proper equipment. Keep in mind, potassium nitrate is water soluble, so any water run off or excess will take some of your blackpowder's punch with it. If you decide to add water, do so with that in mind.

When I make a 75/15/10 mixture, I usually take about 30 minutes to mix it and grind it all up.

Your objective when you make it, ideally at least, is to be able to say that it isn't. If you've mixed everything correctly, you should be able to make a homogeneous gray/black, fine/coarse mixture. If you just grind up charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter, you'll end up with a coarse, rocky mixture that appears to be heterogeneous. Good gunpowder takes a lot of work, so just when you think you're done, take the stuff out, mist your misture, dry it, and use your ball miill.

More sulphur, or add sawdust. Sulphur burns slowly and at a high heat. I think burning sulphur by itself lets out a dangerous gas, though.

You may purchase sulfur online to make gunpowder.

That is a question for the ancient Chinese. Those are the 3 ingredients they used in their mixture for fireworks thousands of years ago. To add color, add other elements / mixtures to the (final) explosive charge.

Yes, but stone is preferable and wood is not recommended.

All woods will make charcoal but oak and hardwoods are the best as less residue will be left over.

Yes. Food-grade potassium means that it is 99% pure potassium nitrate without any other chemicals in it.

Wetting helps incorporate the ingredients so that they are more intimately combined and thus able to burn faster. (In my experience, it can be at least 50% faster or more depending upon ingredient purity, degree of incorporation, and other factors.) Wetting also minimizes separation of the materials as they are carried about or transported. However, too much wetting can be counterproductive and actually weaken the powder; as mentioned previously on this website, a consistency of malleable clay would be desirable, followed by a thorough drying.

As a propellant for projectiles, look to musket, canoneering and re-enactment books and groups for tips on methods and equations. If you aim to use this as a rocket propellant, do so with extreme care, but use sawdust to slow the burn and produce propulsion.

Saltpeter, potassium nitrate, emits heat when it decomposes, so it can ignite any other flammable ingredients close to it. It also releases a toxic gas when it is lit. I am not an expert at gunpowder, but my guess would be that it would most likely take longer for the powder to catch fire and it would burn more slowly. I would stick with the instructions given.

No, you don't.

Use an electronic weighing scale to measure the ingredients.

It depends on what the other 10% is, and also depends on what exactly you are using the gunpowder for. if you are using it for a black powder rifle for instance, the other 10% will likely leave excessive residue that is possibly difficult to clean, and may even cause damage to the weapon over time. Also depending on what the other 10% is, it can change the nature of the chemical reaction, or even cause a poisonous gas when ignited. Without further information, I cannot give a complete answer.

It takes about 4-6 months.

Yes, but it probably won't work as well as store-bought gunpowder, and is less reliable. So yes, but I wouldn't recommend it.

It depends on your location. In the United States, federal law says you can make gunpowder for your own use on your own property, but you can't give or sell it to anyone else without an ATF license.

Charcoal is better, as it has much more surface area. Think of charcoal, if you magnified it, as being like a wad of dry grass, versus normal carbon being like a block of wood. Both will technically burn, but the dry grass will ignite and burn much more quickly.

As long as you don't overfill it and repress the casing to the bullet, it should be fine.

No. It will flash and burn quickly. Gunpowder needs to be compacted for an explosion.

All accepted/published ammunition recipes are referenced to specific powder types and brands. It would be extremely dangerous to (a) take a published recipe made using a known powder type and try to make it with homemade powder; (b) experiment with a contrived or made-up recipe using homemade powder. Likely you won't have experience or tools for calculating/measuring the energy and then chamber pressures you'll get, and they will probably NOT be what the reloading recipes predict. I think this is not a good idea--you will either get low chamber pressure and terrible bullet performance (most likely outcome) or high chamber pressures and a damaged firearm, or worse, a blown off hand or face.

Like KNO3 ,KClO4 is also good oxidizer, so it can be used in making gunpowder. But the price will be high when compared with KNO3.

Sulfur can be found in pyrite, or "fool's gold". When this is heated in smelter, sulfur will escape in the form of a gas. If you can capture this gas and then let it cool, sulfur deposits will be found on the walls of the container and scraped off.

Supposedly, yes. If you add too much, however, the potassium nitrate with flow out with the water runoff due to it being water soluble.

Many countries list the making of, possessing, storing or selling explosives or explosive materials without a license to be a felony. A quick online search on your country's explosives and firearms laws should take you to the correct sites for more information.

No. Baking soda is sodium hydrogen carbonate and will decompose with heat to form carbon dioxide, which will extinguish the reaction.