Wednesday, May 5, 2010

For All the Pyromaniacs Out There

I watched a Mythbusters episode six times today. It included a section on a cannon made out of a log. In the episode, they made their own gun powder. For those of you who want to do this as well, here is the formula.

By volume, not weight, mix together:

75% Potassium nitrate, 15% Charcoal, 10% Sulphur
add enough water to make a paste, and mix well. Let the mixture air dry. Using a non-conductive mortar and pestil (made of brass, or hardwood for example), grind the dryed paste into a powder. Finer grains are better for some applications. For a cannon, larger chunks (possibly as big as the first joint on your finger) are fine. Store in a non-conductive media, preferrably somewhere outside your house. :o)

Please don't play around with this mixture. This stuff is volatile! A single spark can turn this from powder to explosion! However, that said, in the right hands this is a way to create a means to power a muzzleloading rifle, and obtain food.

I don't feel bad posting this, since most people could find this on the internet as easily as I did if they wished. I also researched how to make Potassium Nitrate and charcoal if anyone is interested. Finding the sulpur could be a little more difficult. :o)

Have a nice day, and work responsibly. Stick.

4 comments:

Delirious said...

I hope this post doesn't target you as a terrorist or something! ;)

Inklings said...

You said "in the right hands"....I hope you still have a right hand if you make this. :0s

Stick said...

If I still had my Stick's how too blog, I would have posted this there. It was posted more as a survival thing than anything else. I have handled black powder for years, and as long as you follow the rules, it is very safe.

Nene said...

I'm very afraid.