I'm budling a dual deployment rocket and I need help finding what type of black powder I need and where to get it?
Source for Black Powder
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You can usually get it from your local gun store or on the field from a vendor. Buying a single can be expensive to mail.
Chris' Supplies has SCHUETZEN 4F BLACK POWDER but he is down south.
OTOH, he plans be at NSL East in Pence, IN from 11/10 -thru- 11/12/2023 ...
Not too far from OH to IN, maybe you can arrange to meet up over there ?
HTH
-- kjh
Any brand, but 4F works best. I just got an email from Maine Powder House this morning. They have it in stock.
I don't know how hard "da authorities" have clamped down on this but as I recall courtesy of the NRA it was relatively easy to order 4F as it was used in the priming tray of antique flintlock rifles. I received a supply years ago and it doesn't take much for smaller DD rockets.
If I was a kid, I'd probably be basement bombing firecrackers with the stuff but as an adult, I cherish my fingers and only use the 4F for deployment charges for rockets. With age comes "wisdom". Thank heavens I didn't have access to 4F until I was flying rockets as an adult and treat it with care and safety.
Ask around if there are fellow fliers who do DD rockets. They might be able to help you or at least give you a bit so you can fly for a time. A 35mm film canister can hold enough BP for a lot of small rockets.
I did have some prepped rockets that didn't fly at a launch and were going to sit for awhile. One arm of the ematch was not connected to the altimeter(s) and I connected that just before launch. If the rocket didn't fly and I wasn't going to launch it for a long time, I'd remove the charges and blew them with a launch switch at a distance at home.
I blew a 2 gram charge out in the open at a safe distance out on the driveway with a launch panel and oh my gosh "M80" time. I quickly pulled all the hardware into the garage and shut the door in case somebody called the police. No one did. Man the report was LOUD!
At that time I realized I had a post hole digger and started to dig a hole out in the woods. I'd bury the charge I wanted to dispose of pretty deep mind you.
Press the button and no noise. The charge would be disposed of and I just pulled the lead wires out of the ground to toss in the trash and/or recycle the lead wires. These were small 3 gram or less charges. Bigger charges would probably blow up the soil. When disposed of, I hardly heard a report which was desired in my neighborhood. Those who live out in the boondocks can blast away out in the open to enjoy the report. Me? I want to be stealthy and not concern the neighbors. Kurt
If I was a kid, I'd probably be basement bombing firecrackers with the stuff but as an adult, I cherish my fingers and only use the 4F for deployment charges for rockets. With age comes "wisdom". Thank heavens I didn't have access to 4F until I was flying rockets as an adult and treat it with care and safety.
Ask around if there are fellow fliers who do DD rockets. They might be able to help you or at least give you a bit so you can fly for a time. A 35mm film canister can hold enough BP for a lot of small rockets.
I did have some prepped rockets that didn't fly at a launch and were going to sit for awhile. One arm of the ematch was not connected to the altimeter(s) and I connected that just before launch. If the rocket didn't fly and I wasn't going to launch it for a long time, I'd remove the charges and blew them with a launch switch at a distance at home.
I blew a 2 gram charge out in the open at a safe distance out on the driveway with a launch panel and oh my gosh "M80" time. I quickly pulled all the hardware into the garage and shut the door in case somebody called the police. No one did. Man the report was LOUD!
At that time I realized I had a post hole digger and started to dig a hole out in the woods. I'd bury the charge I wanted to dispose of pretty deep mind you.
Press the button and no noise. The charge would be disposed of and I just pulled the lead wires out of the ground to toss in the trash and/or recycle the lead wires. These were small 3 gram or less charges. Bigger charges would probably blow up the soil. When disposed of, I hardly heard a report which was desired in my neighborhood. Those who live out in the boondocks can blast away out in the open to enjoy the report. Me? I want to be stealthy and not concern the neighbors. Kurt
Safety is always first, but damn, it is FUN!
If you only need a little and can’t meet up with a vendor, this is an option:
https://www.buyrocketmotors.com/ejection-charge-kit-12-pack/
https://www.buyrocketmotors.com/ejection-charge-kit-12-pack/
If you want to dispose of it by burning, just pour it out in a long line about 1/8" wide and put a match to one end. No loud noises, just lots of smoke.
But why not return the powder to the original container and use it later?
But why not return the powder to the original container and use it later?
That is what I do.
I would recommend against this. I did this when I was 15 after my moms friend permitted me to do it. I was too stupid to know otherwise and apparently so was he. It all just burns NOW!
I ended up with no eyebrows, no hair on my arm and second degree burns on several fingers. It doesn’t work the way the cowboy movies show it does.
Since the thread has deviated to BP stories, when my 93 year old uncle was a kid he liked to play practical jokes. His father/my grandfather smoked cigars and had a fairly large ashtray on a side table next to his easy chair. This ashtray had a large gauge cigar ash screen on it above the ash well. My uncle "though it would be funny" to mix in an unmeasured quantity of black powder with the ashes in the well to surprise his father. After getting home from work his father settled into his easy chair to relax with a freshly lit cigar in hand.....until it of course needed the ashes knocked off the end. Shortly after lighting up my grandfather was neither relaxed nor amused, aside from some first degree burns to include no remaining hair on the back of his "cigar hand" and forearm the entire living room filled up with BP smoke and most of the large pile of ashes had been blown out of the tray and all over him along with the nearby furniture and carpet. I heard this story one night over a family dinner probably 40 years after the fact and it took that long for my grandfather to be able to laugh about it.
FYI... One place to NOT buy BP is from ammomartUSA.com. This is a scam website where they take your money and are never heard from again (phone number is bogus and their contact form is never replied to). They advertise a minimum of 1 lb. at relatively low prices and *only* an $18 flat rate for shipping with no HAZMAT adder. They also only want to be paid with Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal Family and Friends.
Stay clear of this site.
Stay clear of this site.
I absolutely love this story and can relate but I will never tell my stupid BP story... You know youthful indiscretions.
Any website that wants no cc payment is a scam.
We have too many gun shops around here. Makes it easy.
Gun shops here only have BP substitute.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
I my grandpa was the gun smith in rural NC so I have lots of contacts to get my hands on it still can’t get FFFF just FFF.
I used FFF for years with no issues.
Perhaps I spoke too soon. I didn't ask, just assumed because they were gun shops they'd have it.
I did too, until I walked in. Fortunately Chris brings it along in his trailer. So we can get it from him, sans shipping, at launches.
I'll attend my first club launch with Pittsburgh Space Command tomorrow. I wonder, bring that it's only 11 to 3, if any vendors will be there.
Actually until Estes Brought back GOEX into production for BP, it has been very hard for Gun Shops to have BP in stock. Most were not importing EU powder but buying US made GOEX. GOEX is now shipping based on Videos I saw on muzzle loading competitions in the past month or so.
Well, if a major vendor is not there, likely a minor vendor that helps them will be. Many launches are like that.
My First NAR Convention was in Pittsburgh , 1976 Pittsburgh Spring Convention it was called. I met all kinds of people I still know to this day there when I was only 15 years old; Including Gary !
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mtnmanak
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Not sure when GOEX will become readily available again, but Buffalo Arms appears to have Schuetzen available right now. I have ordered from Buffalo Arms before and they were legit and reliable.
https://www.buffaloarms.com/schuetzen-4-f-black-powder-sch4f.html
https://www.buffaloarms.com/schuetzen-4-f-black-powder-sch4f.html
Another recommendation for Graf and Sons.
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/3501
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/3501
Chris' Rocket Supplies has 4Fg BP with a minimum of 1 lb.
https://csrocketry.com/recovery-supplies/ejection-supplies/schuetzen-black-powder.html
Graf and Sons has a 4 lb. minimum
https://csrocketry.com/recovery-supplies/ejection-supplies/schuetzen-black-powder.html
Graf and Sons has a 4 lb. minimum
4# at Graf and Sons is $148.25, whereas 1# at Chris' Supplies is $94.44. Both prices include shipping and Hazmat, and exact pricing could vary a little depending on where you live - these numbers were calculated using my address in OR. If others in his area/club need BP, then you can split the Hazmat costs and pay a lot less per pound. Or he can buy something approaching a lifetime supply (which is what I did - I have 8# in my "collection"
).
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Actually, that is what I did... bought 4 pounds myself from Graf and Son's. At the next club launch, I'll see if anyone wants to share in this order.
I was ordering something from Chris' Supplies and noticed the BP so passed that along since the title of this topic is "Source for Black Powder".
I was ordering something from Chris' Supplies and noticed the BP so passed that along since the title of this topic is "Source for Black Powder".
