uncrichie Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 Hi everybody, I made up a few 6" diameter 1 gallon Sponenbugrh pvc style jars. They have 30 lbs lead media in each. I plan on using these on a mill at a club shoot in April. I want to premeasure out the Potassium Nitrate, Sulfur, and Charcoal in individual bags to save time prior to going and I need your input on the optimum BP charge in weight for a 1 gallon jar. I know the texture of various charcoals can make a difference in volume calculations so I'm looking for an average weight. Sponenburgh states 2 lbs for dense chems but doesn't give examples for compositions like BP. Many Thanks, Kurt.
Mumbles Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 I regularly ran a 1 kilo load of BP with willow charcoal in each jar of that size. I can make top quality BP in 4hr. It may be done earlier, but I've never checked.
uncrichie Posted March 2, 2014 Author Posted March 2, 2014 Excellent, that is great news! Thanks Mumbles, Kurt
bob Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) 13.6 kilos of lead in a 3.78 liter mill jar seems like quite a lot, somebody told me that my 6.7 liter jar (the same as his) will take about 10 kilos of lead, it feels heaver to me but I have never weighed it and I believe he has weighed his so it should be right around that ten kilo mark in my jar, which is half full of media.Also I mill one kilo of black powder in a hour and a half in my little 6.7 liter.bob Edited March 2, 2014 by bob
Mumbles Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 25-30lbs of lead is about right. You might want to weigh your jar or make sure it's actually half full if you have a jar roughly twice the size using the same amount of lead.
bob Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Yeah I guess I'll have to weigh it, I am 100% sure it is half full. bob
Col Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) The 50% media charge for my 4.37L kart tyre jar is 13.5kg (29.7lbs). i run 730g of willow bp for 90 minutes. You get stronger when you hump 30lb jars around so it prolly just seems lighter than it is Edited March 2, 2014 by Col
nater Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 I use a 5qt hex shaped jar, the thumlers model b tumbler. It taked 35# of lead balls and I can mill 1kg at a time.
ollie1016 Posted March 7, 2014 Posted March 7, 2014 I'm still stuck on my 6lbs harbour Frieght mill! 200g per batch, 5 lbs of .50 cal lead balls and I run it for 4 hours. Makes decent black powder for my uses. Ollie
319 Posted March 7, 2014 Posted March 7, 2014 Is half full the same if the jar is laying down or standing up?Sam
Recommended Posts