which is the best source of black powder.

1. the powder in model rocket engines.
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2. black powder flakes used in reloding bullets.
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3. homemade black powder.

?

not sure, but i think they are all the same, just differnt grains, so it would depend on the usage, but finer the better, more gas, quicker, good for bombs and propellents,

i feel the flakes make the most gas

the rocket engines ignite the quickest

i can't say to much for the home made powder

go for the reload stuff safer to handle easy to get and performance is going to be more consistent most reload powder isn't actualy black powder it's usualy nitrobase with graphite coating . go fo the muzzle loading powder

the small flakes with alarge surface area will give the most effeicent burn

Modern powder used in ammo is not black powder, it is smokeless powder and is very different from black powder. About the only thing the powders have in common are that they are flammable, dark in color, and contain carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in some of their make up.

The best source of black powder is black powder, just go by some. Any store that sells smokeless powder will most likely sell black powder or black powder equivalents such as Pyrodex. It is cheapest and you don't have to grind anything yourself.

Grain size. In blackpowder you have different grain size denoted by the letter "F", the more F's the finer. The finer grain sizes have a larger surface area to mass ratio so they will burn faster. For use in bombs, rifles, and pistols the finer powders are used. FFFFg being the finest is only rarely used in the proppellant charge, but is often used in the flashpans of flint or matchlock guns. However it is great in bombs. Fg and FFg being larger grains are the size of small pebbles, these are used mainly in cannons and heavy bore guns, as a slower powder is required as to not burst the barrel. FFFg is the most common and most "all around" powder, it is also the easiest to come by. It burns slow enough for rifles and fast enough for shotguns and pistols. It works fine in bombs as well.

Engines ingtite the quickest? You sure you tried it? Smokeless and black powder both will ignite with the slightes spark, black powder has a faster burn rate. The material in Rocket Engines (Estes) is a black powder, but it is designed to burn somewhat cool yet produce a lot of gases, it burns slow. It also takes quite the spark to ignite, 500�F minimum temp, a little hotter than paper will ignite, but at this temp it takes a while.

Black powder is usually spherical in shape, many smokeless powders are flakes but are also found in cylinder, cube, and sphere shapes. The sphere shaped particles burn the fastest, simply because a sphere has the largest surface area to mass ratio of any other shape. Another reason black powder burns faster. An efficient burn isn't necessarily the fastest one, nor is is surface are dependent, it's chemical dependent. Black powder yields an ineffecient burn, much of it's product yield is solid ash and unburned components called soot. Smokeless powder gives off very little residue after burning. If you burn a pile of shotgun powder you will see this: It starts of slow, then you will hear a slight "poof" and the flames will increase and burn violently at a blaze orange color. Little smoke will produced but you will feel intense heat. Then all of a sudden it just quits, a little smoke and a little brown spot remains. Do the same with black powder and it is gone as soon as you started it off. It will produce a lot of smoke very little flame and lots of ash and residue. The heat is not as intense.

what are you using it for?
Nitrocellulose burns better under presure and can be detonated.

well i put a gram of estes on the ground

and a gram of what u call it, smokeless powder on the ground

>the estes was gone before i could light it
it burned to fast to see the color

>the smokeless powder lit slow and burned slow
it burned green

what u heard was it ignites the quickest what i meant it burns the fastest

sorry for my mistake

[This message has been edited by slipgut (edited 10-31-2000).]

Smokeless powder has little surface area to mass, I'm guessing that they produce it that way to prevent a detonation.

Yet under even slight confinement, it burns incrediblly fast, which is why you cant use it in guns designed for BP. "The Real" was right