I remember making black powder with a Gilbert Chemistry Set in the mid-1950s. They actually gave you enough ingredients to make 2 or 3 fire crackers.
In today’s chemistry sets, you’d be lucky to get baking soda and vinegar.
I made my share of black powder, and even managed to make some nitrocellulose (smokeless “guncotton”) once. It was actually a lot of fun.
That has always struck me as odd, as smokeless powder can be detonated much easier than black powder. Though black powder has long been used as a low explosive blasting powder. When it explodes, it only deflagrates.
Love the smokey goodness!
Hate cleaning my Uberti 1847 Walker Colt afterwards. It’s practically a complete rebuild.
Oh, you said black POWDER??
Never mind.
***One of the few improvements included making powder with water, so it could be made into a cake-like compound.***
In THE AGE OF FIREARMS by Robert Held, he states that urine was used to dissolve and mix the ingredients. The urine of a “wine drinking Bishop” was considered the best.