Civil War Black Powder Exposed
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- In this video I attempt to explode genuine Civil War black powder that is 150 years old.
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Civil War Black Powder Exposed
• Civil War Black Powder...
Aquachigger
/ aquachigger
I would imagine that over the years of being wet, most of the nitrate salts have leached out of the powder leaving only charcoal and sulphur left in the mix.
That was a great experiment Beau. I remember my Uncles playing with Black Powder when I was a kid. My Grandfather was a Coal miner and they always had Black Powder on hand. He retired as the VP of the North American coal co. too. :) Have a good one. -Drew
Pyrodex is NOT black powder! It is a modern substitute which does not react in the same manner as real black powder. The original BP if kept dry will be as potent now as when it was first made. Be careful with it!
+73bluebelly If it was black powder on that ax handle, it would not have burned in a line like that. The whole mess would have gone up in a simultaneous POOF if it was BP. It's odd that BP burns so violently uncontained, but burns rather inefficiently in a gun barrel. I'd never seen pyrodex burn in the open, so that was interesting to see.
You are absolutely CORRECT .
@@MrKmoconne Sorry John Doe but you are mistaken about black powder as are many of those in this blog including Aquachiger himself he and any others seem to have a misunderstanding about the properties of black powder
@@donaldbarnett655 Hi Donald. You are wrong. :-P
I think explaining and demonstrating the burning properties of black powder can serve as warning for someone unfamiliar with its properties to be careful with it. Great video Beau!
The nitrate dissolves in water and is lost, charcoal and sulphur remains.
Brings back memories of 4F flash powder, home made mortars and emergency room visits. All I can say is make sure you know what you're doing when handling any kind of black power.
Black powder can be quite resilient. I put some Goex in my fire pit once and threw a lit cig on it. Tried a few times but it didn't ignite. Next day even after the night had dew I forgot about it and threw a cig in the pit while walking by. Nearly jumped out of my skin when that sucker lit up.
henerymag lol
Yes, I am familiar with how dangerous black powder is. During a Civil War Reenactment, my Sharps Rifle block did not seal and when fired, everything came out the back. I was burned pretty good, lost an eye brow, and my civil war specatables were pitted with black powder. I still miss Civil War Reenacting and I hope to meet you one day and explore and dig Civil War artifacts.
Loved your video always wanted to do this myself. like you said if you found a civil war shell with a tight water proof fuze plug the powder would live. I have burned black powder out of a 44/40 cartridge that was at least a hundred years old and it burned just as good as modern made black powder. If you think about it there is nothing in black powder to deteriorate with age it is charcoal sulfur and saltpeter(potassium nitrate) and the potassium nitrate is the main one and is also the oxidizer and the only water soluble ingredient so as long as it is protected from water it will stay live.
My main man Beau is taking Civil War era black powder out of the shell's he finds himself...There really are not many more badass video's on youtube than this!
Ok, you had a break from winter boredom, get to splittin' the wood . . . lol stay warm . . . ;) Rog
Bored Beau's Bad Ideas, Pt. 574. (I kid, I kid)
Wow.....I was really surprised how unreactive the old BP was. obviously the nitrates are no longer present, whether that is due to moisture penetrations over the 150 years or the nitrates have maybe lost some of the bonds down the way......guess we will never know. great video either way, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Very, very, cool! Thank you for the video!
Glad you escaped unscathed. I want to know about the line though!!!!
Nice video!
You are correct in that BP will adsorb water, even from the air, and over time it breaks down and won't burn. But never trust any shell with explosives of any kind. Some go bad and will not explode, while others can go bad and explode from vibration!
This could have been a very expolsive situation, glad I didn't see the old facial hair smoking. Best wishes, Jerry
Man YOU are having too much fun!! I wanna play too!! Thanks for sharing that. My father used to be a blaster for Bethlehem steel in Hanover so I'm a teal thump junkie. I love the smell of burning powder in the morning. Hang in there spring is a coming and the garden is calling.
Aquachiggers wife goes to the store, its winter and he cant detect, to he goes outside and blows up stuff! your awesome!
Maybe the water, through osmosis or something, leeches out the saltpeter salt out of the powder, so what's left is the sulphur and carbon, but probably most of the sulphur has reacted with other elements already so what's left is a more or less fine carbon powder
Apparently the Bomb squad's in the US still take very dim views of old civil war black powder. A few years ago a family found a Civil War Cannon ball, took it home, and put it in the living room as a discussion piece for while. Till someone took a closer look, spotted a brass plug ( it was a still live exploding Civil War Cannonball with the fuse still intact apparently.
The family apparently liked their cannonball and requested it to be merely drilled and the powder removed.
The local bomb squad instructed them that certain historical items should not be preserved for future generations and blew it up far from from people.
Perhaps it was for the best.
+Beau Ouimette Exactly, you don't go into the bomb squad becuase you hate bangs.
Hi, I'm Scott and a subscriber. I just watched your black powder video and I appreciate the facts , info and the good laugh. Please be careful and maybe I'll see you on the river someday.
"Watch this, close your eyes." LOL. I love your vids, Beau. Keep up the great work!
Great vid as usual Beau! Old timey Black powder is an intimate mixture of potassium nitrate (Saltpetre)...sulfur and charcoal, Potassium nitrate is very soluble in water but charcoal and sulfur are not soluble at all so they are left behind after the water has washed all the nitrate away as a solution making the shells reasonably safe but if a shell is filled with water and comes into contact with strong heat even without the remains of the black powder in it it can still explode dangerously with the pressure of the steam built up from the water and heat, Even a small amount of water in the shell can cause it to explode providing of course the steam cannot escape whilst it is being subjected to strong heat, Just like a pressure cooker but a pressure cookers steam is controlled, just a bit of trivia for your subs,
Cabin fever runs wild at the wood pile!
"Ready? Watch this, close your eyes" Awesome video anyhow
'Explody'. Now there's one I haven't heard before....great video, Beau!
I wonder if the agent who carries your life insurance policy cringed when he watched this?
The modern black powder going off reminds me of the Wicked Witch of the West disappearing :)
love this ..you're just a big kid ...next time can I light it please ...love the underwater stuff you do ..
That was really cool. Since you know a little bit about black powder, I think you should do civil war reenactment so. They're always fun to watch
You probably know this, but the line on the axe is from the high-carbon steel that was used for the blade edge. Usually it was forge welded together, so the edge would stay hard and sharp while the rest of the axe could be made from cheaper, softer low carbon steel. Very nice axe though!
That was really cool. The smoke ring in the last flash was neat!
I have a couple black powder guns. An 1860 Army revolver and a Rocky Mountain Hawken rifle. Both are very enjoyable to shoot. Its fun to use the technology the soldiers had a 150 years ago.
Science with Beau. I like it.
I was a bit curious, and now i know. thanks Beau.
Hi Beau: the line just back of the blade is a weld line where a pc of hard steel ($$) is welded to the soft iron head-the steel pc is called the bit.
I envoy these aquachigger videos his expertise on civil war ordnance is considerable and I have learned a few things from watching them. However his expertise on the properties and chemistry of black powder is limited as well as many of those who blog here is. Here are some of the errors I have seen and heard on this excellent site. Black powder will remain active and unchanged longer than the age of these old shells. So here is why the old powder in these shells almost always is degraded and usually wont even burn. It is exposure to water and only that. The oxidizer in gunpowder is Saltpeter(Potassium nitrate) and it is very water soluble its obvious that the samples that you tested with fire have no potassium nitrate left in them it was dissolved out by water the sulfur and carbon from charcoal is all that remains you melted and got some burning of the sulfur and some burning of carbon those sparks you saw. No doubt there are old cannon shells that remained reasonably dry even if some degradation occurred it takes only a little ginger remaining in the powder to make a very bad day for anyone drilling into one of these shells.
i remember my grandfather had a live grenade from WWI when he passed away it was discovered that the pin had rusted away some time ago. the police had to have the bomb squad come out. inside the powder was already rock solid from being on the shelf. i still have the grenade today.
Learned something new, just like always. I've read all the books by Mr. Garrett, Buttafuso, Law, Moore and several others and find them great reading in front of a fireplace this time of year. When can we expect "Adventures of a 'Chigger"? We know you could fill a book and have plenty of leftovers for a sequel! GL and HH in '15!
haha, awesome video Beau! Thanks for showing what this black power can do.
I was wondering if you had thought of mixing some of that 150 year old powder into ink and having someone with artistic talent do a rendition of a Civil War artillery scene. Would make a very unique, one-of-a-kind, piece of art.
@ NightSkyGuy that is an excellent idea! What a great creative thought! I’m shocked that somehow your comment has gone un noticed all these years.
Best!
Kept dry, it keeps forever. Bp is a very simple mixture of stable components...except for the nitrates which are hygroscopic compounds and have a sneaky habit of leaching out of the mix when wet. Imagine how well an old, infused powder barrel would burn.
Very Cool!! I had to get out and just go for a hike the other day!! just needed some fresh air!! hopefully the snow will be gone soon!!
Yes it is. Really cold February for Maryland. I'm down the road in Baltimore. We're getting close to warmer weather. Good Luck when the weather brakes.
Next week Is looking very promising. Of course its snowing today. lol
I expect that the saltpeter would dissolve in water, leaving you with just the charcoal and sulfur.
+John Hunt
Yup. So you can add saltpeter to the ones that spark to rejuvenate them. Might be another vid.
pretty cool seeing that black powder going off it will soon be spring cant wait
Gotta like the pyro attempts! Bet your 4th of July is exciting!
'And boom goes the dynamite'
Glad you will be doing a video on axes! I have a couple (dug) heads I use. Always wonder how the unbroken ones get lost so frequently, Temper fidelis!
This was a nice educational video. One I have been waiting on you to do. Thanks.
Ruin that ax? Nah, you just gave it some more character.
Just come across this video. Looks like a great way to spend an enjoyable afternoon and keep your clothes on, mind you judging by the snow |I bet you were glad you did. You have a great delivery to camera and thanks for adding to my store of generally useless information, much appreciated, keep 'em coming Cheers Ian
Beau,
Reenactors do not use pyrodex...just reg black powder. Great video!
Wow another cool video Beau thanks keep em coming.
that axe head is awesum do tell the story bout the line, thanks again Mr pyro for the awesome videos.
The dryer it gets, the more sensitive it is in storage.
I shoot black powder made in 53!
Waw, dat cliffhanger.
Turn on CC, haha cracks me up !!
Cool video!!
Great video! Nothing like playing with some pyrotechnics to squash the boredom =)
My brother has a 50 cal. Hawkins replica it was always fun to shoot. but I gave up hunting 30 years ago but still enjoy wild game from friends.
Cabin fevers settin in folks
Interesting. Thanks for sharing!
That was a really interesting video matey. I did the same thing with .303 cordite, on Facebook.
Thanks for showing!!
John.
I liked the big smoke ring !!
Cabin Fever will make you do all kinds of things for entertainment, Nice video Comrade Beau
Interesting. Always enjoy your videos. Not getting anything done here in the shop, watching you have fun. I live in Fla and the snow looks nice compared to the heat of summer, to someone who works outside.
Already pushing 90s. Ten degrees to go
That was cool to see. It would be neat if you reground some and added some KNO3 to see what would happen.
:D This must be the big boy variant of "playing with matches."
I wondered what you were doing over winter - hibernating I thought!
Cool Beau.
Nice video. I think I mentioned doing a gun powder test video like this a few weeks ago :-)
A good collection of powders. Also a good axe, and the hat is super! )))
Beau pretty cool you Wild Man that was pretty fun to watch
That was fun, thanks!
So obviously not much danger in the old shells. But it was still nice of people to call you nuts and crazy while drilling them. You know because they are concerned.....Thanks for a quick winter distraction.
Oh I misunderstood....please be careful...obviously.
If you have this left, you should have a chemical analysis done on each sample. You might be the only one who has actual black powder from the civil war.
Just like a kid at Christmas time😆 love your vids Beau 👍
Interesting vid Beau! Very cool!
I work at a civil war reenactment place. One of the initiations is to eat black powder from one of the charges, great stuff totally recommend it.
At the end of the video with the modern black gun powder it reminds me when I was little with the firecrackers when fuse fail, we used to dismount the firecrackers and pull out the gun powder, make a pile with a decent size and then put a match on it, the first time we did that the three of us spend at least 5 minutes blinded by the shine from burned gun powder
Beau totally loved the vid a true testament to the legendary cabin fever he he totally unexpected video and I lived the chopping down into the block and your commentary throughout , I couldn't wait for you to light the old black powder and it was cool when you lit the new stuff.
Thank you very much mate , and let me tell you at the time of filming what you were wearing made me think the ruskies had invaded he he but a strong indication of just how cold it is there.
By the way the episode I mentioned to you that is titled "ambushed" is to be uploaded very soon I think you'll enjoy it.
Paul
yeah its out now it was a great experience for me and a real surprise.
Paul
That's AWESOME! You're a cool guy!
Click the settings tab and put it on slo-mo and watch the coolness happen...
If you have safe fireable muskets you should do a video on that!
That was fun to try anyway. Thanks!!
"see, its burning!"
*touches it with bare finger*
Looks like fun!
Very Interesting Video ,Excellent Job
Lol looks like where not the only ones getting catbin fever up north here Beau...lol,,didn't they use the sulphur and pitch like timers for fuses in the cannon shot ??
Great video Beau!
Haha Awesome!
Nothing like the smell of black powder in the morning. You need scratch and sniff videos.
Lol. Now we know what you do when the ground is frozen.
very awesome video beau that was really neat thanks for sharing with us.. And its about time you make a video I was starting to worry about you lol you can only watch your old videos over and over again for so long lol jk. thanks for sharing with us very cool experiment.. Thanks a lot beau good luck and happy hunting.. Ryan
Dang it! what about that line :) cool video. enjoyed it.
10:12...too funny!
Nice and battle scarred now!
Love your videos so fun to see what your going to find or do next!!😆
+Beau Ouimette at least you know what a civil war battlefield smells like.
smells like victory! or defeat depending on which end of the cannon ball your on
Interesting. I'd never have thought the old powder would react like that. I love re-purposing old axes/hatchets as well. I've done 4 with a couple more lined up to do soon.
Absolutely.
This video is really awesome! I always wondered about old powder or old unexploded shells.