Historically speaking, all you need to make gunpowder is wood, bird droppings, and sulfur. I tried making my own BP from saltpeter and sulfur I got at the garden shop and birch charcoal I got from sifting ashes from my woodstove. I weighed everything out and put it in a glass dish and added some water then ground it all together into a gooey, grey mass. I let it dry out over a few days and then re-ground the resulting cake to about 1F or 2F. My homemade powder turned out light grey (not black) and ignites easily, although it leaves a good deal of molten white residue behind after it has burned. I will not be trying it in my flinter because of the residue. I have about 24 lbs. of Goex in my garage too. Maybe after that runs out ...