Where do you store your powder?

[Deep Creek Dale]

Indiana is restricted to 50 pounds
same as federal law.

IC 35-47.5-5-1
(10) Commercially manufactured black powder in quantities not to exceed fifty (50) pounds, percussion caps, safety and pyrotechnic fuses, quills, quick and slow matches, and friction primers intended to be used solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes in antique firearms or antique devices.

Thanks for the good info. Since I am stuck on my phone, can't really look everything up. I did see where California was at one pound though. And dealers have to follow ATF regulations which allow 25 lbs on premises and have very strict rules on storage. But, at home, someone can legally store more next to your furnace if you are dumb enough.

 

[Carbon 6]

California was at one pound though.

California should ban electricity and natural gas. Those two things have done more damage than BP ever will.
Natural gas is the most dangerous of them all, with one explosion causing death or More than $50,000.00 in damage every 30-48 hours nationally.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Black powder licence in the UK is really just a means of keeping tabs on who has it and that it's stored responsibly.

It's also a quick way to confiscate everyone's stocks when the socialists decide to take the next step in relieving the people of the last of their rights. Ever see RED DAWN? What's the first thing the invaders looked for? All the 4473 forms from the local gun stores. That way they had a ready made list of who to hit first....

 

[Deep Creek Dale]

California should ban electricity and natural gas. Those two things have done more damage than BP ever will.
Natural gas is the most dangerous of them all, with one explosion causing death or More than $50,000.00 in damage every 30-48 hours nationally.

I tend to agree with that sentiment and it's logic although I would imagine banning electricity might be a hard sell and federal and state government is beholden to the natural gas industry and it's profits.
I think a greater threat to our black powder is some screwball using store bought BP to make a bomb which results in a lot of deaths and subsequent public demand that "something must be done". Even if it is useless. We are a tiny minority and there would be little opposition to it by the general public in our increasingly urban oriented society.

 

[Greg Blackburn]

I don’t know how you work that out. In the UK a black powder licence is free. It is issued by the police to qualified individuals who are deemed safe and competent to hold such material. One must show one’s licence when purchasing.

Pretty easy to "work out." Let's take the "concealed carry license." That is absolutely a "tax" since concealed carry is an individual right covered in the nation's constitution. It does nothing but drive up the cost of self defense, always hurting the poor the most. In USA, poor people are the ones most often victims of crime to begin with.

"Deemed safe and competent." How's that work?

DUNKS,

Of course it's a means of knowing who has what.

And I had better stop here before I break too many forum rules and anger my ML brethren in UK too awful much.

 

[TomV]

Keep mine in a 50 cal military ammo can, with a lock to keep kids out

 

[FishDFly]

If you gotta worry about keeping your kids out of your black powder (other than shooting), you gotta a lot of other problems to worry about.

 

[toot]

I think posesing 200 lbs, on black powder, would bring THE MEN IN BLACK, come a knocking on your door???

 

[csaduck]

The ideology of keeping the powder in a breathable storage is to allow it to cook off in case of a fire.
Powder (black or gray) when contained will cause an explosion.
Powder not contained in a tight container will simply burn off in a few seconds or in a large quantity - a few minutes.
It will not explode unless contained, ie - like in a pipe b^%b. Not a cool thing to do.
Always check local law enforcement - in the US at county level - for storage methods and max quantities.
Most localities here in Texas recommend containers with breathable joints, a burn off is preferable to an explosion.
I have watched 2 demonstrations where a sealed steel cabinet and a breathable wood box were used with 25# of powder.
The sealed cabinet exploded and the wood box simply cooked off - lots of smoke but it burned off so fast that the heavy wood only blackened and did even catch fire.

The several different counties I have lived in here in Texas have all had a 50# max per storage area.
One municipality I lived in had a 25# max.

The intumescent seal mentioned above is likely for the purpose of keeping a fire from reaching the powder. That material is structurally very weak so if the powder did actually burn the pressure would likely push through and vent instead of causing an explosion. I think I like that idea and will do some more research on it.
The intumescent tape (peel and stick) is relatively inexpensive and should be very easy to implement.

Yet US Army steel ammo cans are used for "Smokeless" cartridges which are made with Nitroglycerine and when a can of this gets so hot it cooks of it explodes like a bomb throwing steel and brass around at rifle bullet speeds !

 

[csaduck]

I think posesing 200 lbs, on black powder, would bring THE MEN IN BLACK, come a knocking on your door???

When I was younger and doing Civil War re-enacting I had a full scale cannon, and bought 500 pounds at a time from a dealer in Virginia every year ! No one but him and me knew. Every time we fired the gun we blew a pound. Glad I was still working and powder was only $5 a pound in bulk at the amount I was buying.

 

[Carbon 6]

Yet US Army steel ammo cans are used for "Smokeless" cartridges which are made with Nitroglycerine and when a can of this gets so hot it cooks of it explodes like a bomb throwing steel and brass around at rifle bullet speeds !

No it doesn't.

 

[Griz44Mag]

No it doesn't.

 

[FishDFly]

The odds of your house catching fire is 0.317%. There are 385,500 house fires each year, chance of yours catching fire is very remote.

The odds of your house being burglarized is 18 out of 1,000 households.

Seems like you need to guard (hide) your powder more from burglars more than the remote chance of fire.

 

[RB POWELL]

Here's a long story about black powder and fires. Years and years ago, a friend had a hundred pounds of blackpowder stored in an old steel safe in his freestanding workshop out behind his house. He lived way out in the country with no one else living nearby. The workshop caught fire. When the fire department arrived he told the chief about the blackpowder and that they should just back up and let it burn. The Chief directed that the crew tear down the wall where the safe was and they wrapped a chain around the safe and hauled it off into the middle of a cornfield. Then they put the fire out in the workshop. The next day the friend goes out to the still hot safe and opens it. The solder holding the cans together had melted. He opened one and poured the powder into his hand, the powder was so hot that it burned his hand. The moral of the story is that black powder won't explode unless there is a spark. I keep my powder in a locked steel case. I don't understand the thought about storing powder in a wooden box.

Interesting. Lots of opinions, and information. It seems to me (correct me if I am wrong), that the primary: only? risk is a spark, or direct flame.

 

[RB POWELL]

The ideology of keeping the powder in a breathable storage is to allow it to cook off in case of a fire.
Powder (black or gray) when contained will cause an explosion.
Powder not contained in a tight container will simply burn off in a few seconds or in a large quantity - a few minutes.
It will not explode unless contained, ie - like in a pipe b^%b. Not a cool thing to do.
Always check local law enforcement - in the US at county level - for storage methods and max quantities.
Most localities here in Texas recommend containers with breathable joints, a burn off is preferable to an explosion.
I have watched 2 demonstrations where a sealed steel cabinet and a breathable wood box were used with 25# of powder.
The sealed cabinet exploded and the wood box simply cooked off - lots of smoke but it burned off so fast that the heavy wood only blackened and did even catch fire.

The several different counties I have lived in here in Texas have all had a 50# max per storage area.
One municipality I lived in had a 25# max.

The intumescent seal mentioned above is likely for the purpose of keeping a fire from reaching the powder. That material is structurally very weak so if the powder did actually burn the pressure would likely push through and vent instead of causing an explosion. I think I like that idea and will do some more research on it.
The intumescent tape (peel and stick) is relatively inexpensive and should be very easy to implement.

Please let me know more.

 

[Evelyn BH]

One article I read stated that gasoline has 11 times more energy per gallon than 1 pound of black powder.
So a 5 gallon plastic container that breathes fumes into the air constantly is the same as 55 pounds of black powder - and is a whole lot more volatile.

That's why it's illegal to store gasoline (petrol) in a plastic container, in the UK. Quite rightly.
My petrol is stored in the petrol tank of my car.

 

[Griz44Mag]

That's why it's illegal to store gasoline (petrol) in a plastic container, in the UK. Quite rightly.
My petrol is stored in the petrol tank of my car.

Don't have a lawnmower? Weedeater? Leaf Blower?
I keep my maintenance fuel in 2 containers. A 2-1/2 gallon for non-oiled fuel and a 1 gallon for oiled fuel.
They are both plastic. (Red and approved small quantity containers.
I have been doing that for 50+ years. Seems the risk is pretty low.
If there is enough of a fire in the house to burn them, the fuel in the gas containers will be the least of my worries.

 

[griffiga]

Hey Tenngun. Is that Elephant powder on the left?

Sure it, I recognize the cans - I got a few of them myself....That's why they call it Elephant because it can't hide.....

 

[Carl in France]

That's why it's illegal to store gasoline (petrol) in a plastic container, in the UK. Quite rightly.
My petrol is stored in the petrol tank of my car.

Is it? That is how i did it for decades in the plastic cans they sell for that purpose, at garages!

Just suprised if this is true, it may well be as i have never heard of it is all.

Ah ha.....just checked UK law...totally legal to store in plastic cans made for that purpose.

 

[Carbon 6]

Good one.

Like I said, "it doesn't" it's about as dangerous as cooking popcorn naked without a lid on the pan.