Letter on Black Powder from the ATF

[TexasMac]

This just in from the NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation):
Open Letter From The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on June 30 provided an open letter to all federal explosives licensees/permittees concerning the black powder exemption under the federal laws. As a service to the industry and our members, NSSF is forwarding this letter from the Firearms and Explosives Industry section chief that outlines the conditions applicable to the exemption. View the letter here:
https://www.atf.gov/sites/default/files ... powder.pdf

Wayne

[TexasMac]

BTW, due to the 2nd to last paragraph discussing manufacturing of BP in any quantity, I doubt it's a good ideal to discuss home manufacturing in an open forum, or, for that matter, any online medium.

Wayne

[Tom Trevor]

Wayne, There are several videos on U-TUBE showing the making of black powder in ones home. Well at least until BOOM!

[TexasMac]

Wayne, There are several videos on U-TUBE showing the making of black powder in ones home. Well at least until BOOM!

Tom,

I know and it may (hopefully) be an oversight on ATF's part not to include a clarification on individual manufacturing for personal use. BTW, since the letter did not have a date, which struck me as odd, I checked the ATF website and found the letter at the following link: http://www.atf.gov/content/library/expl ... en-letters.

But I also found an older ATF Newsletter on the same subject making it clear that individuals manufacturing black powder for their own personal non-business do not need a license.
http://www.atf.gov/files/publications/n ... 011-06.pdf

Wayne

[Woody]

Yes but......the same paragraph states that it must be stored in an appropriate mag and a Federal license or permit is required to transport any quantity. So the reality is that we don't want to manufacture.

Woody

[Tasmanian Rebel]

I would be hesitant to make black powder anyway. They have enough explosions at the plants where they're supposed to know what they're doing.
Keith Lay

[oldrifleman]

Back 40 or years ago in a land far far away my brother and I found the instructions for Black powder in a book (yeah, one of those Encyclopdia thingies). We put some together and tried to it out. It burned pretty well, that was the day I learned to put a lid on your powder supply before lighting the sample . Fortunatly the resulting fire did not go far. Steven

[John Boy]

http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB. ... 1404249429

[Tasmanian Rebel]

Steven, back in the sixties as an 11 or 12 y/o I got some stuff from the local drugstore thinking I was going into rocket science. After lighting the fuse and stepping(fortunately) back to watch that thing go up into the upper stratosphere instead discovered I had made a rather large aluminum pipe bomb. It rattled the windows of the neighborhood and was lucky that day dad was at work and mom was at the grocery store. So ended my days of dreaming about Wernher Von Braun.
Keith Lay

[boge]