Propellants - GUNPowder - BLACKPowder ..

 From the land of Election political promises and other massive sewage leaks .. where little works as it should.

  At this time - here in New Zealand (and elsewhere similarly) licensed GUN OWNERS & shooters are starting to contact new restrictions and costs imposed by multiple amendments to The FIREARMS ACT - freshly applied by our new Te Tari Pureke Firearms Registry ..

Making 'HomeMade' PERCUSSION CAPS:

Buying or selling any firearm or major part by a FIT & PROPER PERSON is deemed to be a "triggering event" requiring all of your shooting tools to be freshly registered. - Your data is about to be fed into a new police A I system SearchX.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/police-using-ai-assess-risk-posed-offenders

Too Hard to Import? - Make Your Own Grips:

Currently, licensed shooters may still purchase and keep cartridges at home, not much changed from normal - but new regulations are already in place, while yet more restrictions and penalties are planned.

As well as these new Firearms licensing & Permit regulations ... there are recently imposed new bans, and limitations on Import Regulations, -TRANSPORT - COURIER and STORAGE (Conditions-Security-Quantity-Location) - POSSESSION - & TRANSFER of LOCATION (for service/repair) plus new definitions regulating DANGEROUS GOODS & EXPLOSIVES etc outside of firearms regulations. - They've even stopped the importation and sale of Gun Books and Periodicals  .. when did you last find a Guns & Ammo or Handgunner magazine from America?

Importation of regulated items is being further restricted by EXPORT Limitations & LICENSES in the originating Nations.

Hand Making Coil Springs ..

If you are a HANDLOADER or BLACKPOWDER shooter you will already have noticed that consumable component prices have climbed and continue to rise sharply - while availability is dropping.

It's all going as if to some master plan ..

Modern 'SMOKELESS' PROPELLANTS may be currently classed as less dangerous for carriage - while 'BLACK POWDER' and substitutes are often rated as more explosive materials ... BUT these regulations are subject to ongoing review both internally and Internationally.

Shooters need to be aware that international containerised freight is regularly-normally carried between countries in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft but anything related to firearms is increasingly being prohibited on SAFETY GROUNDS and ANTI-TERRORIST PRECAUTIONS.

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Bolt Springs for Single Action Colts:

The more determined and persistant few will have already worked-out that if you already maintain a small stock of essential items, you have less need to buy them at the elevated prices, - and if you can no longer readily import replacement SPRING SETS or some aftermarket GRIPS for your favorite shooter - you might investigate how to make custom springs out of PIANO WIRE & used hack-saw blades, and how to craft a nice set of grips from recycled Walnut furniture.

"Antique Propellant" gunpowder has a long history of independent home based manufacture from Potassium Nitrate, Charcoal, and Sulfer 75:15:10 by weight while the separate basic materials are unrestricted and fairly easy to find commercially. Saltpeter or  KNO3  is sold for meat preserving and for Tree Stump Remover - Charcoal for barbecues and Sulfer for gardeners adjusting soil chemistry etc.

It is totally practical to make your own CHARCOAL for gunpowder if you can't buy decent stuff locally. - One of the best kinds of tree for the very-best performing 'Blackpowder' is WILLOW. Cut branchlets smaller in diameter than your fingers and strip the bark. let these tree trimmings dry nicely in a sunny spot - then cut to length to fit into an empty paint can - fit the lid tightly and use a nail or punch to make a vent hole. Put your tin on a heat source (fire, barbecue) outside and gently cook it until all that steam & smoke stops blowing-out. You can light it if you want. - Once that smoke stops, remove from heat and drop your nail into the vent-hole to stop the hot charcoal inside getting enough air to ignite - let it cool and open-up ... ready to rock.

Willow Charcoal ..

There are plenty of instructional videos on the internet on how to safely make decent quality black-powder for shooting muzzleloaders and traditional brass cartridge loads.

Folks are making their own for simple convenience and for economic reasons.

There are even alternate formulations if black-powder becomes difficult. - Information is 'out there' to build "Grannies Red Powder" from saltpeter-sugar & rust powder AND there have been many versions of ASCORBIC ACID/ Potassium Nitrate GOLDEN POWDER & SCARLET POWDER.

These mixtures do work .. but are subject to absorbing moisture from the air over time - that reduces performance. - However, the wise will find that a sunny inside window sill makes a great air dryer once you shift the cat.

Naturally the more 'SAFETY' RESTRICTIONS any Government imposes, attempting to remove basic civil rights - the more dangerous events will occur. - The more difficult that they make it to be a legal law-abiding gun owner - the more guns will slip underground into criminal hands.

All gun owners know that it is NOT guns that are a problem ... it is the criminal nutters that need controlling.

If you fancy something informative to read while waiting for the legal wheels to grind forward .. Here's a good book that has held my attention a couple of times in recent years. A fascinating History of scientific discovery and progress:

Marty K.