Col. Batguano
75 Cal.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2011
- Messages
- 5,034
- Reaction score
- 1,407
Gentlemen;
We all know that BP residue is extremely hygroscopic in nature. It attracts moisture really fast, and the sulfur residue when combined with water and free oxygen in the atmosphere combines to create an acid which starts the rusting on our steel and iron parts right away. The more humid it is, the faster it starts happening. I was reminded of this last weekend shooting my flinter. Just ONE shot on a humid day and the pan was totally covered in moisture (which I of course wipe down for successive shots). So for a "science experiment" on the same subject, I trickled out some BP on a hard surface (concrete in this case) and ignited it. Then again on some scrap angle iron. The only thing left behind was the black and white burn marks from the powder. No evidence of (I presume atmospheric) moisture immediately descending on the place of ignition. Since it was done on the same day (within 30 minutes or so) there wouldn't be much change in the day-to-day variable either.
So there must be something going on here that I don't fully understand. Can someone help me understand why the differences, (or, what I got wrong in the first paragraph)?
We all know that BP residue is extremely hygroscopic in nature. It attracts moisture really fast, and the sulfur residue when combined with water and free oxygen in the atmosphere combines to create an acid which starts the rusting on our steel and iron parts right away. The more humid it is, the faster it starts happening. I was reminded of this last weekend shooting my flinter. Just ONE shot on a humid day and the pan was totally covered in moisture (which I of course wipe down for successive shots). So for a "science experiment" on the same subject, I trickled out some BP on a hard surface (concrete in this case) and ignited it. Then again on some scrap angle iron. The only thing left behind was the black and white burn marks from the powder. No evidence of (I presume atmospheric) moisture immediately descending on the place of ignition. Since it was done on the same day (within 30 minutes or so) there wouldn't be much change in the day-to-day variable either.
So there must be something going on here that I don't fully understand. Can someone help me understand why the differences, (or, what I got wrong in the first paragraph)?
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