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Legal powder amount

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I've seen several claims online that California residents are limited to one pound of black powder. Which makes no sense. Since it's commonly sold in one lb. cans, anyone who wanted one powder for the barrel and another for the priming pan would become a criminal...

California Code, Health and Safety Code - HSC § 12001 says we can possess up to five lbs.
But it’s CALIFORNIA.
Municipalities may have lower limits.
 
https://www.atf.gov/explosives/qa/black-powder-subject-regulation-under-federal-explosives-laws.


No. "substitutes" are "propellants" not "explosives". As an aside; Smokeless or nitro powders for hand loading are also "propellants".


Honestly? The issue of "how much"? Is more closely regulated by an individuals local State, County and City laws and regulation.
Example; (Local for me);
1. I live in a City, they say I can have only 10 pounds (of BP) with no limit of "propellant"
2. A friend lives 1 mile down the road outside of the city, but same county,, he can have 20 pounds
3. Another friend lives 5 miles east, outside the City, different county,, he can have 50 pounds


Uhm(?) no.

What they all worry about is local "Fire Department issues". Ya know(?) Are ya in an old part of town with houses 15 feet apart? Or are ya in Walden woods with 15 acres between houses? Rural? got a neighbor a 1/2 mile down the road?

A simple call to the local FD Chief will answer all of your questions, the true answer is, it's a local issue for each of us.

p.s.

😲 I suppose, so bob,, if you call the local FD? Use a burner and don't give'm your name!!

Don’t ask, don’t tell.
Don’t give them a new project to think about.
 
You got the answer on the BP total under federal law 50lbs, substitutes are not included.
But my question would be unless you're a cannoneer why in the world would you need 50lbs of powder?

So that if and when the government bans production of it, or they enact onerous rules on storage, quantity limits, and licensing, people will have will enough to last them the rest of their lives without buying more.
 
I believe that federal law allows us only 50 pounds of black powder to be stored in our homes.

Does that include substitutes? Can I have 50 pounds of bp and 30 pounds of substitutes?

Can I have more than 50 pounds of different sizes and brands? Can i have 50 pounds of FFg swiss and 50 pounds of FFFg Goex?
Read your local laws. For example, NY (which I recently left) says FIVE pounds, stored in horns or original containers, in a wood box with walls nominally 1/2" thick. Said box must be painted red and labeled "Low Ex" in yellow or white letters 4" high. Said box must also be stored on the ground floor or in the basement, within 10 feet of an exterior entrance.
 
https://www.atf.gov/explosives/qa/black-powder-subject-regulation-under-federal-explosives-laws.


No. "substitutes" are "propellants" not "explosives". As an aside; Smokeless or nitro powders for hand loading are also "propellants".


Honestly? The issue of "how much"? Is more closely regulated by an individuals local State, County and City laws and regulation.
Example; (Local for me);
1. I live in a City, they say I can have only 10 pounds (of BP) with no limit of "propellant"
2. A friend lives 1 mile down the road outside of the city, but same county,, he can have 20 pounds
3. Another friend lives 5 miles east, outside the City, different county,, he can have 50 pounds


Uhm(?) no.

What they all worry about is local "Fire Department issues". Ya know(?) Are ya in an old part of town with houses 15 feet apart? Or are ya in Walden woods with 15 acres between houses? Rural? got a neighbor a 1/2 mile down the road?

A simple call to the local FD Chief will answer all of your questions, the true answer is, it's a local issue for each of us.

p.s.

😲 I suppose, so bob,, if you call the local FD? Use a burner and don't give'm your name!!
Don’t even do that. The call will get them thinking, especially if they are looking for new subjects to give training classes on.
 
As getting powder becomes more and more difficult many people are going into buying in bulk and splitting it among their friends. Someone has to receive the order. My family buys a 25 lb case and divides it among the five of us that shoot. As one case gets shot up we order another case,so I will often have between 5 and thirty lbs on hand.It is perfectly legal as long as you only split it among members of your group when you ordered. Our local club often buys for the members, but if a new person joins the club they can't get any of the powder until a new order has been received. Picky, picky.

I am not sure it is legal to re-sell BP without a license.
 
I am not sure it is legal to re-sell BP without a license.
If a 'group' goes in on a bulk purchase then no one is "re-selling" anything.
But if rocking the boat and looking a gift horse in the mouth is the goal....

Reenacting groups have been doing it since...forever.
Now, sometimes one needs special credentials to even purchase 25lb+ amounts, that goes by Local Laws. One would assume (there is that word again) that anyone willing to sign their name is full aware of their Local Laws.
 
Any amount over 50 # requires a magazine. I use an old refrigerator in my shop. I've also notified the local fire department it is there, and have "Danger, Explosives" signs where it is stored.
 
Don’t even do that. The call will get them thinking, especially if they are looking for new subjects to give training classes on.
Well, I'm thinking the local Fire Chief and I grew-up together,, I dated his sister in high-school. If ya wanna know your local regulations,, check local.

p.s. just because your paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get ya !
 
Well, I'm thinking the local Fire Chief and I grew-up together,, I dated his sister in high-school. If ya wanna know your local regulations,, check local.

p.s. just because your paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get ya !
Where it comes to the 2nd Amendment and everything concerning it, there is no need to be "paranoid"; they have made their intentions perfectly clear.
 
I think we are pretty safe from over regulation with the Antique classification. Years ago when
the gun control act came in there was a line of argument that the Second amendment only
applied to the arms of the Framer's day-- which now would be antiques & relics. Of course,
the right applies to all personal firearms. I am sure they will plow around the antiques as far
as trying to over reg it , even in lunatic places. The powder is another matter. Because of a
few idiots who misused it, BP could well see more regulation. I do not see that in the near
future, and because it is needed for the original "Founders Arms" it might escape any
regulation. Wisdom is to stock up on the real stuff because it lasts a lifetime. The amount
you can have is governed by law ,fire regs and common sense. Remember that anything
that could be used to make bad stuff is tracked and noted by some of those alphabet
letter agencies, so keep sensible amounts according to your needs. Also, the primer stuff
that makes up primall for back-up caps should be put back as well since that would be
considered "components." Plenty of posts on forum about making caps.
 
I see BP availability drying up not because of big brother oversight but more because of the bottom line.
Not a whole lot of demand means not a whole lot of sales. No sales=no need to be in that business. Just walk into an auto parts place and try to find gear oil for a manual transmission, Or points and a condenser.... They are still out there but not many.
A company won't stay in business long if they can't sell their product at a reasonable rate.
BP is used in what percentage of total firearms? Heck , last created scare withstanding, I can buy several different brands and styles of smokeless lots of places, BP only one place in the area has it at all and they don't restock until the last can sells. At the gun shows there are literally thousands of black rifles and glocks of every imaginable shape , size , and color. If I'm lucky there might be half a dozen cap locks, both new inline and EXPENSIVE showpiece repros, MAYBE 1 flinter.
It's one of the joys of having an "obscure" hobby.
 
All the more reason to expose new folk to the Joy's of Black Powder.
Dispel the myth that "you can't find real black powder" and "you can't hit anything with that" or "Flintlocks are unreliable and fail all the time".

Bring new people and young blood into the fold and keep a demand going for generations to come.
Also keep in mind that black powder is not only for Muzzleloaders, however we have just become a by-product by today's standards.

Don't let us become a dying breed.
 
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