Most everyone knows that the basics of making black powder is literally hundreds of years old. My primary interest focuses on making homemade primer compounds. So I'm going to assume the question pertains to smokeless gun powders such as those we use to reload pistol and rifle ammo. One of our Advanced members (named JB) is leaving the research and development on a recipe called fa70. It shows the most promise. The most interesting feature of fa70 is the fact that it's non corrosive. I will continue to make notes and ask questions simplify the steps and make the chemistry understandable. In its current state it's not ready for prime time or available to the average reloader. My solution to the shortage or combating the expense of purchasing smokeless gunpowder is to stockpile it when you can find a source of powder at a reasonable price. In general attempting to make homemade smokeless gunpowder isn't practical at this time. The practice of making smokeless gunpowder is very complex and the equipment costs run in the millions. Even a quick glance at the FBI of the ingredients that comprise smokeless gun powders and you'll find that gunpowder's contain contain stabilizers, plasticizers , and deterrents. These ingredients are mixed in or coated on top of the individual particles or powders that comprise the Gunpowder materials. The main ingredient of both Rifle and Pistol powders is nitrocellulose. In general pistol powders are almost exclusively made of nitrocellulose. These are known as single-based powders. Rifle powders in general are double based powders. To have consistent burn rates individual flakes or powders must have consistent geometrical shapes. These shapes powders can be spheres, flattened spheres, and disc shaped flakes. Trail Boss is popular with novice ammo reloaders is donut shaped. The short answer: It's just not practical. Buy it whenever you find it at a reasonable price. If we focus on the simple recipes, making your own homemade primer compounds is both practical relatively simple. Simply put it's within our reach. I focus primarily on the noncorrosive primer recipes. This is due to the fact that most primer recipes only have roughly a half dozen ingredients. It's no secret that my favorite noncorrosive recipe is called eph-20 and can be found in Marshall Thompson's manual called Homemade Primer Course. It consists of four simple ingredients to which you already own. Fortunately the other two are attainable. ### FBI Database of Smokeless Powders https://www.ilrc.ucf.edu/powders/search.php ### Glossary Chemical Names [[Interpreting the Ingredients of the FBI Database]]