Gunpowder in apocalyptic settings

>>31576149
Bat poop.

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>>31576149
Why not lighter than air flammable gasses? Or maybe a highly reactive metallic powder similar to thermite but with more explosivity?

>>31576185
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

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>>31576202
Ok, so why not hydrogen which can be made with water and electricity? Or would that not work?

>>31576149
gun cotton can be made pretty easily with just an oven and the right chemicals which could be raided from any store house.

>>31576169
Salt peter can be obtained from all sorts of feces including human. Bat and bird guano is probably the best and easiest option due to high concentrations of nitrogen.

>>31577257
But after the stores have run out of these chemicals its back to black powder. Modern weapons weren't designed for black powder. That stuff is very corrosive and fouls everything.

>>31577284
well, in the context of 2033, the bombs drop in 2013. i'd say that current ammo supplies plus oven bullets would last that long. and besides, i'd say it's likely most people just switch to things like X-bows and the like instead of having to go through the hell of synthing/finding and using smoky gunpowder. also, once you know what you are doing, it isn't impossible to produce the chemicals needed for the oven process without equipment too ridiculous.

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>>31577268
This is true.

In Napolean wars, there was even a systematic collection of piss and poop from soldiers for the war effort, since there was a shortage of saltpeter. France could not import gunpowder or saltpeter and took to collecting urine from soldiers and livestock.
This source of nitrates was collected, converted from calcium nitrate to potassium nitrate, and combined with charcoal and sulfur to field armies.

Since all guns were muskets anyways, this was adequate for their use. Caused huge pillowy smoke clouds, though, like blackpowder does.

If you know how the chemistry of gunpowder works and a genuine need for it, gunpowder is fairly straightforward to manufacture.

>>31576149
nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin at best.
blackpowder at worst.

basically take a step back the the start of the 20th century.

>>31576149
They literally use pre-war rounds as money. That should give you an idea about the quality of their loads. Probably shit quality blackpowder.

>>31576149
In metro they cut the powder of a military-grade bullet with other burnable substances. It's explained in one of the games. They reload cases from spend rounds and make bullets out of scrap. I don't know where the primers come from, and I don't know how the underpowered cartridges they make cycle a rifle. And if ammonia plentiful for you, you've obviously never played ranger mode.

>>31577312
That is where the term "piss poor" comes from.

Being so poor that you have to collect your piss and sell it