counter at your local store and buy 8,000 matches, someone might start to get a bit suspicious, especially if government agents have alerted stores to report such occurrences. So use a little sense and go about things in a cautious manner. Prepare a logical explanation for any primer chemicals you purchase. If possible, it is also wise to pay with cash and purchase chemicals where people don't know you. Given the universal use of TV security cameras, it might not be too paranoid to even consider disguising your features somewhat, such as adding or switching glasses, changing your hairstyle, or donning a hat or cap. Even after the goodies are at your workplace, you still must be careful. The fumes created in making powder or primers can be toxic and corrosive as well as highly explosive. Extreme care must be taken to avoid injuring yourself or burning down your house. Usually, the best bet is to work outdoors or to have a good exhaust system (and a kitchen exhaust fan will not suffice) . There are many ways to modify primers to create different burning rates. Unfortunately, most of these take a lot of experimenting to get right, waste a lot of materials, and attract unneeded attention. Because of this, it's generally best to make all-purpose mixes. And once you find a combination of components and chemicals that works, don't try to modify things. If the system works, don't change it. Not all the chemicals suitable for primers are covered here. Silver permanganate, antimony sulfide, barium nitrate, red phosphorus, calcium silicide, or tetranitroaniline are sometimes employed. Barium nitrate is corrosive and often hard to obtain — and would be even harder to obtain in a regulatory environment where all nitrates and oxidizers were controlled. But various barium salts are widely used in industry. To make barium nitrate, get some barite (barium sulfate mineral), which is fairly cheap and is used as a weighing mud in drilling oil wells; or if you want a finer grade (it doesn't matter) get some from your favorite internist who uses it as the opaque medium in gastrointestinal X-rays (the famous barium milkshakes you hear about) . Mix it with ground coal and roast to high red heat in an iron furnace, which will give you barium sulfide. Wash out the barium sulfide with hot water. Add an excess of nitric acid to this and you will have barium nitrate solution. Filter, evaporate, and you have barium nitrate. Red phosphorus is noncorrosive but burns on exposure to air, meaning that it must be mixed under a nonoxidizing liquid such as kerosene. Additionally, primers must be zinc-plated in order to protect them when they are filled with red phosphorus. For these reasons, potassium chlorate is often the best bet for do-it-yourself primers because it's easy to make, even though it dictates extra cleaning of any firearm that it's fired in . Although manufacturers sometimes mix primer chemicals, it is essential that you don't experiment with them because you can create dangerous, unstable results. Red phosphorus and potassium chlorate, for example, detonate upon contact with each other. Leave mixing operations to the big manufacturers . You can add relatively inert materials to primer chemicals to increase the friction and/or burning temperature when they're ignited. Aluminum powder or glass powder is best for this. Aluminum increases the burning heat, whereas glass increases the friction created when the primer is struck by the firing pin. If you decide to experiment with these materials, they should be ground into fine powder for best results. Potassium Chlorate Potassium chlorate is not a primer material by itself but can be used with other chemicals to create a primer. However, potassium chlorate is very sensitive and requires careful handling. Be careful when mixing it with other materials, especially with certain sulfur/sulfide and phosphorus compounds because it might contribute to an explosion. Do take all precautions and wear safety appropriate safety gear. Potassium chlorate is also corrosive, causing rust in a firearm within a matter of hours. For this reason, potassium chlorate isn't the best choice for gas-operated firearms. If you do use potassium chlorate, then be sure to follow the cleaning instructions outlined in Chapter 5 of this manual . To make potassium chlorate, you'll need potassium hydroxide (lye), hypochlorite solution (usually in household bleach--check the label), and sodium bisulfate (in most toilet bowl cleaners) . One catch: there are two forms of lye; the one you want is potassium hydroxide, not sodium hydroxide. Generally, a stroll down a supermarket aisle will give you the ingredients you need — be sure to read the fine print in the ingredient section of the label of all products. The process of changing potassium hydroxide into potassium chlorate involves substituting its chlorine group for the "hydroxide" in the potassium compound. The equipment you need is a Pyrex bottle with a one-hole stopper, rubber or glass tubing to connect the gas coming from the