If they make an assumption that it is bamboo, then I assume the gun will fail.

The ingredients that Kirk found to make the black powder (sulfur, potassium nitrate & coal) were all dry. In order to create a fast-burning mixture, the ingredients need to be fully moistened, then dried, followed by grinding the product into fine powder. Without the water acting as bonding agent, all you have is some non-explosive, coarse dust.”

I would like to add that the ingredients would also have to be mixed in the correct ratio. Kirk didn’t have a balance to weigh them out.

Not disputing your own experience with making gunpowder, but from my own experiments way back when, without first using water to mix the dry ingredients, (then allowing for natural drying/curing time) it would never achieve the fast burning quality necessary to generate an explosive force. I’m amazed if you had different results, but then again, I’m no chemist -or James T. Kirk, for that matter. ;-)

On a side note, not trying to give anyone dangerous ideas here, but I quickly learned that barbecue grade charcoal was useless, due to it containing additives to make it burn slow. A few pieces of plain ol’ scrap wood, burned and ground into a fine powder, made for a highly effective ingredient.