Gunpowder is a crafting item in Fallout 76 that is the key component when creating bullets. Gunpowder is unlike other crafting in components in that you will not obtain it from scrapping junk.
There are two ways to obtain gunpowder. The first is to craft it using a chemistry station and the second is to loot it from dead bodies. It is quite a common drop from raiders, super mutant and other humanoid enemies. It is worth stashing this material as soon as possible.
Gunpowder is a crafted component. The best way to get large quantities of it is to scavenge for the materials used to create it. For this, I would recommend you check out the guides for finding acid and for finding cloth.
Best Places To Find Components For Ammo
Since most people are looking to obtain gunpowder for the creation of ammo, there will be a required for lead as this is needed to combine with gunpowder in order to produce bullets. This is a really useful guide that will show you lots of good places to find lead for producing ammo. If you need more help, check out the full guide for farming lead in Fallout 76.
How To Craft Gunpowder
Crafting gunpowder is the method that most will use rather than having to spend a lot of time killing worthless enemies. This will mean you will spend your time searching for acid and cloth. There are lots of great ways to do this. If there is one specific material you are low on, check out the guide for farming cloth or farming acid in Fallout 76 to more information.
Construct a Chemistry Station
Gunpowder is very easy to make. All you need is 1 cloth and 1 acid. You can combine this together using a chemistry station to create gunpowder. Crafting these two components together will produce 15 units of gunpowder.