I use blackpowder, I love blackpowder, however in a pinch I have used Pyrodex for my capper,living in N.Y. the pinches are coming more likely,1.I could use names of dealers of BP in NE PA- Honesdale,Wallenpaupack or closer to Port Jervis N.Y.2.dealers in N.Y.they're getting scarce[southern tier]3.powder subs suitable for flintlocks.can you help guys?
As all of the sub have a higher ignition temp, I am unaware of one that will give satisfactory performance in a flinter.
(susp) None of the replica blackpowders work ina flinter.Check out orderin from Gaf and sons or powder inc.Hazmat fee involved but ups will deliver to yore door.The fee's the same no matter how much ya order.4 or 5 of us here that use goex are goin order a case an split the fee.As far a i have to drive to git it,the hazmats cheaper than gas.
I've tried most in my flinter. It kept throwing up and complaining, it likes the real stuff. Some of the others would work but there was a noticable delay, Scary
There are several places you can order from, Graf & Sons, Powder Inc. and Jack's powder keg. 5 pounds is usually the minimum amount and that may seem like a lot but if traditional black powder is hard to get in your area it's worth getting enough to keep you shooting for a while instead of buying a pound at a time at the only store that carries it, 50 miles away from your house. If you can find a few other BP shooters near you that you can go in with the price drops considerably.
The only way the subs will work consistantly in a flinter is with a starter charge of the real thing. Pyrodex says to use 5 grains of real black, but I suggest 10 will work better and of course simply using real black powder works best of all.
Be sure to check any gun fired with Pyrodex and clean it again the next day. Otherwise your bore will start to rust.
that's funny flintboomer,because I was going to mention in my post that I thought pyodex was more corrosive than black powder.
Voice of experience!
I have done tests and can guarantee that Pyrodex is more difficult to clean completely than real black.
Here is the test:
Take 2 rifles to the range and shoot one with black and one with Pyro.
Clean them both and oil them.
The next night run a dry patch down both of them.
The one with Pyrodex will be starting to show rust.
Wipe that one down real good and reoil.
The one with real blackpowder will be fine if you did your job correctly.
Next week or the next chance you get, go to the range and take the same 2 rifles.
Shoot Pyro in the one you shot black in and shoot black in the one you shot pyro in last time.
Clean them up and oil them.
The next night run a dry patch down both of them.
The one with Pyrodex will be showing rust.
Wipe it down good and reoil it. The other one should be fine if you cleaned it properly.
You used the same 2 guns and even if the guns themselves were different you will always find the one that was shot with Pyrodex to show rust.
If you don't have 2 rifles you can do the same test with a single rifle. It just takes longer or else you have to simply look at the results. When you shoot with Pyrodex you will always have more trouble with rust!
I don't like pyrodex!
I found that out years ago with an 1858 remington revolvermuch ,to my dismay ,I was always more careful after that,but you just confirmed my thoughts on that subject flintboomer.
Here is a really good place to buy BP the group that I reenact with swears by it and we have never been disappointed.
www.mainepowderhouse.com give it a try
Here is a link to Goex master distributors, some have web sites some don't
http://www.goexpowder.com/distributors.html (http://www.goexpowder.com/distributors.html)
Hope this helps
I was out at a club shoot yesterday, and had a little bit of pyrodex left and used it for the first 8 shots. my grouping wasn't the greatest. The other 8 shots i used Goex FFFg black powder, and my groups we're much tighter and went where i was aiming. Is there that much of a difference between the two, or am i imagining this? Let me know gang..
I will not use pyrodex anymore because of the difference. Thanks gang.
crazell
Quote from: crazell on May 01, 2011, 11:50:55 PM
I was out at a club shoot yesterday, and had a little bit of pyrodex left and used it for the first 8 shots. my grouping wasn't the greatest. The other 8 shots i used Goex FFFg black powder, and my groups we're much tighter and went where i was aiming. Is there that much of a difference between the two, or am i imagining this? Let me know gang..
I will not use pyrodex anymore because of the difference. Thanks gang.
crazell
That can be a significant difference, but pyrodex starts to loose it's "oompf" as soon as the can is opened as do most other substitutes. Traditional black powder lasts for hundreds of years. It may have been the higher ignition temperature that was affecting your groups, with pyrodex taking longer to start burning than Goex but at any rate, now you know. The only sub I will use is Triple 7, but stopped years ago because I found out where to get Goex.
Here you can get 5 lb's of Kix's powder for $101.30,and that includes shipping and the Haz-Mat fee.
http://www.powderinc.com/
I have a couple of questions about goex. I pre-measure a bunch of loads before going out back to shoot. I put some loads in clear vials similar to a 35mm film case. Yesterday I noticed that there was condensation inside each of the vials that were sitting in the sun. There was no major temp change so is there always this much moisture in BP?
Secondly, some smokeless powders have drastic pressure changes when subjected to a rise in temperature, like being out in the sun, or in a car trunk. Is this an issue with BP?
On your first question, no, there isn't usually much moisture in BP but unless it is completely soaked it shouldn't affect your shooting. That's the nice thing about traditional BP, it has a low ignition point easy to set off, whereas all substitutes have a much higher ignition point and it takes a lot more flame to get them going, plus they are much more hygroscopic, meaning that they will tend to absorb more water than BP. IIRC, Goex is coated with graphite which further prevents moisture absorbsion. Please correct me if I've got that wrong. As for the pressure changes associated with temperature, someone else with have to wade in on that issue.
I have only used the pyrodex, as far as the subs go. I can confirm that that stuff sucks water like a sponge over time. I had one of those screw on funnels and didn't notice that the cap was cracked.Over three months it had clumped up solid.
Quote from: Blackfeet on May 02, 2011, 03:16:22 AM
I have only used the pyrodex, as far as the subs go. I can confirm that that stuff sucks water like a sponge over time. I had one of those screw on funnels and didn't notice that the cap was cracked.Over three months it had clumped up solid.
Yep, that's what happens to most substitutes but not traditional BP. Some subs, Triple 7 in particular, are more energetic than Goex, so you must reduce your powder charge by 15%, so if your normal charge of Goex is 75 grains by volume then you'd use 64 grains of T-7. You still can't use any of the subs by themselves in a flintlock, or at least without difficulty. I have also noticed that the felt recoil and report is different when using subs as opposed to Goex. Especially with T-7, the recoil is more of a kick as opposed to a shove, and the report is a sharp "crack", while Goex gives you a nice "boom". I tried using the pyrodex pellets in my C&B guns years ago during a CAS match; talk about a disaster! In my frustration afterwards I sold all of my percussion revolvers and started over.
As a side note on the use of Pyrodex. At a large BPCR shoot in New Mexico a friend of mine was using Pyrodex. I could always locate him on the line because of the pretty violet-pink smoke his .38-55 was emitting. Sorta hard to act the part of a salty plains hunter with pink smoke curling outa the muzzle of your rifle!! He quit using that product because of the very hard fouling that seemed to be a result. Or so he said... Personally I've had very mixed results with substitutes and good results with real black.