777 and prb

[coalburner]

i have a 54 tc hawken and am looking for powder for prb and maxi-hunters ,leaning towards pyrodex or 777 ,anyone have success with 777 and roundballs and will #11 caps ignite it properly :thanks:

 

[hammerman]

Although I am still a newb here, I cut my teeth on 777 and have used both the maxi-hunters and PRB's and like the results. I can get less-than 2" groups at 50 yrds with the triple 7 and round balls. Its really easy to clean up as well- hot water with dish soap and then a shot of alcohol then dry with a couple dry patches then one wet patch with your favorite flavor of lube.

 

[Regulis7]

My results with T7 and roundball has been pretty good for the most part.

CVA Bobcat printed great at 50-75 yards using T7, load it with Goex or Pyrodex and it looked like buckshot patterns.

CVA Hawken 75 yard PRB groups with T7 and Goex were identical.

TC Hawken did not like the T7 with PRB, in fact Goex was also a bust because this rifle cuts its best groups with Pyrodex P.

TC New Englander .50 is a work in progress because I ran out of T7 right after I got this one.

My oldest son uses a Knight inline, #11 cap, T7 and PRB with very good 50-75 yard resuls. He has taken a deer each year for the past two with this rifle using the T7 and PRB.

Only complain about T7...Cost!

Regulis7

 

[Runner]

777 is harder to ignite than real black. The fouling draws moisture like a sponge. It is fine for a first shot from a clean gun with no oil in it from storage. It is not the best choice for attempting to hunt from a fouled gun in any kind of damp weather. Accuracy wise, it is ok in all the roundball guns I tested it in. My little 36 really likes it. None of them are better with it than they are with an appropriate for that gun load of Goex. If you do use it, use a good anti-sieze compound on the clean out screw and nipple. Do not push the loads with it. I have a hawken that I did testing with that the recoil under a 385 GP bullet spread the stock open allowing the end of the wedge to pull out and the barrel to raise up slightly. It cracked the stock almost full length of the ramrod channel. That was with a fairly crazy load, but one that some folks use with a 50 on a regular basis. 70 grains of 3f seemed to be just about the universal favorite in my guns using it.

 

[Old Charlie]

I have two cap locks and use 777 in both. It works very well in both. I bought ten pounds a while back and still have a good bit left,as I have been shooting flinters and 777 will not shoot in a flinter.However since I can buy Goex for half the price of 777 and it works in all my guns. When the 777 is gone I will buy no more.
Old Charlie

 

[bigsmoke]

I have not really tried it in any seriousness, but have a couple of customers who have and reported back their results. It sound pretty impressive. Now, these are big bore guns, so your results may vary.
One customer with a 12 bore rifle (.72 caliber) reported using a 555 grain round ball over 220 grains Ffg 777 gave him 2,026 fps with good accuracy. He did not define good accuracy, but seemed pleased.
Second customer was shooting a 14 bore rifle (.69 cal) and equaled his 200 grain Ffg GOEX load with 140 grains 777. He was using an adapter and 209 shotshell primer, no problem with ignition. He said there was a problem with patches, even using a cushion wad between powder and PRB.
So, it seems that with guns of meaningful caliber, 777 really heats up the load, or one can shoot lighter loads and get the same results and stretch the powder out quite a bit, therefore softening the price impact.

Big Smoke

 

[walruskid1]

i have had good results with 777 and a prb. it does tend to shred patches but accuracy has been excellent. cleans up easy too. i still dry patch between shots just because. i really can't see any advantage with bp other than cost. if i'm missing some significant point, i'm sure somebody will let me know. :imo:

 

[Runner]

I was impressed with the powder. After accuracy, ignition, and load tests, I took the 36 to the lake farm squirrel hunting. The first few shots were fine. In that damp environ, the fouling turned into a wet slimey sludge that would actually run if left on long enough. Ignition became harder and harder with misfires happening frequently towards the end of the day. One of the members a HA took steel plate and burned some of each powder on a clean plate so we could see the corrosion caused by each. Pyrodex is the worst with 777 coming in right behind it. The fouling will actually draw enough moisture out of the air to form visable drops. If hunting with it, shoot from a clean barrel. Patch between shots. If it is wet and going to be loaded for any length of time after being fired, remove the clean out screw and use a qtip to remove the fouling.

This is not a guess. If care is not used in wet conditions while hunting with a sidelock gun that has been fouled by 777, it is going to cost people opportunities at game. I have been hunting with these guns for a long time and have had my share of incidents with Pyrodex because of the same reason. 777 is almost as bad, and by almost, I mean real close. Now, we average being very humid here. It may not be a big problem in places with low humidity. Here, it built up hard fouling inside the reciever of the inline I was using for testing. This fouling was hard enough to resist being removed with a fingernail. A rain shower happened and I waited it out under cover. It was pretty steamy when I went back to the line. The fouling that had resisted removal before the rain was now flowing around as a greasy sludge inside the reciever. It was not hit with a single drop. All the moisture was sucked up out of the air.

I will get off my soapbox now. Good luck to all that use it. I have some here that I will most likely never use again because of the problem.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

In .50cal T7 will shread patches in my opinion. I shot over 100 rounds in my Old CVA since I rebult it and love how it shoots. 80g of T7 will shread my patches whether they are factory T/C ones or Moosemilk. It does make a real good shooting conical powder though. OOPS!! ( the rb's shot well even though the patches were smoked) 50g loads of T7 and a prb are real fun. Looks like you could reuse the patches. Kids love it doesn't hurt them so they shoot better.

 

[Slamfire]

My .36 Hopkins & Allen doesn't group well using 777. It clogs up, using Graf's fffg black powder, but groups ok. I've got to try some Pyrodox and keep my fingers crossed. eace:

 

[stevelyn]

I've been using 777 in my .54 GPR caplock for a couple of years now. I have noticed the fouling gets damp, but never thought much of it since everything else out here is damp or soaked.
I too shredded patches when I got the loads too hot. I've since found my accuracy load of 80 gr and my groups open significantly with a 5 gr increase.
I'm in the process of fine tuning now and experimenting with wonder wads over the powder. I also have to use pillow ticking patches. The 777 is too hot for any of the others.
I have been using #11 magnum caps to light the charge and haven't had a misfire yet.
I'm still trying to figure this thing out and the information I find here has been valueable.

 

[Herb]

Chris Hodgdon sent me some 2F and 3F Triple 7 to test about two years ago, and I have. Found that I needed a HotShot nipple for good ignition. In a .40 caliber, I still get hangfires with the HotShot nipple. Have tried CCI 11 Magnum primers with no improved results (velocity and accuracy). And as some are reporting here, it shreds patches. Hodgdon used .020 OxYoke in their PRB loads. I use thick patches, but have also used an over-powder lubed patch before the patched ball. An Ox-Yoke Wonder Patch (or whatever it is called) should work good.

And Triple 7 will work in a flintlock. See my post of July 29 on this forum. Hodgdon says dump 5 grains of priming powder down the barrel before the main (777) charge. Too complicated for me. So is "layering" with a larger charge of black powder (maybe 10 grains) poured down the barrel before the main Triple 7 charge. I just fill my powder measure up, then tap to settle it about 10 grains and fill that up with Goex 2F and dump it down the barrel. Works normally. If I were going to use it in a flintlock (other than in testing), I'd make a small priming horn to supply that 10 grains and then prime the pan with it, whether it was 2F or 3F black. It really would not be much extra work.

 

For those of you new to the MLF or just haven't learned to navigate the archives:

Click Here to see the post Herb is referring to.

Just :m2c:

BTW, Thanks Herb!

 

[Herb]

Thank YOU, Claypipe. That is very helpful.

 

[Snuffy]

Higher powder charges using 777 & roundball never worked for me until a poster on another site turned me on to this very mild, lanolin-rich solution. Best stuff since sliced bread was invented.eace: eace:

(CLICK HERE) for D&L Hand Cleaner