Alliant Black

[Coalforge]

I have several pounds of Alliant MZ Powder but can find very little info on it. The Alliant site says it is discontinued. There is no mention of ffg or fffg. The factory site says: "Our experience through testing and hunting has been that best results are attained in the 50 caliber muzzleloader using 90 grains volumetric of Black MZ with sabot bullet weights of 240 grains to 260 grains."

Can anyone suggest a starting point for using with a patched round ball?

 

[Herb]

This was a wonderful powder. Treat it like Goex 2F. 80 grains is a good load with a roundball. I've used some of this powder and like it.

 

[Herb]

Here it is in a 24" barreled .58 rifle I built. This is a flintlock, load with Alliant Black MZ was a measure that held 100 grains by weight of Goex 2F, filled a little low and added about 10 grains of Goex 2F on top of the charge. Dumped that down the bore and primed the pan with Goex 2F. This was not 90 grains by weight of ABMZ, but that much bulk in the 100 grain Goex 2F measure.

 

[brewer12345]

Good shooting stuff. Treat it like 2F, although velocity will likely be low compared to real black. Much less messy, good accuracy potential. Every rifle likes a different charge, just like real black. The last two deer I killed with a .530 round ball over a wad and 110 grains of Black MZ in my TC Grey Hawk.

 

[Coalforge]

Thanks. I will get to the range and start working up a load.

 

[firestick]

Tried it because the real stuff isn't available around here. Turns out I like it a lot. I have 8# of the stuff. 80 grains in both my rifles. .58 Buffalo hunter and a .50 CVA Mountain Rifle both with a PRB. Particularly accurate in the CVA.

 

[Frontier's]

While it does shoot very well at 50 yards and sometimes 100 yards, I wouldnt pay more than their $10 price when it was available. Very coarse powder, 200 FPS slower than Pyrodex RS. Shoot it over a chronograph and you'll find a spread of 100 FPS between shots. One negative is just after a few shots, the breech will build up with some pretty heavy fouling that slowly closes up the powder channel. Everything has its set backs of course, but for $10 a lb, dang right I was shooting a ton of it until my supplier ran out.

 

[Okie Hog]

Began using Black MZ powder when it hit the market. Some folks don't like the stuff but i do. Many of those who don't like Black MZ never learned how to use the stuff. Black MZ likes a tight fitting ball seated very hard on the powder. You probably can't get there with a wooden ramrod. IME: Black MZ don't work well with conicals.

In my chronograph tests Black MZ is nearly the equal of Pyrodex RS. When properly loaded i've had standard deviations in the teens.

Make sure the bore is squeaky clean of all lubricants, etc. before loading the first shot: i swab the bore with Powder Blast. Depending on the humidity, there may be an accumulation of fouling near the muzzle that makes loading very difficult. i don't swab between shots. If the accumulation of fouling makes loading difficult swab the first four to six inches of the bore. Some patch lubes work better than others on humid days.

1. Keep the flame channel clean. When cleaning the rifle i use a bristled pipe cleaner and make no attempt to clean the patent breech.

2. Load the powder with the rifle leaning lock side down and give the stock a couple whacks with the hand to allow powder to enter the flame channel.

Couple weeks ago i fired more than 30 rounds from my .58 caliber TC New Englander. No hang fires, no misfires; just smooth shooting.