Living in the peoples republik of Maryland makes buying black powder difficult and the laws are very restrictive on the amount you can store - they even count the weight of unmentionable primers against what you can store. I've been thinking of diving into the world of matchlocks and wonder if pyrodex or other BP substitutes will work? I've been a flint and percussion shooter for over 45 years and now rarely use my flintlocks as I've nearly used all my holy black. Thanks for your help.
Anyone try pyrodex in a matchlock?
- Thread starter cebusey
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If you have real BP, you can work up a duplex load. 10 gr. BP and the rest with a substitute powder.
Thanks - I am familiar with duplex - use that technique in my flintlocks and use that to stretch the BP. I was wondering how straight substitutes would work in the pan of a matchlock and would it reliably ignite a main charge consisting of pure pyrodex for example. Thanks for your help.
I have never shot a matchlock, so I can't give an educated answer. I have seen a video of a sub powder being used as a main charge in a flintlock, You have to use real BP in the pan, and you may get hang fires or a flash in the pan, but you may be able to use only subs in the barrel as a last resort. I have never tried it. I'm so sorry you live in a communist state.
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The ignition method of powder-in-the-pan should be identical for Matchlock and Flintlock; therefore if your main powder charge of duplex works with flintlock it should also work with match ignition (all else being the same). One important thing is the amount of the holy Black powder charge in the barrel - it must be adequate so as to burn long enough, getting the pyrodex well-fired. Also, the size of the touchole that admits the flash into the main charge should be sufficiently large to provide consistent firing as well.
I don't know what else is there to add here other than maybe performing a crude approximation by firing a duplex round from your own flinter. You can use a piece of match or perhaps some fuse to set off the priming pan. if your duplex barrel load shoots well, you'll know it works with a matchlock!
I should add that a straight Pyrodex load (NOT real black) sometimes produces hang-fires for me. YMMV
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Never tried setting off Pyrodex with a match, but would just copy your duplex load, results should be the same. Heck, I use duplex loads in BP cartridge rifles ... less swabbing.
I shoot a matchlock all the time but have never tried Pyrodex. Let me see if I can scare some up; somebody around here must have a couple of tablespoons I can have…
Jay
Jay
Actually the ignition of a flintlock and a matchlock are a LOT different. In the flintlock you are striking sparks into powder. Straight Pyrodex and other substitutes don't work for beans in a flintlock because the substitutes have an ignition point that is ~450° hotter than black powder requires and it's hard to get a spark anywhere near that. I remember back in about 2004, I couldn't find any black powder and bought some triple 7. I could get the triple 7 to go off once in a while, but the Pyrodex I'd been using in my caplock absolutely refused to light in the pan.
A matchlock though puts a burning ember from a constantly smoldering slow match directly into the powder, it doesn't just shower sparks at it. My guess would be that it "might" work. Another guess would be that it would have to sit in the pan for a fraction of a second to get it to light off. Only real way to find out is to have someone try it out.
As others have mentioned a duplex load where the BP ignites first and then ignites the subs have been proven to work in flint locks, so it should work fine in matchlocks too.
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Thanks folks - as always I appreciate your help and input. My hope is that the ember would adequately touch off a BP sub and avoid having to use my very limited BP in duplex loads as in Maryland it is difficult to replace and the draconian storage laws which count wt of all powders, primers, caps etc against the 5lb limit. A special thanks to Jay who offered to test.
One of the guys here at work just told me that they used Pyrodex for a gig in the late 90s, and said it does work, but they found that they needed a much larger priming charge than usual. I’m still looking for some…
Jay
Jay
Thanks Jay for your help!
I do have pyrodex and though I do not have a matchlock yet I can test a pan equivalent size priming charge in an early 18th century british 3 pound cannon I have that has a smallish priming cup and touch it off with the match I have for it. I will not put a main charge in the tube but it should give me an idea of how it reacts to an ember - I should have thought of this in the first place instead of bothering you all - again thanks for your help
I do have pyrodex and though I do not have a matchlock yet I can test a pan equivalent size priming charge in an early 18th century british 3 pound cannon I have that has a smallish priming cup and touch it off with the match I have for it. I will not put a main charge in the tube but it should give me an idea of how it reacts to an ember - I should have thought of this in the first place instead of bothering you all - again thanks for your help
leadhoarder
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I would just buy and use the powder I need and would stop kissing the rings of the communist kings.
Too late for regrets! I’m picking up half a can of Pyrodex R/S tomorrow afternoon so we should have a definitive answer soon!
FOR SCIENCE!
Jay
Again Thanks! I look forward to your reportToo late for regrets! I’m picking up half a can of Pyrodex R/S tomorrow afternoon so we should have a definitive answer soon!
FOR SCIENCE!
Jay
No disagreement about it needing extra cleaning attention. I treat it the same way unmentionables had to be cleaned when primers were corrosive. After normal clean up I would do the final cleaning using old GI bore cleaner from ww2/Korea and did not have a rust problem.
I have the nasty stuff, and know it’s evil ways. But I can’t say I’m more diligent cleaning then I am with black. Or maybe I’m just paranoid and my cleaning with black is the sam as with p.
thanks for the reply on PYRODEX. toot.
