Many of us have enther shot pyrodex, or seen it tried in flintlocks. I don't have to jump off a cliff to know I am going to get hurt doing it, Thank you.
Pyrodex, and all the other subs burn at a much higher temperature, and that is why they qualify for the exception to the hazmat fees. Black Powder is needed in all flintlocks, match locks, and wheellock firearms. Only percussion guns will shoot pyrodex and the other substitute powder with any kind of efficiency, and you will need magnum primers to get the best ignition even in the percussion guns.
I watched a friend play around with a pound of the original shipment of pyrodex 30 years ago. I have seen other shooters play with more recent production runs. And, I have seen people fiddle around with Triple 7, and a couple of other substitute powders over the past few years. None-- I mean NONE --- of them give the consistent performance that you can achieve from black powder. You can buy GOEX, Wano, and Swiss Powders all in Black Powder. Wano and " Schuetzen " are the same powder we are told. Swiss is graded differently than American made powders. But with any of them, you are going to get better performance in any flintlock, and probably get better performance still in Percussion guns.
We have had reports of people using primer loads of black powder to ignite a duplex load of BP and a substitute. None of them chronograph as consistent as shooting plain Black Powder. The starter charge of black powder will ignite the subs in a flintlock, so it is an answer to the problem of how to use up some sub powder you have purchased. You will also find that BP is much cheaper than the subs- almost half the cost. You do want to buy BP in volume, because there is the $20.00 hazmat fee that is charged whether you order 1 lb, or 25 lbs. That is why the suggestion that you place an order for BP wih some friends to buy a case has already been made. You can also contact Goex by referring to the links page under member services on the index page, and find out who the distributor of powder is for that company in your state. Usually you will find an " 800 " phone number you can call so you can find out the nearest dealer to you if you want to just buy a pound or two of powder at one time.
The joy of shooting flints is that they DO require you to use Black Powder. Considering you get the best accuracy and performance from black powder, that is not asking too much.
