Black powder or Pyrodex

[Wisconsin Relic]

Hello All,
I‘ve learned black powder is unavailable here in the Green Bay Area of Wisconsin. Retailers only carry Pyrodex and a few have Triple 7. I have less than 1/2 lb. of Goex powder left and was hoping to buy a can for deer season. I do have a pound of unopened Pyrodex that was given to me, but I’ve never shot the stuff. If I resort to using it, what recommendations does anyone have that I should keep in mind? I’ve heard rumors about accuracy. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[LME]

Hello All,
I‘ve learned black powder is unavailable here in the Green Bay Area of Wisconsin. Retailers only carry Pyrodex and a few have Triple 7. I have less than 1/2 lb. of Goex powder left and was hoping to buy a can for deer season. I do have a pound of unopened Pyrodex that was given to me, but I’ve never shot the stuff. If I resort to using it, what recommendations does anyone have that I should keep in mind? I’ve heard rumors about accuracy. Thanks for any help you can give.

Were the rumors positive or negative? it shoots real good in my M.Z..

 

[Rustycorvair]

Hang fires with flints.......just fine with caps

 

[Wisconsin Relic]

Were the rumors positive or negative? it shoots real good in my M.Z..

The rumors were that I’ll get flyers when shooting it, that it gives inconsistent accuracy. One other thing, it is loaded the same volume as black powder? I’ve been loading 80 grains, by volume, of Goex FFG in my .50 caliber behind a PRB, and have good accuracy. Would I use same load of Pyrodex? Sorry for my ignorance with this.

 

[Medicine Bow]

Have you considered Swiss or Schuetzen black powder? It's available online.

I've used Pyrodex, but cannot give any information on accuracy. Perhaps others can help.

 

[BoomStick]

I've used pyrodex in percussion rifles, results were no different than black powder.
The RS granulation use equivalent volume to 2F.

I will note some folks say pyrodex looses some energy after opening, or after years on the shelf. I've not noticed that, but all that I have used were older 1/2 full bottles gifted to me from people that stopped shooting.

 

[French Colonial]

There are numerous sources of real BP on the internet including Grafs, Powder Inc. etc. etc.

There is no reason to shoot anything else.

 

[Wisconsin Relic]

Have you considered Swiss or Schuetzen black powder? It's available online.

I've used Pyrodex, but cannot give any information on accuracy. Perhaps others can help.

I’d use any black powder I can get. I have found a few online sources, but they all have a $200 minimum order plus $25 hazmat fee plus around $30-$40 shipping fee. I’d have to spend over $250 to get powder for my deer hunt. Not reasonable. If anyone knows where I can buy a couple cans of BP, please let me know.

 

[Thingamajiggy]

I’d use any black powder I can get. I have found a few online sources, but they all have a $200 minimum order plus $25 hazmat fee plus around $30-$40 shipping fee. I’d have to spend over $250 to get powder for my deer hunt. Not reasonable. If anyone knows where I can buy a couple cans of BP, please let me know.

Graf and sons have Swiss and schuetzen plus some of their own label for sale, does not appear to have a minimum to buy and around 35 flat fee for shipping and Haz mat. An example is 2lb of 2F schuetzen is $88 plus tax. That does include shipping and hazmat.

 

[BoomStick]

There's definitely economy if buying online in larger quantities. For the occasional shooter that just needs a pound, and only pyrodex available in a local shop, I would not hesitate to buy it for a percussion gun.

To be fair, I prefer real black powder, but i'll burn whatever works that I have on hand.

 

[French Colonial]

BP does not go bad, buy a case (25 lbs) of it, spread out the cost, and do not worry about shortages.

 

[Freedom]

I’d use any black powder I can get. I have found a few online sources, but they all have a $200 minimum order plus $25 hazmat fee plus around $30-$40 shipping fee. I’d have to spend over $250 to get powder for my deer hunt. Not reasonable. If anyone knows where I can buy a couple cans of BP, please let me know.

If you can afford to put gas in your truck and food in your cooler, you Can afford to put real powder in your gun.(!) There's no excuse to shoot anything but the real thing. Buy once-cry once.
If you only use your muzzleloader during hunting season you'll never have to buy powder again for as long as you live. If you enjoy shooting muzzleloaders you'll use 15-25lbs a year.

 

[Thingamajiggy]

I'm currently using up a can of 777 that was given to me in a Lyman percussion .54, have plenty of black but figured it's only gun I have that'll shoot it. Have seen no issues with the powder or accuracy. In fact the only issues I'm having is with CCI caps not going off. Seems to be an issue with current stuff, about a 20% failure rate for me in tin I'm working thru. Have a half can of remington caps that I'll save for hunting.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Sadly, @Wisconsin Relic only needs powder for the hunting season and the expense of ordering real black powder online is really quite unreasonable for small quantities. He can get by with Pyrodex or 777. These perform better with the use of a hotter percussion cap and nipples designed to deliver more flame to the powder charge. The substitute powders are designed to replace real black powder on a volume basis. So, use the volume measure to dole out the powder charge. The magnum caps (CCI #11 Magnum or RWS 1075) may be hard to find, but they will produce more flame through the flash channel. Hot Shot, Red Hot or Spitfire nipples should be available. I hope that he seeks out other shooters and can share an order to obtain some real black powder.

 

[oldramrod]

Pyrodex does not store well once opened. Black powder will keep in definitely as long as it is kept dry. But if Pyrodex is all you can get locally and don;t want to pay the haz mat fees for small quanities user it.

 

[LME]

The rumors were that I’ll get flyers when shooting it, that it gives inconsistent accuracy. One other thing, it is loaded the same volume as black powder? I’ve been loading 80 grains, by volume, of Goex FFG in my .50 caliber behind a PRB, and have good accuracy. Would I use same load of Pyrodex? Sorry for my ignorance with this.

In my case I could use the same recommended load but if I were you I would start with 90 grains. this load may be to strong for a .50 cal shooting a ball and it is highly likely you won't like the groups. Just keep going down five grains at a time until it is accurate. My favorite M.Z. is a .54 cal. and it doesn't like 90 grains behind a ball but 80 grains shoots extremely well. Also if you are not sure of yourself have someone that you know for a fact shoots well shoot the M.Z. for you. It could save you a lot of frustration.

 

[LME]

Sadly, @Wisconsin Relic only needs powder for the hunting season and the expense or ordering real black powder online is really quite unreasonable for small quantities. He can get by with Pyrodex or 777. These perform better with the use of a hotter percussion cap and nipples designed to deliver more flame to the powder charge. The substitute powders are designed to replace real black powder on a volume basis. So, use the volume measure to dole out the powder charge. The magnum caps (CCI #11 Magnum or RWS 1075) may be hard to find, but they will produce more flame through the flash channel. Hot Shot, Red Hot or Spitfire nipples should be available. I hope that he seeks out other shooters and can share an order to obtain some real black powder.

I use regular #11 caps and they work fine but I do have a "Spit Fire Nipple" and could be why?

 

[nchawkeye]

If you are shooting a percussion, Pyrodex will work just fine.

 

[Sam squanch]

If you use the pyrodex, be sure to clean as soon as possible. To be safe, clean your gun twice, and check the gun every day to check for rust for a week or two. The worst muzzle loaders I have seen were modern reproductions that the owner shot pyrodex. I’ve worked on old originals that had bores that were not bad after 100 years of use, modern guns shot with pyrodex and not cleaned well were pitted sewer pipes…..

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Always use Pyrodex. Much cleaner than Black Powder. Cheaper and easier to clean also. And you will have better performance especially in Flintlocks.