Black Powder - refresh me please...

[Turtle2]

Hello at the fire.
Life happened and I haven't picked up my muzzleloaders for 4-5 years and boy did I miss them. Time to get back to making some smoke but before I do I could use some schooling.
Refresh me please on powder for these smokepoles..
- 54 Caliber Percussion Hawken...Triple F???
- 50 Caliber Flintlock...Triple F in the Barrel and 4F in the pan???
Sure I could go out and search the interwebs but would rather come to the camp here if'n that's okay.
I prefer real powder (last used Triple Seven in the Hawken) and have some 5 year old Goex 4F in the safe - does powder have a shelf life?
No doubt some dumb pilgrim questions but thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and getting me back on the horse facing the right way so to speak.

 

[Adui]

Both rifles should do well with either 3f or 2f. I use 3f in my .50 percussion. As for the primer, my research suggests 4f but I've read on here many will just use the 3f in the pan as well. I don't currently own a flinter so don't know beyond what I've read.

I've also read the substitute powders, (T7, Pyrodex etc) do not work well in a flinter without a booster charge of real under them. Not worth the trouble IMHO, if you have to use real black as a booster just use real black as the main charge.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Every rifle is going to have it's own tastes.
I shoot 3f in my 50 cals, and 2f in my 54 and ups.
I don't shoot a flinter yet, but all I see is 4f for the pan.
Powder has a shelf life, and if you are careful and keep it in the right environment, that is 30 or 50 years....
I saw a pistol that had been loaded for over 50 years get discharged to clear it. It went bang and the ball went downrange....

 

[Rifleman1776]

Wat Audi said. Either 2 or 3Fg will work fine. Was a time when it was a 'no-no' to use 3Fg in anything larger than a .45 cal. But that old saw has gone by the wayside. Many now prefer 3Fg for several reasons. It pours a little easier, is a bit cleaner and, for most of us, allows us to have a stock of only one grade of powder. But, do test and decided which is best for your and yer rifle guns. Welcome back to the insanity.

 

[stubshaft]

Triple 7 is NOT going to light regardless of what you have in the pan. You may have to shoot a duplex of real black followed by T7 then ball. Your gun will dictate which powder works best for you. I like 3F because it burns cleaner but a couple of my rifles shoot more accurately with 2F. I have virtually given up on 4F for priming as the area I shoot in is always windy and blows the powder all over. Gone to 3F for priming and have not seen any delay or hang when shooting.

 

[Grenadier1758]

And 3fg will work in the pan. Real black powder has no shelf life.

Too many instances of civil war dug up cannon balls blowing up when someone tries to remove the powder. Plenty of instances where someone tries to remove the breecbplug from a 200 year old rifle by using a torch to heat the breech and sets off the charge.

Substitute powders have a shelf life. While it depends on relative humidity, most substitute powders loose significant power about 6 months after being opened.

 

[ZUG]

Like has already been said either 3F or 2F for your rifle. One thing I will caution is buy yourself or consult a muzzle loading manual for the correct charge of black powder for your caliber. If it calls for 2F and you use 3F you may have to decrease the amount of 3F when at or near the max listed load because the 3F will generate a bit higher pressure than the same amount of 2F (3F burns faster) :v

 

[Black Hand]

Hello at the fire.
Life happened and I haven't picked up my muzzleloaders for 4-5 years and boy did I miss them. Time to get back to making some smoke but before I do I could use some schooling.
Refresh me please on powder for these smokepoles..
- 54 Caliber Percussion Hawken...Triple F???
- 50 Caliber Flintlock...Triple F in the Barrel and 4F in the pan???
Sure I could go out and search the interwebs but would rather come to the camp here if'n that's okay.
I prefer real powder (last used Triple Seven in the Hawken) and have some 5 year old Goex 4F in the safe - does powder have a shelf life?
No doubt some dumb pilgrim questions but thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and getting me back on the horse facing the right way so to speak.

FFFg in everything - down the barrel and in the pan. Black powder doesn't really have a defined shelf-life, but it's far longer than 5 years. Loads have been found in original muzzleloaders that were still viable.

 

[Zonie]

Like the others said, 2Fg or 3Fg works fine.

You can use synthetic or real black powder in your percussion guns.

Flintlocks need real black powder for the pan and for the main powder charge.

Most 50's shooting roundballs like a 60-70 grain powder load.

The .54 will like a 70-80 grain powder load.

Both of those loads are fine for deer hunting. No reason to use much more powder under a patched roundball.

Have fun. :thumbsup:

 

[Elkeater]

In your 54 trials keep in mind that 90g of 2f is about equivalent to 60g of 3f.

 

[Adui]

In your 54 trials keep in mind that 90g of 2f is about equivalent to 60g of 3f.

I thought the general rule of thumb was to reduce your load by 10%. That makes 90 grain charge of 2f roughly the same as an 80 grain charge of 3f...

Am I wrong? :idunno:

 

[tenngun]

I prime with what’s in the horn, 2 or 3. I do have some fake powder and shoot a 20 grain kicker with a main charge reduce by 20 grains per volume. Pyrodex recommends it in their manual tells you not to do it on the container :idunno:

 

[dsayer]

In your 54 trials keep in mind that 90g of 2f is about equivalent to 60g of 3f.

I thought the general rule of thumb was to reduce your load by 10%. That makes 90 grain charge of 2f roughly the same as an 80 grain charge of 3f...

Am I wrong? :idunno:

:hmm: I don't have a definitive answer, but according to my Lee dipper set for any given volume you can expect 8% greater increase in the weight of 3F vs. 2F.
How that relates to actual performance? No answer. My anecdotal evidence would suggest that 3F is more than 10% hotter than 2F though.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

I don't shoot a flinter yet,

Awe, come on Griz you gotta go flint. Cap locks are terrific, but Flinters are icing on the cake. (IMO)
Flintlocklar :grin:

 

[Gene L]

No, they're not the cake.

 

[Adui]

Fair enough. I've never done a side by side comparison.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Awe, come on Griz you gotta go flint. Cap locks are terrific, but Flinters are icing on the cake. (IMO)
Flintlocklar :grin:

I said "yet". LOL, I'm working on a deal now to pick up a Pedersoli Blue Ridge.

 

[Redstick Lee]

I was much chagrinned twice by 777 at the range with my Dad a while back.....
was explaining these newfangled "safety powders" to him and to prove their safety I told him T7 wouldn't even ignite in a pan......loaded the pan (on an empty rifle), pulled the trigger POOF it went off like it was 4F Goex........thinking it was a fluke I tried it again POOF again......
nice to know if i'm ever in a bind for powder (not likely as I buy bulk)

 

[azmntman]

:shake: you used up some pretty awesome luck at the range. To think if at that very moment you were buying lottery tickets instead :blah:

 

[Jimbo47]

I was much chagrinned twice by 777 at the range with my Dad a while back.....
was explaining these newfangled "safety powders" to him and to prove their safety I told him T7 wouldn't even ignite in a pan......loaded the pan (on an empty rifle), pulled the trigger POOF it went off like it was 4F Goex........thinking it was a fluke I tried it again POOF again......
nice to know if i'm ever in a bind for powder (not likely as I buy bulk)

If you read something on the internet it's got to be true!.....Right?
Lot's of false info gets tossed around these days, and it's hard to figure out whats fact and whats fiction, unless you try it yourself.