Chinese BP ok to shoot?

[CrimsonTide]

In my local scroungings, I have located a Civil War Re-enactor who has a few cans of FFFg BP lying around. A couple cans of Goex, which I am familiar with, a can of Elephant, which I believe is Chinese, and one more can of powder with I name I didn't recognize.

Is the Chinese Mfg. BP safe to shoot, or should I keep scrounging?

 

[trent/OH]

Get all of the powder, AND keep scrounging.
If the can of unrecognizable stuff is REALLY oddball, the can itself might be worth considerably more than a can of powder. A few years ago I bought some Meteor powder which I'd never heard of (it's British), and a month later saw an empty can sell on e-bay for $25! (And yes, I'd listen to offers.)

 

[CrimsonTide]

never gave any thought to the cans eventually being worth something. I would have never thought that a Prince Albert tobacco can would be worth anything either, though.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Elephant powder was made in Brazil. It can shoot quite well. Some lots were very dirty with lots of fouling. I use Elephant powder for my blank loads since there will be a lot of fouling anyway. You can certainly feel safe using the Elephant Powder.

What is the brand of the other powder? You have GOEX and Elelphant.

 

[CrimsonTide]

It was a name I haven't heard of, and I am playing phone tag trying to catch up with the guy right now.

I had for some reason got it into my head that Elephant was made in China. Been a long time since I looked at a can.

Anyway, I guess I will cabbage on whatever the guy has that he can spare.

Will report back when I have it in my hands.
CT

 

[Zonie]

Be careful.
According to BATFE only a licensed Dealer can "sell" black powder.
Of course the guy could just "give" it to you and maybe you owed him some money that you were "just paying back" at the same time, or maybe you just wanted to have him "hold" some money for you for a while. :grin:

IMO, any real Black Powder is safe to shoot in a modern muzzleloader. Some is just weaker or dirtier than others.
The important thing to look for is the granulation size.
IMO, a 2Fg or 3Fg powder is fine. Cartridge powder will work. 4F is for priming flintlocks only and the finer powders are not alright to use in any muzzleloader for any purpose.

 

[renovato]

I don't know about chinese powder in general but I have shot some Elephant brand powder. The stuff was horrid. Pressures were inconsistent and that made groups open up. It was very sooty and fouled badly. The fouling was hard to clean.

 

[CrimsonTide]

thanks for the headsup, I don't feel like running afoul of the federal Alphabet agencies. I am thinking that Goex or swiss bp is the Mo' betta way to run.

 

[tg]

If you have some Elephant that is "dirty" try dumping half a can into an empty Quakers Oats container, then cut a bunch of 2" squares of cotton material,(old white socks work well as the stuff you are trying to get rid of shows up better on white material) put them into the container with the powder and shake, rattle, and roll, this will help clean excess graphite and dust and might help reduce the fouling noticably.

 

[arquebus]

Yes, Elephant-brand BP is from Brazil. There is some Chinese-made BP out there, I think Skirmish-brand sold by PowderInc is Chinese.

 

[bucktales]

...And don't ever,never shoot any powder that you are not sure of or can't identify or not in it's original container.
You can never be too safe.

 

[CrimsonTide]

If I'm not mistaken, the fella said he got one pound at a re-enactment. Maybe that was the Chinese he was talking about.

 

[ronrryan]

Many years ago five of us went in on a case of Elephant 3F, probably 10 yrs ago, here in SW FL. The consensus was (1) POI was slightly lower at 25 yds than Goex 3F--maybe 2 inches (2) It was quite consistent, speaking empirically, not lab tests, as far as ignition went (3) It was certainly dirtier and harder to clean, but not terrible, if it was all that was available you could shoot plenty. I believe later production had a horrible reputation. Good smoke, Ron in FL

 

[bebloomster]

If it's not US made GOEX then I really don't have much use for it. Tried a few of the others but always came back to GOEX. I don't fire blanks so consistency is important to me.

 

[CrimsonTide]

I am thinking I will just wait to get my hands on Goex. That way when I get zeroed, I shouldn't have to move my sights around much with the next pound of powder.

 

[Grenadier1758]

You can find lot to lot differences with any brand of powder, even GOEX. I guess that is one of the reasons I have gone to mostly shooitng smoothbores is that I don't worry so much about precion accuracy. I concern myself with reliable ignition.

 

[MikeChapin]

Lidu was a chineese brand that was around for a while. It came in a yellow can. Some people around here really liked it.

 

[Emet Huntsman]

check it for lead content. If there is none, then it's probably Chinese -- cheaper for them to just let us add our own :rotf: