FFg vs. FFFg for Hunting

[Chris Cade]

are there any advantages to using FFg for hunting compared to using FFFg?? there is a shortage of retailers in my are selling black powder. how does triple 7 compare to black powder??

 

[jmckenney]

Using 2Fg vs 3Fg is really going to depend on your firearm caliber and what works best in it. As a rule of thumb: over 45 cal use 2Fg, 45 cal and smaller use 3Fg but your results in your gun may be different. Just experment to see which combination of powder, patch, ball and lube work best. Either powder will drive a ball fast enough to pass thru a deer but the object is to place the ball where it will kill the animal right now.

 

[Dalekg6]

Hi,

It all depends on your caliber, projectile, gun type and individual gun.

3F is generally for below 50 cal but I've heard of it being used in bigger bores, you will probably use less to get the same velocity, you will also have higher pressures.

As for 777, forget it in a flintlock, it's too hard to light. It will work in a caplock with higher velocity for a given charge. As for accuracy, it all depends, you will just have to try it.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Im using fffg goex in my flintlock and FFFg triple 7 in my .45 percussion. If you're using patched roundball, triple 7 will destroy the patches. Pyrodex RS or P does an excellent job with patches.

 

[catman]

In my .50 FFg. just shoots better than FFFg. all sticks are different. My .54 likes FFFg. go figure.

 

[RC]

I use 2ff goex in my 50 and 62 for huntin,use 3fff at shoots,but had a problem with powder caking or gettin damp, causing a long hangfire..always shot but took awhile,, course i'm in n.y (diff weather?). and leave the gun loaded fer a week at a time..depending on weather..just upped the load 10 grs. .. shoots fine..3 bucks and a coyote say so.. :grin: RC

 

[chuck-ia]

I would think vent size might dictate which powder to use? 1/16" for 3f and 5/64" for 2f.I have a .62 smoothbore that had a 1/16" vent and used 3f in it, worked fine,tried 2f and seemed a bit slower. I drilled the vent out to 5/64" yesterday and will see how it works with 2f. I know I should not try to fix something that is not broke, but have 8 pounds of 2f and am down to 3 pounds of 3f. flinch

 

[Twisted_1in66]

are there any advantages to using FFg for hunting compared to using FFFg?? there is a shortage of retailers in my are selling black powder. how does triple 7 compare to black powder??

Hi Mechslasher,

2f doesn't develop the pressure as quickly as 3f and is usually used in 50 cal. or larger rifles. Personally I use 3f in my 50 cal. You can usually use about a 10% lower load with 3f and still get the same results because it develops the pressure more quickly. 3f also works great for priming the pan on a flintlock, so you don't have to carry two horns and buy two different cans of powder. I'm a big fan of the KISS factor, so I just use 3f for everything.

DO NOT use 777 or Pyrodex in a flintlock.

It will not reliably ignite because it's ignition point is about 300° higher than regular black powder. That is, BP ignites at around 350° and 777 (and Pyrodex) ignite around 650°. That's why all the caplock companies started coming out with "musket" caps and .209 primers. They are a lot hotter than the normal size 11 caps and would light the subs more reliably.

I tried both Pyrodex and 777 when I got my first flintlock because I had them on-hand and couldn't find any black powder locally. I never could get the Pyrodex to light but did get the 777 to light "once in a while". "Once in a while" is not good enough, particularly if you are hunting with your flintlock.

Pyrodex does not clean more easily than BP, but 777 does. The subs also degrade over time and exposure to air while BP does not. So, BP offers more consistant performance too.

Price-wise, BP is cheapest if you can find it locally, then comes Pyrodex, and finally 777 is the most expensive of all. If you buy BP 25 cans at a time via mail order, price drops down to around $11-$12 a pound.

Hope this helps,
Twisted_1in66 :hatsoff:

 

[tg]

I use 3f in all guns up to .62 and use a 5/64 vent everything has worked well for many years.I do,not shoot heavy loads usually 70-90 gr 3f in the 50+ cals.

 

[mikee51848]

I'm a fff guy, use it in my .50 for hunting and my .75 Bess for re-enacting (burns cleaner). As others have said, you can also use it as a priming powder. Lot of differing opinions on this, whatever works for you.

 

[marwat06]

I shot both in my 50 cal and didn’t notice much of a difference when it came to accuracy. Bottom line is that I had to work up a load for each powder type that produced the best level of accuracy. This goes for shooting 2F, 3F, or Pyrodex.

 

[fw707]

I shoot 3f in all my guns---.32, .40, 50, 54, and 20 gauge smoothbore. I adjust the loads to suit the gun.
They all shoot good groups, and I only have 1 kind of powder in all my horns.

 

[roundball]

are there any advantages to using FFg for hunting compared to using FFFg?? there is a shortage of retailers in my are selling black powder. how does triple 7 compare to black powder??

As a general rule, 3F burns faster and cleaner than 2F granulation.

There are many guidelines that have been handed down over the years trying powder granulation to caliber size but that's really not a necessity or hard and fast rule...just one approach from the old days.

I use Goex 3F in all calibers from .40 to .62...and to hensure pressures are kept in the same ballpark as 2F, I follow the rule of thumb of reducing publicized 2F load data 15% when substituting 3F in it's place...ie: my .54cal Flintlock RB hunting load is 90grns Goex 3F instead of 120grns 2F.