Goex 4F out of Stock

[BradBrownBess]

Use anything. I usually use 3F for everything - ran out and had 1 lb. 4F only. Was shooting 110Grs 4F out of my 20ga Fowler - great accuracy at 50 yards, no problems at all. I honestly could not tell one bit of difference between 2F, 3F, and 4F in pan or muzzle. I figure if you want a finer grain - do as above - take a wooden or ceramic small bowl and a wooden dowel - grind it down finer.

 

[4575wcf]

Sounds like 4f would be good choice for my .32 flintlock poorboy in the main charge under the patched #1 buckshot, though I admit to not having tried it.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

So we can take from that Dave that idiots got involved and thus 4f got branded bad when in reality there is no documented scientific conclusive evidence that it is a dangerous choice.

LOL

Dude there wasn't any CSI back then....,

"Well, Roy blew himself up..., can't ask Roy..., hey there's a can of 4Fg and a powder measure..., and what's left of Roy's gun. Must've been using 4Fg as the main charge."

I was just giving you the basis, as they didn't just make it up. They simply came to the wrong cause and effect conclusion.

Every hear how a brass or copper kettle needs to be tinned or it will make a person eating food cooked in one, sick? Over here the coppersmiths can't get folks to buy their wares unless the copper gets tinned. Nobody thinks, "Gee Apple butter is made in untinned copper kettles, and so is beer." What has been lost over time is it's not the copper and acidic food mix... it's the verdigris that forms after leaving acid foods in copper for a long time that causes the puking.

LD

 

[necchi]

Doc Ivory try to ignore the jerks on the forum. There are lots of good people with tons of knowledge. This guy doesn’t represent everyone else.

All that has to happen is "reading" of the forum,, just a little bit. The Op's crisis and 3 pages of comments could have been avoided with just a tiny amount of research and an actual quest for learning.
I apologize to the OP and all involved for the offensive aspect of my post.
Doc Ivory; Don't panic,, there's never been a need for 4f in a flint lock,, there's no need to modify and or "grind" other powders to make your flintlock work.
It's about frizzen hardness and rock sharpness and proper care of the ignition area.
I have personally witnessed a single spark set off a charge with no primer in the pan,, it's about heat transfer,, not a "flash".
I wish you luck with your learning curve, may it be short and successful.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

My experience tells me that 3F will work as a pan (priming) powder. I got to the range, had forgotten my 4F priming horn, and shot away with 3F to prime. It worked well.

I still believe that 4F is better, and Null B (Swiss priming Powder) is TWICE AS GOODER. But that is more about BELIEF than anything else. But as someone once told me about benchrest shooting "if you THINK IT HELPS, IT HELPS!.

The bottom line is, the faster the flash turns to FIRE, the less you have wobbled off the target. If a powder produces a FASTER flash, then it MAY let your wobble hurt you less. We all wobble.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[SDSmlf]

Sounds like 4f would be good choice for my .32 flintlock poorboy in the main charge under the patched #1 buckshot, though I admit to not having tried it.

1-1/2 buckshot will work better in a 32. Use 12-15 grains of 3F or 4F in mine. 400-500 shots to a pound of powder. 4F burns cleaner.

 

[4575wcf]

I had my rifle completed and firing once very early in my career. I was not overly happy with my work so I eventually tore it down, tuned the lock, rebreeched it, and began inletting it into a curly maple blank. The metal parts were unhurt, so the other day I dug the project out of mothballs, brushed and cleaned the barrel inside. The stock work is okay only, I can do better now so I will resort to a bit of Acraglas here and there and straighten out a few defects. First up is a new breechplug, the 7/8 long tang plug I fitted got way to thin when reduce to 13/16 and broke through the tang screw. I will get a replacement 9/16-18 plug out of 7/8 keystock and do it up right this time.

 

[Dryball]

Looks like its gonna be tough finding GOEX 4F for my Kibler.
Can I use 3F as a primer?

Where I live, what I prime with depends on humidity. On a really dry day I'll use 4f but the finer the granulation the faster it absorbs moisture. I even have 7f ( think black talcum powder ) that almost instantly turns to tar most days. I use 3f most days and it works fine.

 

[toot]

My 1st flintlock, thanks for the support..

don't you will find them every were!

 

[brushblind]

Yeah, for some bizarre unknown reason everyone is under the misguided belief that 4f only exists for pan powder use.
It is not a pan powder, it is in its own right a main charge powder just as is other grades.
It tickles me when folk sound surprised that other grades work just fine in their pans. All because that's why 4f exists right? Pan powder.
Wrong!

I've never heard of any manufactuer or anyone else for that matter recommending 4f as the main charge. Not a safe practice!

 

[Darkhorse]

For some bizarre unknown reason the Manufacturers themselves are under the misguided belief that 4f only exists as a primer. And they identify it as suitable for a pan primer. Nowhere, under any caliber, is there a load of any weight given for 4fg.
https://goexpowder.com/goex-fffg-2/
https://schuetzenpowder.com/swiss-black-powder/Shoot!!! Those sneaky Swiss even say 4f is for flintlock priming only.

Just who are those sneaky powder grinders think they are fooling?

 

[Boston Bill]

My 1st flintlock, thanks for the support..

Hover your cursor over his name and click on the 'Ignore' choice. That is what I do to people like that.

 

[Erwan]

The Swiss BP isn't a powder only for primer, this powder is just the finest granulation of the Swiss hunting and shooting powder for pistols and small calibers...
I use the N°1 and the PNF4P for priming like everybody, but a good flintlock'll work with 3Fg too.
The only real special powder for priming is the 0B (Suisse)...
The rest is literature...
Sorry but the french manufacturer gives the loads in Gram ...

 

[DeadeyeChristasdad]

At the spring shoot in Friendship I tried using 4f, as I usually would. It was so hot and muggy that my little plunger primer dispenser was gumming up. Allowing it to lay against my sweat soaked shirt made it completely unusable.
Finally, I gave up and started using my 3f. Schuetzen, if I remember right. Worked fine. I learned a lot that day. My worst score ever, but I didn't really care.

 

[Erwan]

It was so hot and muggy that my little plunger primer dispenser was gumming up. Allowing it to lay against my sweat soaked shirt made it completely unusable.
Finally, I gave up and started using my 3f. Schuetzen, if I remember right. Worked fine.

You know a priming powder that likes moisture? I'll buy it right away...

 

[Foolishhand]

Like others, I too have used 2F or 3F for priming powder in a bind. Works OK, but I feel like the response time is a little slower with anything other than 4F in my pan (GRRW Leman percussion converted to full stock Poor Boy style flint with Siler lock with 3/4” flints) Throws sparks like crazy. My LGS has a decent supply of 2 and 3F powders and occasionally even some 4F! I have a pound can of 4F that I had when I left UT in 80, still a little left in the can and it still goes poof every time!
Never tried grinding down 2F with mortar and pedestal, but that should work in a pinch as well.

 

[flntlokr]

Looks like its gonna be tough finding GOEX 4F for my Kibler.
Can I use 3F as a primer?

Yup, or FF for that matter. Doesn't make much difference as long as you have good spark. You can grind the coarser powders down in a wooden, brass, or ceramic mortar and pestle if you feel you really need to.

 

[Rató:rats]

It all depends on your lock. A beefy Chambers or good L & R will have quick ignition no matter what grade powder is in the pan. Some of the Spanish and Italian locks have such poor geometry they need to be babied with 4f to be reliable.

 

[S.Kenton]

I’ve got a lb of ffff goex that I’ve only used a little bit of. The first time I used it was on a hot dry summer day.. shot it all day long with nary an issue. Then went out for squirrel season, was an early morning hunt, dew on the ground and a dampness in the air. The rifle shot fine… the first shot, then after that i had to wipe the pan between shots or else the 4f while in the pan would collect moisture and become useless. I switched over to 3 f that same day and didn’t have an issue. As a matter of fact I’ve never used 4f again for priming.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

It all depends on your lock. A beefy Chambers or good L & R will have quick ignition no matter what grade powder is in the pan. Some of the Spanish and Italian locks have such poor geometry they need to be babied with 4f to be reliable.

Switched out a couple of TC frizzens and replaced them with Pedrosoli,s. all works fine with a sharp flint and proper prime . Be it Goex or PDex