Is it uncool to use Pyrodex?

[Cubreac]

Listening to a podcast yesterday an apparently famous competition shooter in the East somewhere was being interviewed, and at the mention of Pyrodex he and the interviewer both snorted as if using Pyrodex is akin to wearing white after Labor Day. I'm not a Pyrodex enthusiast, but when I got back into muzzleloading it's all I could find locally. I prefer Swiss, and eventually found some.
What propellent do the Kardashians use?

 

[rafterob]

Definitely uncool. But who cares? It is more readily available for some folks and it pushes the ball out the barrel similar to real black.

 

[user 53891]

You just have to use what's available. Like rafterbob says, it may be uncool, but still makes the ball come out the muzzle.

 

[deerstalkert]

in reality, if you repackaged it in a goex bp bottle and used it at a range 90% of the stuffed shirts(me) wouldn't recognize any difference in the report of smoke cloud.
there, i feel better telling the truth!

 

[springfield art]

Definitely uncool. But who cares? It is more readily available for some folks and it pushes the ball out the barrel similar to real black.

I think Pyro is mostly used by hunters that aren't that much into the historical end of muzzleloaders, but just want more hunting time. IMHO

 

[Timber Wolf]

I have a quantity of both RS and P sourced relatively cheaply that I burn occasionally. Yes, other shooters look down upon it. I will continue to use it when and if I feel like using it. But then I am not one of the cool kids.

 

[Horse]

Cool uncool, I could care less but it doesn't work well in flint locks if at all.

 

[Cubreac]

I gathered that Triple Seven is socially acceptable. I also gathered from the conversation, most of which was over my head or didn't touch no my interests, that the champion being interviewed wasn't a traditionalist. I am not much interested in competition (except a friendly no stakes shoot around) and there's something about the in-line rifles, scopes, pellets, plastic furniture, modern fabrics and camouflage that just doesn't sit right, so I guess I'm a snob too.

 

[Maven]

Pyrodex was all we could get locally at one time. It worked well enough in my percussion rifles and pistols, but I prefer real BP when I can get it. Btw, Pyrodex's salts are harder to remove than those left by BP, which at least for me, resulted in some bore rust (not fatal though). And yes, I still have some Pyro P, which I use in my pistols.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Listening to a podcast yesterday an apparently famous competition shooter in the East somewhere was being interviewed, and at the mention of Pyrodex he and the interviewer both snorted as if using Pyrodex is akin to wearing white after Labor Day. I'm not a Pyrodex enthusiast, but when I got back into muzzleloading it's all I could find locally. I prefer Swiss, and eventually found some.
What propellent do the Kardashians use?

The secret of the Local Gun Shop (LGS) is that the money is NOT made with the sales of the guns, but with the sales of the consumables that go with the guns, i.e. ammo, targets, cleaning agents, and lubricants/rust preventative.

Pyrodex was developed because shipping and storage regulations changed regarding black powder, and a lot of Mom & Pop black powder stores, or LGS that had a large black powder customer base, were harmed, because they could not store black powder as they had in the past. So black powder was de-engineered.

They took black powder, which was pretty much 70% Potassium Nitrate, 20% Sulfur, and 10% charcoal, give or take variations in formula. As such this was considered an "explosive" or the original "low explosive" (with Dynamite being the first "High Explosive") They then cut the Potassium Nitrate by about half, using Potassium Perchlorate, so that Pyrodex is roughly 35% Potassium Nitrate, 35% Potassium Perchlorate, 20% Sulfur, and 10% charcoal, give or take again, particular formulas. The Potassium Perchlorate (Material Safety Data Sheets won't give the exact formula, as those are trade secrets) was a change that was done to reduce the burning speed (called deflagration) of the black powder, so it was no longer classified as "explosive" and was reclassified under the name Pyrodex as a "flammable". VOILA, Mom & Pop could offer a propellant again to their black powder shooting customers.

It was and is not without some problems. It's just as corrosive as BP, because it really is a form of BP, and it's often tough to get to work in a flintlock.

But it did save a bunch of small businesses, and a lot of those were set up as "retirement jobs" as guys retired and made money off their hobby, to supplement their fixed pension incomes.

People may scoff, but perhaps show a little respect ?

LD

 

[ord sgt]

in reality, if you repackaged it in a goex bp bottle and used it at a range 90% of the stuffed shirts(me) wouldn't recognize any difference in the report of smoke cloud.

The smell of the smoke will tell the difference. BP has a much different smell than Pyrodex.

 

[OldMaineWoodsman]

The secret of the Local Gun Shop (LGS) is that the money is NOT made with the sales of the guns, but with the sales of the consumables that go with the guns, i.e. ammo, targets, cleaning agents, and lubricants/rust preventative.

Pyrodex was developed because shipping and storage regulations changed regarding black powder, and a lot of Mom & Pop black powder stores, or LGS that had a large black powder customer base, were harmed, because they could not store black powder as they had in the past. So black powder was de-engineered.

They took black powder, which was pretty much 70% Potassium Nitrate, 20% Sulfur, and 10% charcoal, give or take variations in formula. As such this was considered an "explosive" or the original "low explosive" (with Dynamite being the first "High Explosive") They then cut the Potassium Nitrate by about half, using Potassium Perchlorate, so that Pyrodex is roughly 35% Potassium Nitrate, 35% Potassium Perchlorate, 20% Sulfur, and 10% charcoal, give or take again, particular formulas. The Potassium Perchlorate (Material Safety Data Sheets won't give the exact formula, as those are trade secrets) was a change that was done to reduce the burning speed (called deflagration) of the black powder, so it was no longer classified as "explosive" and was reclassified under the name Pyrodex as a "flammable". VOILA, Mom & Pop could offer a propellant again to their black powder shooting customers.

It was and is not without some problems. It's just as corrosive as BP, because it really is a form of BP, and it's often tough to get to work in a flintlock.

But it did save a bunch of small businesses, and a lot of those were set up as "retirement jobs" as guys retired and made money off their hobby, to supplement their fixed pension incomes.

People may scoff, but perhaps show a little respect ?

LD

You touched on a very thing I was thinking about while reading the comments. When I first started in the early 1980's, I shot Pyrodex. I felt that it was safer to keep in my apartment at the time. I also could fire my rifle a few more times without swabbing it out. Finally, on longer hunting trips I found that I could go a day or two without thoroughly cleaning my rifle with no harm. It worked just fine in a hunting situation, and I never had a misfire with it.

I use Black Powder now for all of my shooting, but I would not hesitate to use Pyrodex if that was all that was available.

 

[Walkingeagle]

So…. I’ll speak for myself, and likely many others, when it comes to Pyrodex. I started shooting Pyro RS in the 90’s. Absolutely zero issues. In the mid 2000’s I switched to 2fg Black. Myself and a buddy split a case, to which he still has a couple lbs left. I had purchased a GPR .50 flint kit and knew it required authentic black. In recent years I’ve accepted the fact I just cannot shoot a flint worth a darn, so converted the GPR to cap, as well as my Isaac Haines Late Lancaster .50. All flint stuff now belongs to my shooting partner as I gifted it to him. My girlfriend and her youngest son both use Pyro RS in their rifles. I use Pyro P in my TC barrels, and 2fg black in my Lancaster and my home built (TC platform) Rice barrelled percussion shotgun barrel. That is until it is all used up, then I will be switching to Pyrodex 100% of the time. I find Pyro fouls less than black.
Walk

 

[JamesA]

Use what you have access to. It's a shame snobbery has to creep into every facet of life, even our hobby.

 

[Muzzle57]

Listening to a podcast yesterday an apparently famous competition shooter in the East somewhere was being interviewed, and at the mention of Pyrodex he and the interviewer both snorted as if using Pyrodex is akin to wearing white after Labor Day. I'm not a Pyrodex enthusiast, but when I got back into muzzleloading it's all I could find locally. I prefer Swiss, and eventually found some.
What propellent do the Kardashians use?

Blackpowder around here is akin to a chicken with a full set of teeth, ain’t none. So it’s pyrodex rs for the time being. I’m not a purist.

 

[SciAggie]

When I was shooting BPCR silhouettes seriously I did a great deal of load development. I tried Pyrodex and found the velocity standard deviation to be greater than with regular BP. So - I used regular BP as it was more accurate. In my experience BP performs better in my muzzleloaders as well.
That said, I have no issue with Pyrodex. If that was all I could get, I would use it. Being cool doesn't have anything to do with it.

 

[kid_couteau]

If I can help it I do not use Pyrodex. But it is simply because it is so corrosive.

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I use pyrodex in my flintlock. To make my small stash of 2F powder last, I put 35 grains of GOEX 2F down first, then 35 grains of pyrodex select on top of that. When I had my hawken, Pyrodex is all I used. 80 grains of their P grade then a hornady great plains bullet and it was very accurate and a great deer gun. If someone wants to run me down for using Pyrodex, they don't need to hang around me or be my woods pal. No judgement from me here of what other people use, shoot and wear. I do this to have fun .... not to please some dork putting out a podcast.....
Ohio Rusty ><>

 

[2 shots]

NOT EVEN COOL TOO ASK.. these days seems one must use what one can find... only in cap guns of course....

 

[user 30283]

It's like the debate that goes on in Ham radio. Is morse code or voice communication "REAL" ham radio . Is Pyrodex or black powder "REAL" muzzleloading. I hope we're more of a brotherhood than to look down on anyone who shoots either.