Is it uncool to use Pyrodex?

[DiMarco_Mercantile]

Unfortunately real black powder isn’t allowed to be sold where I live, and the nearest place I could pick it up is about 6 hours away. So for the foreseeable future pyrodex is the way to go for me, unless I find a good deal online.

 

[LME]

Never ,ever use that scurge of the earth Pyrodex. It is the worst thing a human can do! It was put on earth to make sinners out of its users. It will cause club foot, berry, berry and hoof in mouth disease not to mention all your children will be born naked. With that said I have used Pyrodex and i used it to shoot a three shot group at a 100 yards that was one ragged hole? I see no need to change now? ""If it ain't broke don't fix it""!

 

[dave951]

do you have stock options with Goex? how do you know about pyro being corrosive if you dont use it. you have tons of experience and use what you are familiar with so use it. I dont understand why guys have to make things up. both BP and pyro are monumentally corrosive and rifles have to be cleaned right after shooting. I have rifles 40 years fired mostly pyro no corrosion it cleans up fast with soap and hot water just like BP

No options with Goex, maybe you should read some of my other posts about my opinion on them. I use Swiss.

Yes, I have used Pdex, especially when it first came on the market. Yes, I have seen firearms ruined by Pdex and others from black powder but nowhere nearly as many as with Pdex. I am not making this up as I have observed it through the years. If you like Pdex, well bless your heart go use it. I won't. If it comes to being forced to use a sub, it's T7.

For those who complain about "unavailability" of real black powder, no sympathy. If you're determined to get it, it's there. Past that, making things ain't rocket science.

 

[sheriff john]

Old pyrodex pellets suck wind. Once opened, they go downhill. Some only fizzle if they even ignite.

 

[BackDraft]

Well fiddle dee! I guess I’m uncool!

But, I also put peanuts in my Coke.

Wait…. There’s folks who DON”T put peanuts in their cokes?!? Them folks sound like carpet-bagging Yankees and are definitely not to be trusted!!

 

[Cubreac]

Thanks for all the responses. I have learned a lot from the discussion.
Is Goex back in business? As far as I know Swiss is the only BP available in the US right now. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Bill Bryan]

I use both. Clearly BP for flintlocks but Pyro works very well in my percussion shotgun. I started out using Pyro in several percussion Thompson Center side locks. Right now I have more BP than Pyro so I use it more. To each his own. Bill

 

[ernbar]

I think it boils down to what is historically correct for some. I started with Pyrodex and tried Schuetzen BP to see what the fuss is about. I honestly can’t tell the difference after using both. Except that Pyro is less expensive and being able to get more loads per canister. To me they performed and cleaned up the same. I have not used 777 yet. Another factor is using what is readily available.

 

[Okie Hog]

Perchlorates are salts that attack the surface of the bore from the moment of ignition.

Another myth.

All of the black powder substitutes contain potassium perchlorate. Why is it that only Pyrodex is seriously corrosive? Hint; It's something other than potassium perchlorate.

Over time though micro pitting will develop no matter how quickly the bore is cleaned.

Bought my cheap old CVA Stag Horn rifle in 2000. The rifle has fired over 3,500 rounds using Pyrodex. The rifling is still bright with no pits, small or otherwise.

Pyrodex is no more corrosive than black powder.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Thanks for all the responses. I have learned a lot from the discussion.
Is Goex back in business? As far as I know Swiss is the only BP available in the US right now. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Presently Swiss and Scheutzen are the readily available black powders being sold in the US.

The old GOEX manufacturing facility has been bought by Estes who used GOEX for their model rocket propellant. Expect the new powder sometime next year.

 

[tenngun]

Pyrodex because of it's perchlorate roots is highly corrosive, much more so than real black powder. Perchlorates are also part of the problem with corrosive primers in surplus military centerfire ammo and if it will ruin a centerfire firearm, it will certainly do the same on your muzzleloader. So yes, it is undeniably an issue.

So from this thread I've observed that there is a segment of the muzzleloading community that say they use Pdex cuz they can't get real black anywhere but I'd bet a dollar that they are only looking in lgs or brick n mortar places. For reasons stated earlier, finding real black at a brick n mortar retail place is not going to happen. Real black is easily had online. Pool your order with a local reenactment group, join a NMLRA Charter Club or check into fireworks supply houses. Real black is available if you are serious about using it.

I won't use Pdex. Is it elitism? I don't think so since I've seen quite a few guns with ruined bores from using it and the owners believing the original hype surrounding it and I choose not to go down that path. If a sub must be used, I like T7 far better than Pdex. So make your choice.

Isn’t that kinda like saying ‘I ate my bacon raw and got sick, bacon is uncool cause it makes people sick!’
That does sound like your looking at it missused and comparing it to knowledgeable shooters
A quick look on you tube will take you to vids where military reinactors let their guns go to junk from want of care, ml of all stripes doing stupid dangerous stuff, ect, with real black
I understand much of Alaska black can’t get delivered and is a nightmare in many places. I know how lucky I am

 

[Paul Nelson]

I don’t care if it’s cool or not, I use it in my cap guns and real black powder in my flintlock. There are even snobs in the real black powder crowd, weather you shoot Goex, Shootzen, Swiss or even home made ( which is another whole can of worms).

 

[Horse]

Now, I dont care if you use it or you dont use it none of my bussiness. I chose not to and if in your mind that makes me a snob well I've been called lots things much worse than that. I tried it when it first hit the market an didn't care for it.

 

[deerstalkert]

Pyrodex fouling is more corrosive than black powder fouling. Pyrodex degrades chemically with time. Black powder hardly ever does. Many claim Pyrodex is not as consistent as black powder from shot to shot. Purodex is nearly impossible to use in a flintlock. Pyrodex fouling does seem to hide in the microscopic crevices in some barrel allloys and creeps back out to rust a few days after a cleaning. I found that the old fashioned WW2 army bore cleaner, smelly stuff with benzene and other hazardous substances does a better job at neutralizing Pyrodex fouling. Personally, I would avoid Pyrodex except as a possible very very last resort. If you look at it like a Ford Chevy rivalry, it is like driving a Yugo.

or a ford fizzle! the new ford pickup.

 

[deerstalkert]

Now, I dont care if you use it or you dont use it none of my bussiness. I chose not to and if in your mind that makes me a snob well I've been called lots things much worse than that. I tried it when it first hit the market an didn't care for it.

mirrors my thoughts. and as for being called a snob, at times in my life i thought that was my name, only most people dropped the N.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

I'm glad there are some here who know where I should be able to find my black powder locally if I tried harder. I've only lived here all of my life and thought I had a pretty good handle on where the sporting goods stores and gun shops are that might have it

 

[Cubreac]

The old GOEX manufacturing facility has been bought by Estes who used GOEX for their model rocket propellant. Expect the new powder sometime next year.

Wow. Estes started in the town where I grew up. When I was six or seven I was invited to shoot rockets and eat hot dogs at the small factory with a bunch of my friends. Later the photos they took that day were used in advertising and packaging. That was sometime in the early’60’s. I’m sure the founder sold out years ago.

 

[deerstalkert]

Estes is still family owned.

 

[RIDE-RED350R]

I played with a few model rockets growing up. Never recovered one once I put a C6-5 in it and let her rip! But man they were fun!

 

[CScott]

I started out with black powder in 74 with my first muzzleloader , .50 cal TC Hawken.
have toyed with Pdex ,777, and pellets over the years in caplocks and revolvers and even some unmentionable rifles.
substitutes are harder to ignite , that's why they can be sold on open shelves at Wally World ,and why musket cap and primer
conversions became neccessary on side lock guns. nothing works well in a dirty or poorly maintained gun but that little bit of leeway afforded by "real" black powder is worth it to me. It is NOT UNCOOL ! to use substitutes if you need to or even want to.
What I don't like is that most of the substitutes and much of the smokeless powders and other supplies we use are all made or owned by the company who deprived us of American made Goex , HODGDON !