Old Powder Q.

[The Baron]

I recently bought an old powder horn from a fella's estate. I quite like it, and haver adopted it as my own to replace the cheap production horn I had. The horn came 3/4 full of powder, and I figured "waste not, want not". I shot off all the powder, using a down sized load for extra safety. It seemd to burn just fine. In fact, it seemed to burn far cleaner than my Goex FFg and I'm kind of sad to see it gone. The powder looked like about FFg granulation, but some of it was a bit powdery (I assume due to years of grinding around in the horn). The powder was a much lighter color than my Goex, and had sort of a greenish/brown color. Does anyone know if this could be somethin other than BP? Did BP used to not be black in the not so distant history? I know this fella was an active BP shooter, so the powder is not likely THAT old. I'm curious if it could have been another brand other than Goex (I've only ever seen Goex). Any thought? :thanks:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Blackpowder is actually a charcoal gray color. The "g" at the end of the granulation size indicates it is a graphited powder to aid in handling and stabilize it a bit. Some folks add colloidal silica to the powder to make it flow better and give some waterproofness, and then there is contamination from whatever might have been in the horn, or from the horn itself.

Possibly the source of the charcoal lends some color variation to the batch???

I never noticed Goex looking any different from DuPont, and those are the only two muzzleloading powders I have ever used (honest).

 

[Tahquamenon]

Pretty sure it was a substitute powder based on your color description.

If you liked the performance in caplock, try Black Mag'3 or Hodgdon 777 3FG.

 

[Rebel]

If it was a greenish color, and your weather is anything like here, it was probably just Moldy. ::

 

[Ridge]

Isn't black powder supposed to get better with age? Or is that an old wives tale?

 

[The Baron]

If it was a greenish color, and your weather is anything like here, it was probably just Moldy. ::

Funny... it didn't taste moldy.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Isn't black powder supposed to get better with age?

Dunno? I believe it draws moisture from the air, and that can lead to the salts leaching into whatever it is contained in. If it is well sealed I would say it maybe gets no worse, but I don't see as it could get any better with age. Unless maybe it was stored somewhere with less humidity than the moisture content in it to begin with. :hmm:

Dynamite can get "sweaty" with age as the nitroglycerine pools and becomes touch sensitive. That's a bad thing. :shocking:

 

Sounds like it may have been some home brewed stuff.

Just :m2c: