Powder Comparisons

[Billnpatti]

My usual powder of choice has been Goex for years. It is a very good powder and not all that expensive here in the States. But, I had a chance to buy a few pounds of a bulk no name
Chinese powder. I think it most likely was originally made for fireworks but the granulation was correct and contained few fines. Strangely, the stuff was pretty darned good. It burned relatively cleanly and gave consistent muzzle velocities. If I remember correctly, it came in a plastic bag of 25 pounds and we split it among several of us from our club. None of those who got the powder had any complaints about it. Unfortunately, the source disappeared and we were no longer able to get it. Too bad because it turned out to be a good powder and we paid only around $8 a pound for it. I have also used Swiss powder and found it to be a very good powder but too darned expensive. They use a different type of charcoal to make their powders. I seem to remember that it is made from a type of willow wood and it is ground very fine. The extra grinding and the careful selection of the wood adds to the cost plus it is imported so that is another cost factor. I am not sure that all the added cost is actually worth it so I stick to Goex. If you are shooting from a bench such as with bench gun matches or chunk gun matches, or if you are an exceptional off hand shooter, you will be able to tell the difference between the various powders but if you are an average off hand shooter, the normal wibbles and wobbles will offset any differences in the powders such that you will not tell any difference. One may burn a bit dirtier than another and require more wipeings between shots but other than that, you will not likely tell any difference. But, if you are choosing some unknown off brand powder, only buy one pound of it and try it out before committing to a large money saving purchase. You will most likely find that there no discernible difference but there is that off chance that you could find some real crappy stuff and be ever so glad that you didn't buy more than one pound of it.

 

[hanshi]

It looks as if it's all in the kind of shooting that one does that determines what powder is preferable. In my own case it's hunting and informal shooting. Goex is the standard and is used as the yardstick for measuring the usefulness of other brands.

I've used Dupont, G/O ?, Elephant, Goex and Jacks Battle Powder. All gave satisfactory results in a variety of guns. Currently I'm shooting JBP, and except for price, see little difference between it and Goex. Price is very important, in my case, and I can't justify expensive powders. Maybe for a c&b revolver because of relatively small charges but that's about it.

My demands are modest; so my powders are "middle of the road" quality. Match shooters probably need the very best and are justified paying the higher price. Worse comes to worst, I can easily go back to the "Elephant level" powders without worry.

 

[smoothshooter]

Where is KIK powder made?

 

[necchi]

from the Mad Monk;
"There is an interesting story behind the can seen in these photos. This can was out of
a shipment of KIK powder from Slovenia that came into the U.S. in the summer of 2000.
When GOEX started up their then new powder plant near Minden, LA in early 1998
they had a serious problem with their charcoal supplier shipping them off-grade charcoal.
The quality of the powder produced at the Minden plant was not up to the standards of the
powder out of the old plant at Moosic, PA.
GOEX had been losing market share to the Elephant brand black powder out of
Brazil. With the decline in powder quality with Minden production they began to lose even
more business.
When GOEX closed the Moosic, PA powder plant in 1997 they were unsure when
the new plant near Minden would be up and running at an acceptable level of production.
GOEX had been approached by the Swiss powder plant with the idea that GOEX would
distribute the Swiss powder in the U.S. GOEX reps visited the powder plant in Switzerland.
GOEX asked the Swiss about a source of cheap powder that GOEX could purchase for
resale in the U.S. The Swiss then introduced GOEX to the KIK Kamnik plant in Slovenia.
The KIK Kamnik plant had recently been “privatized” and was looking for business.
So between early 1998 and early 1999 GOEX had imported roughly 1 million
pounds of black powder from the KIK Kamnik plant in Slovenia.
Then the Swiss dumped GOEX and went with the U.S. importer of Elephant brand
black powder.
GOEX then went to Slovenia to teach the KIK Kamnik plant how to make a rifle
burn rate powder suitable for the U.S. market. The KIK Kamnik plant had access to
commercially prepared alder wood charcoal. GOEX also gave them the screen sizes needed
to comply with our grain sizing methods.
The side panel of the KIK can states “Superfine Gunpowder”. The term “Superfine”
was a Du Pont trade mark dating back to around 1836. When Gearhart-Owen purchased the
Du Pont black powder business the Du Pont “Superfine” trade mark went to GOEX. Here
we see that trademark on a can of black powder produced in Slovenia."

 

[hanshi]

Thanks for posting this information. The story is very interesting on a number of levels. :hatsoff:

 

[cschibi]

et.al.

For the laymen shooter like myself, it appears that KIK, Goex, Swiss and Grafs all have qualities that can be leveraged across all our diverse experiences and shooting objectives..

Thank goodness we have this forum to sort out what works in these different shooting scenarios.