Reenactment Powder ?

[Cowboy]

If you contact jacks powder co. he will tell you that Jacks powder is not for rifles but for blanks and fireworks , even though it may work in rifles !

Thanks for your input my friend.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Twisted_1in66]

if it has no chemical difference in the makeup of it, then why is it made and people shoot it? other than the granular size?

Granular size is the only reason. It is slightly cheaper than normally graded black powder. A very large amount of time is spent separating the granules into sizes. Not sure it's still done like this but after making and corning the BP there are a bunch of different size granules from large to small. After grinding it they basically dump it on a screen and shake. The holes in the screen allow the smaller granules fall through while the larger sizes are held aside. They continue sifting them through different screens to separate the granules to sizes typically sold as 2F (FFg), 3F (fffg), and 4F (FFFFg).

So they spend less time sorting this powder through screens. If you look at the pricing on Reenactor Grade Goex powder, you'll find it is only about $2 less than regular graded powder. But, when you have a group of 30 reenactors who are using 30 cartridges each day of 100-gr powder, typically participating in 2 to 4-day events, and you may have anywhere from 10 to 30 events a year, that difference adds up. And it doesn't make any difference when shooting blanks. Slight differences in pressure don't make any difference because all you really need it to do is ignite reliably. And it does that.

So that's why it's marketed to reenactment groups and why reenactors buy it.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

IF it's labelled 2Fg or 2F then it's standard shooting powder, and most blanks are done with 3Fg, not 2Fg as 3Fg gives the musket a "bang" while 2Fg goes "Fooompf"

"Reenactment" powder says just that... and nothing else. So if your buddy told you it was "2F" then it's on the label somewhere so...

View attachment 44404


Unless it's Elephant or Diamondback brand, THEN (imho) it's always "reenactment grade" powder. That's stuff is no longer made but it will store quite a long time so who knows?

LD

I have to laugh at your mention of Elephant powder. That was the absolutely dirtiest powder made. It would foul up your flintlock like no other powder. I was at the Southern Vermont Primitive Biathlon in January 2005 and they had 6 cans of Elephant Powder as part of the "door prize" (gate prize maybe?). They gave them away one can at a time and the three cans you see circled in red on the picture below had each been "re-donated" by their winners at least once. Nobody wanted Elephant powder even if it was free...

 

[nkbj]

Jack's isn't graphited and the granules not polished as with FFg and FFFg.
As you can see in the photo above there is very little difference in the granules size. But, by visual examination Jack's appears to have a slightly wider variation in sizes.

 

[toot]

From what I understand,
It's the leftover from the grading screens. It's the same powder as the rest of their products.
It would probably cost more to re-grade and reprocess than would be profitable, so they package and sell it for a fews bucks cheaper than than first run graded powder. I have shot it in my handgonne - I can't tell the difference in that and regular GOEX in a large caliber barrel.

thank you for taking the time of explaining the process of it to me! now it makes perfect sense.

 

[nkbj]

Is the reenactment powder graphited?

 

[Newtire]

I have to laugh at your mention of Elephant powder. That was the absolutely dirtiest powder made. It would foul up your flintlock like no other powder. I was at the Southern Vermont Primitive Biathlon in January 2005 and they had 6 cans of Elephant Powder as part of the "door prize" (gate prize maybe?). They gave them away one can at a time and the three cans you see circled in red on the picture below had each been "re-donated" by their winners at least once. Nobody wanted Elephant powder even if it was free...
View attachment 44419

I bought a bottle of that stuff once and it was indeed the worst black powder ever. I could see little black sticks in it even.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I bought a bottle of that stuff once and it was indeed the worst black powder ever. I could see little black sticks in it even.

But did it go BOOM when the hammer fell? For cannons and other things like signal guns or handgonnes that use very large powder charges it's probably a pretty good deal.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Is the reenactment powder graphited?

Some say it is not, but powder that isn't shiny may not have been "polished" but still may have graphite. Polishing and graphite are two parts in the normal process. GOEX MSDS for reenactor grade powder lists "graphite" but also says, "Graphite may not be present in all grades of powder".

LD

 

[Twisted_1in66]

But did it go BOOM when the hammer fell? For cannons and other things like signal guns or handgonnes that use very large powder charges it's probably a pretty good deal.

Actually, Elephant Powder wasn't a lot less expensive that Goex - maybe a dollar or two. But sure, it would go off just fine. Was cheaper to buy normal cannon powder, which is what the reenactment company I was in while in Vermont did. We'd buy one or two 25-lb. bags of it and then have a powder party and pour it into a bunch of old Goex cans. We blacked out the cans with the "reenactment" cannon powder in it so we didn't confuse it with our hunting powders.

 

[nkbj]

With the non-graphited powder you will note the difference in the color of the combustion resides.