Shot some Pyrodex today

[kyron4]

I had a partial can of Pyrodex RS I bought a few years back with my first muzzleloader before I knew better Decided today to use some of it up while doing some informal shooting. As much as I love "Holy Black" I got to say the pyrodex fouled less and cleaned up easier. Loading was smooth with no wiping between shoots. Now I'm not switching to Pyrodex any time soon, got plenty of black and get good results with it.; however if I ever ran out I wouldn't hesitate to use Pyrodex in my cap locks.

 

[Eutycus]

I still think Pyrodex scores high in the "availability" department as well.

 

[ETipp]

That's good to hear, kyron.

I have very little Pyrodex that someone gave me but haven't tried it yet in any of my ML I have now. I like my BP and plan on sticking with it, but I have been considering giving what little Pyrodex I have a try just to see how it does. Never hurts to have a backup.

 

[tenngun]

I think pyrodex gets a bad rap because of some problems with it
First we are shooting traditional guns made for traditional powder. Why change?
Well sometimes we need to shoot what we can.
Two many thought it was cleaner and you could put your gun up after a round and it was ok, only to find a rust bucket the next time you looked.
I don’t let the sun set on a dirty gun, clean like it’s black it will do ok
Three harder to ignite
Flint shooters need some sort of real black kicker, and that helps even in nipple huggers.
I got some prefer the real thing….but sometimes real life gives us a smack down

 

[Kansas Jake]

Last weekend I put 20-25 rounds through my .32 percussion Traditions without wiping using spit patch. It was just plinking at 50 yards but was fun. My accuracy was so so but at my age and with open sights hitting the target is a win and it did better than that. It was at least equal to what I did at the same distance with a open sighted 22 the next day.

Cleaning takes a bit more than with black.

 

[Gtrubicon]

I actually prefer pyrodex in my revolvers.

 

[wolf power]

Lol. I would never use it worst **** you could use . Will rust you gun in a heartbeat.. black powder fff only way to go. Easy to clean soap and water.

 

[AlexB]

I actually prefer pyrodex in my revolvers.

Second that.

 

[kyron4]

Lol. I would never use it worst Cranberries you could use . Will rust you gun in a heartbeat.. black powder fff only way to go. Easy to clean soap and water.

I prefer real black and shoot it most of the time, I'm not a substitute cheerleader either, but this statement is misleading at best. Both will rust your gun if not cleaned properly in a timely manner and both require the same effort to clean if using a bucket of water a handful of patches. I don't think Pyrodex is better than real BP , but most the hate and bad rep. is from user fault not the powder.

I will add that humidity level seems to have the biggest impact on fouling and cleaning effort.

 

[LME]

I had a partial can of Pyrodex RS I bought a few years back with my first muzzleloader before I knew better Decided today to use some of it up while doing some informal shooting. As much as I love "Holy Black" I got to say the pyrodex fouled less and cleaned up easier. Loading was smooth with no wiping between shoots. Now I'm not switching to Pyrodex any time soon, got plenty of black and get good results with it.; however if I ever ran out I wouldn't hesitate to use Pyrodex in my cap locks.

I believe this is the first logical statement concerning Pyrodex that I have ever seen?

 

[TFoley]

Seeing as I still have five jugs of the stuff, after a pal decamped to La Belle France, as well as two jugs of T7 Select, I'll be using it in my ROA until around the middle of the next century.

I usually clean up on the range - it's not big deal with a stainless steel revolver - and find that cleanup takes about the same amount of time as when I use the Holy Black, but I'm not really counting - all my time is my own. If it takes 14.65 minutes to clean after a sub, but only 12.08 with BP, am I really bothered?

Nope. I'm not.

 

[Eutycus]

But I read that some people don't like it , so I don't like it either.Gotta go with the flow, you know?

 

[Sun City]

I'm proud somebody likes it!!

 

[#BPBReloadingFFL]

Had a few customers in New Yorkistan who were tired of GOEX availability being on and off. They switched to Hodgon powder.

 

[William Sublette]

Ethiopian children wish they had bottle of pyrodex.


Count your blessings.

 

[oldramrod]

It isn't traditional, can cause corrosion problems, but you can get it!

 

[BoomStick]

I've got a little bit of pyrodex and have used it from time to time in a percussion rifle. Didn't seem much different than black powder for fouling or cleanup. Accuracy for equal volume also seemed the same. Not my first choice, but if that's what was available I would not hesitate to use it.

 

[PastorB]

I have used Pyrodex extensively in all my guns, with the exception of flintlocks, of course. When I got my first muzzleloader, a percussion Charles Daly/Investarms .54 "Hawken" in 1976, it came with a can of Pyrodex P powder, a tin of caps, 100 unlubed patches that I smeared with Crisco, and a fired .45-70 shell as a powder measure. It worked great. When the patches ran out, i used old t-shirts smeared in Crisco as patches to save a buck without incident for many years. I think we tend to overcomplicate things. For the first 15 years or so of my muzzleloader journey, which was pre-internet, I just thought Pyrodex was black powder. I used it in everything, shotguns, rifles, and many cap and ball revolvers. I didn't even know what a flintlock was back then, never having seen one. Pyrodex worked just fine, I have never had a misfire or even a hangfire when using it, employing regular old #11 caps. My guns have gotten nicks and scuffs on the outside, but the barrels look as pristine today as the day they left the factory. When I finally did start shooting real black, I found it dirtier (yes, even Swiss) than Pyro. My original rifled musket can get 4 or 5 shots with Holy Black before I can no longer ram a Minie Ball, I can shoot until I am tired of ramming using Pyro P. Same with my New Model Army repros, one or two cylinders bind the gun with genuine black powder, whereas Pyro gives me many more shots before I need to slide the base pin out to lube it. Never noticed any difference between cleaning Pyro or black powder. I use Pyro for all my shooting other than flintlocks, except when I'm gathering performance data over a chrono. I don't understand the vitriol for a powder that many of us used in blissful ignorance for decades without any problems whatsoever. I'll keep shooting my Pyro and be happy, as I get it cheap, and save my expensive and hard to get black powder for my flintlock forays.

 

[Eutycus]

I am absolutely "thrilled" in some of the remarks about Pyrodex. Seems like it's finally getting a fair shake. And yes I do use it too and have had no problems (so far).

 

[19112tap]

I like shooting Black but i grew up shooting Pyrodex P because our local shop carried it, changed over to black when a source became available and really didn't shoot any more Pyrodex but recently I inherited 10 pounds of Pyrodex and don't plan on throwing it away so I will shoot it in my cap locks and enjoy making smoke.