Why do you use real BP?

[Stony]

Cause I like BP over pyrodex. Pyrodex by itself is corrosive, BP tends to draw moisture out of the air. Different type of rust forms if you can't get your gun totally clean. Rust that forms from BP fouling tends to be like a powder, almost like dust which can be cleaned up very well. Rust that forms from Pyrodex tends to be hard chucks and starts to pit right away. We had a gunsmith who took 2 rifles and fired BP in one, pyrodex in the other. He basicly just wiped out the barrels and took the guns home. 3 days later he started running patches down the barrels. The BP barrel had some rust in it but took only about 15 minutes of cleaning to get it clean and looking good. The Pyrodex had minor pitting and after a half hour still needed more work to get it right. Also Bp works in my flintlock all the time. Pyrodex is iffy at best

 

[tg]

I shoot only flinters, but I would use it even if all I had was caplocks, I am not much into new tech to make things easier and more user friendly that is not why I chose this hobby, to try and duplicate the experience of the past as close as possible, there are always things we have little choice over but there are many we do.

 

[Halftail]

I've only ever used real BP and didn't know there was anything else.Also.....I like the smell. :hmm:

 

[Slamfire]

Because it is cheaper, and more convienent to order online. :hatsoff:

 

[vradin]

I've only been shooting MLs for 4 years, and only ever used Pyrodex. That's what I learned with, that's what I was taught about, and it's easily available and not overly expensive if I watch for the sales.

Tried some Goex last summer. What a difference. Easier cleanup, faster more reliable ignition, better smell, and with total costs compared, although it costs me about $3-5 more per pound, it ends up cheaper with less cleaning and maintenance supplies.

As long as I can still get it, I think I'm a convert.

 

[faw3]

Here it was 3 times cheaper $21 a bottle! Now I cant buy bp here anymore and I dont really like he Govt knowing I got 5 lbs of 3f and they will if its sent to you, Im not doing anything wrong but still Ill be on a list some place. Its what I got to do to get BP, why cause it works good, and we have a rust problem in this part of Texas as it is. Fred

 

[bshultz]

You just can't beat the smoke and the smell of real black powder! :grin:

 

beside pyrodex looks funny coming out of a powder horn being grey and such. :rotf:

 

[Bob J]

You just can't beat the smoke and the smell of real black powder! :grin:

Well said, Swampfox! :hatsoff: I tried using T7, Black Mag3, and Pinnacle Powder. Something was missing... :hmm: Breathe deep that sulfuric smoke of real blackpowder, ain't nuthin else the same.

 

[halfstock54]

When I could get it, it was way cheaper than the substitute. I don't shoot near as much now cause I can't afford to. I can't get a case order and don't have anyone around that shoots Scheutzen or Elephant powder. Those are my preferences, read MY preferences. I've shot goex and don't care for it. Others love it and that's great. Personal preference.

 

[Peter A Meyer]

"Thanks for the fast responses! Keep 'em comin' if you have more reasons."

Jethro,

Another reason? Same one I sometimes use top quality hard black steaming coal in my 7 1/4" gauge steam locomotive rather then char. The post-combustion smell!

Can't beat it, except perhaps that of fresh-ground coffee! :thumbsup:

Pete.

 

[VAshooter]

I remember being 11 years old and walking into the town hardware store with my mother. I put a quarter on the counter and asked for some black powder. This was a hundred year old store with floor boards worn and uneven, items stuck in every nook and cranny and an old musty smell from years of seeds, fertilizer and wooden implements. The clerk took an old black 25 Lb keg down from a shelf and poured powder onto a balance scale and then into a paper bag. I walked out of that store all smiles knowing I would soon be shooting the old muzzle loading rifle I had just aquired. That was the beginning of a long journey for me and while I don't buy powder in a paper bag anymore I do still buy real black powder.

Freedom isn't free!

Doug in Virginia

 

[weirdjack]

One may as well ask, "Why shoot muzzle loaders at all?". A modern firearm will always outperform an antique ignition/powder system...so what? I don't shoot blackpowder to have the umpteenth degree of performance.
I whack a rock on a bit of steel which ignites a pan of powder in front of my face which goes through the hole in the side of the barrel which ignites a charge of a fairly obsolete type of propellant....why? ...BECAUSE I LIKE IT THAT WAY! :smile:
Jack

 

[faw3]

Very good. fred

 

For me, it's the same reason I put REAL diesel in my trucks. I use black powder because my guns are "black powder guns".

Cody

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings Jethro224,

Blackpowder firearms are designed for real blackpowder. ALL other propellants are merely subsitutes that perform like most subsitutes: less than 100%.

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, Why not? i am carrying your load.

 

[sidelock]

HAY VAshooter---I remember going into stores like that and buying 10 cents worth of BBs by the ounce. I am a "has been" Va shooter also---now MT for many years. Thanks for reminding me. :applause:

 

[jethro224]

One may as well ask, "Why shoot muzzle loaders at all?". A modern firearm will always outperform an antique ignition/powder system...so what? I don't shoot blackpowder to have the umpteenth degree of performance.
I whack a rock on a bit of steel which ignites a pan of powder in front of my face which goes through the hole in the side of the barrel which ignites a charge of a fairly obsolete type of propellant....why? ...BECAUSE I LIKE IT THAT WAY! :smile:
Jack

Lotsa good comments here but I like this one the best. I do all kindsa stuff "BECAUSE I LIKE IT THAT WAY!" Couldn't ask for a better reason than that.
I started shooting muzzleloaders just this past August with a CVA Frontier caplock and Pyro RS. All you can find around here is Pyro, 777 and Pioneer.
My buddy hooked me up with a couple of cans of Elephant and it was a noticeable improvement over the Pyro. Quicker and more reliable. The pyro I was using WAS pretty old stuff tho..
I used up about a pound of the Elephant before I got a 5 pound order of Goex. Been using the Goex since. Didn't really have any problems with the Elephant but it did foul the barrel worse.
Anyway... the BP bug bit me HARD and now I have 5 BP rifles and a pistol. :youcrazy:
My latest and greatest is a .54 GPR flintlock that I got at the end of October. I owned it for 3 weeks to the day when I used it to take a doe last Friday. My first ever blackpowder deer. I love that rifle. Never poured anything but Goex down it yet.
My buddy just got registered on the MLF. Whitewolf. Heck of a good guy. I expect he'll post on here soon.

Jethro

 

[mmahlock]

Why not? We live in a plastic world. Our shooting sport is Muzzleloading and for me Traditional i.e. early 18th century shooting. Why use something synthetic when the real thing can still be found.

I'd never consider blackpowder in one of my modern weapons.

 

[VAshooter]

Sidelock,
It's too bad those stores are just about all gone east of the Mississippi. Run out of town by a big shopping center. Of course, the town is gone too. It's been swallowed up by a subdivision next to the interstate.
Nothings better for a boy than growing up out in the country with a flint rifle and lots of land to hunt..

Freedom isn't free

Doug in Virginia