BP Powder Recommendations

[OKSaddletramp]

I know most people have their favorite powder, and I'm hoping to not start a flame war, but I need some advice on choosing a black powder for use in cartridge shooting. I will be shooting .38Sp/.357mag in a Contender, .44 Mag in a Rossi Puma, .303 Brit in a Bubba'd No. 4 and .30-30 also in a Contender (and maybe even a Win 94). I may try it in other calibers, as well, just not my semi-autos (I'm not that dumb).

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have shot BP cap and ball revolvers and muzzle stuffers for some years, but only with Pyrodex. Hey, it was all I could get for a long time, and I had a lot of it. I will state that RS (2F equivalent, for those few not familiar with Hodgdon's product) works very well in my Ruger Old Army with Hornady .457 balls and WonderWads. The only failures I ever had were cap related, not the Pyrodex. I would happily continue using it except that it's starting to get hard to find even Pyrodex locally, and when it's in stock, it's getting outrageously expensive. So I have reluctantly started looking on-line for my supplies.

I quickly discovered Powder, Inc, and surprise, surprise, they don't sell Pyrodex, And this leads me to my questions:

Has anyone had experience with KIK or Skirmish powder? Goex Pinnacle? Would any of these powders be suitable for cartridge use, both pistol and rifle?

Please be polite.

[curator]

Kik is good powder particularly their FFg for use in black powder cartridges. Skirmish is a mixture of all granulations, Fg through FFFFFFg which is OK for blank firing by reenactors but little else.

With the possible exception of the .44 Mag to shoot in a Rossi lever action rifle, none of the cartridges you mention work all that well using black powder (or Pyrodex either for that matter) I have loaded .38 special with FFFg (Goex) and 158 grain cast bullets for use in a Colt/Mason conversion revolver with fair success, and played with Triple-Seven to recreate the original .303 British 215 grain black powder load. The combination of powder fouling and disappointing accuracy brought these experiments to a quick end.

The .44 Mag can be loaded as one would the .44-40, using bullets designed for black powder and black powder lubes. The Rossi has a slow twist rifling that should work well with black powder loads. To get good black powder performance you will need to compress the charge, use a over powder wad and a lube designed to keep the powder fouling soft.

[Nobade]

I used to be a big KIK fan, until they came out with Old Eynsford. That stuff is so much better it's not even funny and the price is barely any more. Easily as good as Swiss and possibly better, for little more than half the Swiss price. It's what I use any more if I'm not shooting homemade.

Skirmish fouls pretty heavily and is a pain to use in cartridges. It will work but you have to wipe a lot more.

-Nobade

[Boz330]

What Nobade said, I really like Old Eynsford.

Bob

[freedom475]

I' have to agree that none of the guns/calibers that you listed really lend themselves to successful blackpowder shooting....but it will sure be fun!!LOL

Olde Eynsford is the way to go. I prefer the 1 1/2 but the 2ff seems to shoot just fine. KIK is very accurate, bu the fouling is way harder than the OE.

Take a look at Buffalo Arms for your black powder needs...they are usually the cheapest because they charge "actual" shipping and not a flat fee.

[Don McDowell]

I too will jump on the Olde Eynsford band wagon. In the cartridges you list I'ld give serious consideration to 3f.

[ogre]

Again, Nobade has nailed it!

[mold maker]

If price and availability are the problem, you can always make your own. It isn't rocket science since they've done it since the beginning of gunfire. It is as safe as you make it, and it's cheap (@ around $3 /lb) Besides its another venture in hand loading.

[John Boy]

I will be shooting .38Sp/.357mag in a Contender, .44 Mag in a Rossi Puma, .303 Brit in a Bubba'd No. 4 and .30-30 also in a Contender (and maybe even a Win 94)

Has anyone had experience with KIK or Skirmish powder? Goex Pinnacle? Would any of these powders be suitable for cartridge use, both pistol and rifle?

If you will be punching holes is paper at 25 - 50 and 100yds ... buy the cheapest powder on the market including Skirmish for the rifle calibers. If you plan to shoot long distance, say past 200yds and out to 1000yds with the rifle calibers, you want a powder that will stay just short of subsonic velocity. So you might want to try KIK or Olde E'
As for Pinnacle: Pinnacle Powder is a cool-burning powder and the foul is no more damaging than black powder. Compared to black powder, Pyrodex or Triple Seven it produces little heat. If a substitute powder is one of your choices - Triple Seven should be considered that I've used in 45-70 and 30-30 reloads. Be advised though, in a 30-30 reload, the recoil will 'rip your face off'

Yes, the powders you cited can be used for pistol and rifle reloads.

[LynC2]

I agree with Nobade. Also a big thanks to Don M. for putting me on to it which also resulted in me putting in an order which included couple of pounds for Nobade to try out. The results made a believer out of both of us.

[Don McDowell]

Lyn, thanks to you for getting me tuned into the Remington primers with the stuff.
You and Nobade need to make up your goodest long range loads and come up to the Whittington and shoot the bptr match in September.