Pinnacle

[RalphH]

Greetings, Gentlemen,

Has anyone had experience with Goex Pinnacle fffg in their revovers? How does it compare with Goex fffg in power, fouling, and cleanup? Many thanks in advance.

[RalphH]

Greetings, Gentlemen,

Bought a pound of PinnAcle fffg to try in my .600-457 gr.Thumper. Here is my comparison of the powders I have tried.

Elephant ffg, 42.5 gr. 450 fps. Extremely dirty. Cylinder started binding after 5 shots. Bore looked about the size of a pencil because of fouling build up. Fired cases had a lot of heavy, crusty fouling inside.

Goex fffg, 670 fps. Quite violent recoil for an 1870's revolver. Had some concern about damaging latch screw. Cylinder also starting to bind a little after 5 shots. Bore was fouled, but not as bad as Elephant ffg. Fired cases the same. Both required complete disassembly of revolver for cleaning in soap and water. Black everywhere.

PinnAcle fffg, 42.5 gr. 560 fps. Powder is very coarse, and black. Looks like ffg. Some clumps in bottle, but broke up with very little effort. Desicant bags in bottle. Smokes more than others tried. Fired 14 rounds. Cylinder was just as free as before I started. Looking down the bore, I could see the riflings with just a small amount of soot. Thumper still smelled like the oil from the last cleaning, not like blackpowder. Small amount of residue in the normal places on outside of revolver. Fired cases were still bright and shiny inside with a small amount of easily removed residue. Cleanup was with Hoppe's #9+. No water or soap. Unbelievable! I read somewhere that blackpowder lube is not needed on the bullets. Normal alox lube is sufficient and suggested.

I find that it burns slower than Goex fffg, at least in my application. I may be able to compress 44 gr., but am still limited with a 5 inch barrel. It still has plenty of balls for an antique, and I have no concern with the latch screw.

I will have to ponder on this awhile. To stay with PinnAcle, and it's smooth performance and easy clean up, or to go with Goex fffg for it's increased velocity and all the little problems associated with it's use. What are your thoughts on the subject, fellows? I suppose, anything getting shot with "Thumper" wouldn't know the difference.

[RugerFan]

As long as you don't have any heart strings attached to holy black, I would shoot Pinnacle. I'm all for ease of cleaning.

[Wayne Smith]

Have you tried 777 and, if so, how does it compare to Pinnacle?

[RalphH]

Greetings,

Haven't tried 777. Goex fffg gives all the power I might want. If I used 777, I would have to use a filler to cut down on the volume. I certainly don't want more pressure. I have too much money in a very scarce revolver to risk damaging it. A friend who has used 777 informed me that it corrodes the brass cases if left unfired for a length of time. I am also concerned about the crust it forms possibly binding cylinder rotation. But, I have no personal experience with 777. I will probably stick with PinnAcle, at least until this pound is gone.

[Howdy Doody]

I have been shooting the Goex Pinnacle for about 6 months. It is made by the folks that make American Pioneer Powder for Goex. It has a different formula and doesn't have some of the drawbacks APP has. Namely clumping and corroding brass.
You need no special lubes for Pinnacle. I like to use Windex with vinagar for cleaning. The smoke is about 10% more than regular holy black powder. The smoke is whiter.
I use loads the same as I do for regular true Goex. I stick with 2 F for rifle and pistol.
I have not tried it yet for shotgun, too expensive and use Goex Cowboy for that.
I am sticking with Pinnacle until I find something better.

[jh45gun]

Cool looking Pistol Ralph got any history on it I have never heard of one.

[Buckshot]

..............Ralph, I don't know how old your Elephant powder was, but early on in their importation it WAS a poor powder for general use. However they were egar to upgrade and there at teh last were producing some very good useable powder. Sadly it's no longer available as their plant was destroyed in a flood and the potential buyer decided it was just too much work to rebuilt.

If you could get it 3Fg Elephant might be better. If no Elephant then Swiss 2Fg would be my next suggestion. It's about the closest we have these days to the excellent sporting grade BP's produced in the late 19th century. Swiss 2Fg is fairly fast compared to what most people expect from 2Fg. It burns very clean with little residue.

.................Buckshot