.62 smoothbore

[castshooter-too]

I'm new to this type loading and looking for tips on blackpowder substitutes
appropriate for loading under a .600 round ball. So far I've ordered .125 os wads,
.5 fiber wads, the roundball mould from lyman. I'm finding it's near impossible to find holy black in my area; but do have pyrodex rs.
By the way the musket is a replica 1853 pattern Enfield 3 band made in india in the 90's.
Any help would be appreciated. THANKS in advance.

[KCSO]

Don't substiitute! If you have to drive a ways and bring back a years worth at a time or contact a local club.

About 70-90 grains of FFg powder and a patched roound ball should give you good accuracy. I have not found that accuracy with a wad and a round ball was as good unless I used a patch to center the ball. For shot a hard card wad glued to a cushion wad makes loading easier IF your gun likes cushiion wads. Usuallly in a flinter a hard card is enough and some percussion guns like a cushion wad. For an overshoot was just split off a piece of hard card.
Don't be afraid to expiriment as each gun is it's own master.

[castshooter-too]

Forgot to mention the patches I already have. reason not to use pyrodex?

[freedom475]

Don't understand why so many people say that they can't find real BP where they live.

I know some states just won't let it in but for most people the Holy Black is just a phone call to Graf's away.

Order 20LBs or more and Grafs will pay the Hazmat on top of there already great flat rate shipping costs.

Pass it on!!!

[freedom475]

reason not to use pyrodex?

If its all you have then use it ....Get out there and make some smoke!!!:mrgreen::Fire:

but... it:

Smells bad

Will compress a lot, making it more difficult to load consistant

Is very expensive

Not as accurate

Harder to touch off, leading to more misfires.

Ect. Ect.

[725]

Not to disagree with freedom475, but I use Tripple Seven FFG with my .60 smooth bore and get very fine accuracy from my .593 RB, .015 lubed patch over a .60 wonder wad. 80 grains and it shoots to point of aim for me. To each his own. There are many ways to skin a cat and I don't begrudge anybody their preferences. See what you like. (I did switch my nipple to a musket cap. More because my fat fingers have trouble with the little #11's, but I did end up with a very reliable ignition system.)

[Maven]

"Smells bad

Will compress a lot, making it more difficult to load consistant

Is very expensive

Not as accurate

Harder to touch off, leading to more misfires."


freedom..., I've got to disagree with some of what you wrote. For some of us, ANY kind of propellant is difficult to find locally and until recently, the few dealers we had only carried Pyrodex (in cans, not pellets). Of necessity, I've used a great deal of it over the years and found it to be a reliable, but overpriced item that not only smells more pungent than BP, but discolors your skin and dries it out to boot when you clean your piece. Where we disagree is about accuracy and compression: I've never seen a difference in accuracy in my muzzle loaders and .45-70 that I could attribute to its use v. BP. As for compression, I've loaded enough of both in ML's to know that consistency is one of the keys to accuracy and it ain't hard to get with either one. Harder to ignite? Maybe. It DOES have a higher ignition point than BP and it is more hygroscopic than BP, which can contribute to hangfires in percussion ML's and or those with convoluted paths from the nipple to the chamber, e.g., the old CVA Hawkens. Btw, last December I purchased a full pound of Pyro. RS in the cardboard container for a ridiculously low price. I.e., it was old, but it functioned flawlessly in my ML's. Stored properly both BP & Pyro. work well, but the latter does require a bit more elbow grease to remove its salts and sulfides from the bore.

[castshooter-too]

Maven; thank you for the report on pyrodex. Ive used it in rifled muzzy's
but this is my first attempt with a smoothie.
Dealers in my area either dont want to bother with the redtape or sell
more to the nontraditional types because of sale appeal of the inlines easy
clean-up 777 powder.
I'm a minority obviously. If its easy i'll soon be bored of it.
I like a challenge but not when it comes to availability of powders that keeps a tradition alive!

[mooman76]

I have never shot a smooth bore but I have done well with Pyrodex. They have RS grade for rifle shotgu and P grade for pistol. Some people are quite passionate when it comes to BP. Use real BP if you can find it but there are allot of fine substitutes out there. I have never used 777 yet so I can't say either way on that. The point is to get shooting!

[northmn]

I have a pound of Pyrodex RS that doesn't work worth a crap and definitely will not function well in my 50 percussion. On the other hand the Select worked OK. I think from reading others that I got the worst lot of RS available. I was able to order 5 lbs of black from Grafs for about $85.00, which included the Hazmat, which is much cneaper than any substitute. You have to be home to sign for it. 5 lbs of most of the subs would cost about $130.00 bought locally. Based on that and the fact that BP works in my flintlocks, is more reliable in my percussion and more accurate, and is basically what shooting ML's are about I shoot BP. About the only exception would be problems with boarding airplanes for hunting trips. Not much of a problem for me.

Northmn