American Pioneer powder???

[mikenbarb]

I just bought my first jug of American Pioneer powder in FFG granular form and the first thing I noticed is that its weird looking because im used to Pyrodex select. I also noticed on the bottle that it says "Use no lube and seat powder firmly". Im wondering if that pertains to just plastic sabots or if they think you shouldnt use lube with Maxi-Balls also??? Im confused and if anyone can let me know what the deal is with the no lube thing I would appreciate it because I hane never seen a powder that dont use lube with certain boolits. :???:Thanks. Worst case is I will have to give them a call if noone knows.

[cabezaverde]

My son and I both use this powder with the T/C Maxi Ball I cast.

He shoots a Winchester in-line and I shoot an Encore. I coat the maxi balls with a little liquid alox just to prevent oxidation, nothing else.

Works great in both guns - he uses 100 grains of loose, I am using 90.

Clean up is a snap (before someone starts screaming about using LLA with synthetic black).

[twotoescharlie]

use it quick, it degrades very quickly.

TTC

[jjamna]

I don't care for it. Not consistant and is slower than all others I shoot when shot thru chrony

[mikenbarb]

And they say this stuff is the cats meow of BP. They dont tell you about the downfalls with it. Im still wondering if I can use bore butter with my maxi-balls or not? Does anyone know? Im not a speed freek and just want a good powder to push my Maxi-Balls and REAL's thru some deer.
Twotoes, How quick does it degrade in the sealed container?? I would think it should stay good for a while.
I have Pyrodex select that I have had for 11 years and its still good and shoots good but im looking for something cleaner.

[jjamna]

Try lubing like you would for any other powder and try it. I won't hurt to shoot with lube, they just say you don't have to.

[twotoescharlie]

6-8 months sealed or not, will clump, change color, and lose some of its push. recently tried some that was about a year old, not consistant and ignited irratically. dumped almost 2 full bottles,just didn't trust it. I'll stick mwith black powder,I have some made by Dupont that is 40 years old and it still works well. triple seven works pretty good but it is more corrosive than black.

TTC

[mooman76]

Yes you can use lube if you want. They just claim you don't have too but I used it in my 45-70 and it shoot pretty good.

[arcticap]

I have some that's years old and hasn't gone bad, but I only open the lid to fill up the flask.
I also only buy the fffg because the ffg is much chunkier than other powders for use in a sidelock.
I've hunted with it loaded for up to 2 weeks in an imline during the December cold and it's always been potent and reliable when fired off.
I've used it with lubed patches and round balls without any problem, but I haven't let the powder stay in contact with the lube for any extended period of time to see any negative effect.
But if that was a concern, use an over powder card or wool wad under the base of the bullet. That will protect the powder, and you can easily make one yourself.
Even ramming a thin piece of newspaper down over the powder charge before ramming the bullet should provide enough protection to keep the lube from contaminating the powder. And that's only when hunting for days at a time before taking a shot and just for insurance against having lower velocity. Otherwise, I don't believe that contact with bore butter for a brief period of time matters much.
Just try to not to use too much lube on the bullet.

[cabezaverde]

Today was our deer opener, and it rained all day, pretty hard.

I shot a small buck at 4:15 tonight, using APP. Nice sharp crack from the APP, and the maxi ball did it's job.

[mikenbarb]

Now thats what I like to hear! :grin: